C-store customers today more than ever are focused on their personal health, both physical and mental. Retailers looking to capitalize on this growing trend will need to be vigilant when deciding which health and beauty aid (HBA) products to stock, ensuring health-focused customers can leave their stores satisfied.
Emily Ferguson, category manager at GetGo Café + Market, which operates nearly 200 stores across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Maryland and West Virginia, noted that wellness products and supplements are shining in the HBA space today.
“Customers are looking for products that may provide real-time benefits like enhanced mental performance, hydration or increased energy,” she noted.
Marlborough, Mass.-based Yatco, operating 14 company-owned c-stores across Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island, has a positive outlook for the category given how health focused many customers are today.
“I think the category in general will continue to grow as consumers continue to focus on health more than ever before,” mentioned Hussein Yatim, vice president, Yatco. “I predict there will be many emerging brands in the supplements and healthcare space that find a fit in a c-store.”
Ferguson also added that the family-planning subcategory in HBA is trending up, which she attributed to “increased product offerings and innovation,” such as its newly introduced emergency contraceptive offering.
“Emergency contraceptives represent a significant portion of the family-planning category, and with the addition of the Cadence OTC Morning After Pill to our assortment, we can provide our customers access to a product that is driving increased demand,” she noted.
Since the product is “a higher-average retail item for the category, it is a productive SKU in our assortment,” she added.
Inflationary Pressures
Meanwhile, retailers are still contending with the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely disrupted supply chain operations. As supply continues to improve, consumer behavior has not quite recovered.
“We are seeing a more price-conscious customer (today). During peak COVID, customers did not mind paying more in a c-store since it was a quick “in and out” shopping experience,” Yatim explained. “I think now, with the pressure of inflation, customers are more strategic on where they shop for their (HBA products).”
Ferguson agreed, but added she sees a light at the end of the tunnel.
“(The HBA category) has faced significant, lingering challenges with supply issues and shifting customer behaviors in the years following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said. “Supply continues to stabilize, allowing us to now return to more consistency in the category.”
