Renew Magazine - September/October 2008 - (Page 24)

your business boutiques in the spa adding unique retail can be big buisness by Suzelle Tempero a dding purses, scarves and jewelry to your spa’s retail area might seem like an easy, no-brainer way to boost sales. In fact, industry ﬁgures say that a boutique can represent anywhere from 25 percent to 40 percent of a spa’s total sales, and that a customer who buys products is more likely to return for services. But a negative product experience—like a sooty soy candle or an organic cotton T-shirt that shrinks—may cancel out the positives of a great service. Clients come for pampering and to get results from their treatment, and they expect the same high quality in the products for sale at a spa’s retail boutique. That’s why research is just as important when bringing new items into your retail space as it is when you begin using a new product line in services, says Teri Strickland, spa supervisor at Spa Intercontinental in Atlanta’s Buckhead area. “Choose your product carefully,” Strickland says, noting that since November, she has overseen the addition of two new lines to the spa’s boutique, which doubled the brands sold there and helped boost revenue from products to more than 25 percent of total sales. One of Spa Intercontinental’s newest oﬀerings is Amala, a 100 percent natural and certiﬁed-organic line that the spa uses in skin care services. Strickland chose the Amala line because its high quality and focus on sustainable ingredients ﬁts with the spa’s mission to promote environmental responsibility while providing luxurious service. If a product isn’t selling well, or isn’t the quality that you had hoped, then it’s important to remove it from your shelves. The Lane Spa in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, eval- uates all of its retail products every season, says Cassandra Adams. When a speciﬁc product or an entire brand is a hot item, like the Binka line of fashion T-shirts that the spa sells, then Adams increases the number of products in the spa’s boutique. “We see how each product goes,” Adams says, “And then depending on what sells the most, we reorder.” Your clients can also serve as guides as you look to expand your retail space because they know what they like. Often, they may discover a new product as they seek their own solutions, says Jemma Lotzer, assistant spa director and buyer at Spa Space in downtown Chicago. “I look for a brand that has credibility, has been established and is a known product to our clients,” Lotzer says. “Listen to your clients and tailor your retail around that.” Spa Space has always had a retail section since it opened seven years ago, but it has expanded its oﬀerings by about 50 percent in the last two years. In addition to the skin care and body products used in its massage, facial and nail treatments, Spa Space also sells women’s clothing lines Three Dot and James Pierce. Other top sellers are baby massage T-shirts from Basic Need, which clients like to bundle with gift certiﬁcates for prenatal services, Lotzer says. 24 renewprofessional.com sept/oct 2008 http://renewprofessional.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Renew Magazine - September/October 2008

Renew Magazine - September/October 2008 Contents Editor's Letter Renew Face/Body/Spirit/Mind Décor Spa Spotlight Reflect Your Business Renew How-To Cards Editor's Picks Role Models The Sensory Spa Experience The Art of Listening In the Room Solutions Inside Ingredients

Renew Magazine - September/October 2008

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