May Spa Retail Shows Big Gains in Bath, Body and More

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Ninety-nine percent of ISPA member spas, including day and hotel/resort spas, sell retail products, and the top three product categories with the biggest sales gains are in bath and body products, jewelry, and apparel, a recent survey has found for the month of May.

According to the International SPA Association (ISPA)’s monthly member Snapshot Survey for May, spa respondents noted an increase in retail sales for several product categories over the past year. Apparel (36%), bath and body products (50%), jewelry (39%), makeup (30%) and skin care (66%) all had the largest segment of respondents report an increase in sales as compared to a year ago. The results analysis includes answers from respondents who took the ISPA Snapshot Survey during an eight-day period from Friday, May 19, 2017, to Friday, May 26, 2017. 

New Products on the Spring-Fall Horizon 

The monthly survey also found that one out of every three resource partner respondents reported they would be releasing between nine and 15 new products for 2017 (33%). The most common months to release new products were in the spring and fall, as monthly totals were as follows: April at 33%, May at 33%, June at 33%, August at 33%, September at 17%, October at 33% and November at 17%.

Respondents also shared the names of some of the hottest products that are flying off their shelves within their spas which included Allergan's Latisse, Arcona Triad Pads, Elemis's Pro Collagen Facial Cream and Eminence Strawberry Rhubarb Dermafoliant, as examples.

As far as choosing vendors for retail products to be featured on spa shelves as concerned, more than half of all spas, at 54%, purchased products from less than 16 vendors. The survey found 27% of all spas purchased from 10 or fewer vendors; 27% of all spas purchased products from 11 – 15 vendors. Among the respondents purchasing from less than 16 vendors, the majority were day spas.

Online: Untapped Potential in Sales 

On a surprising note, only 20% of spa respondents sell retail products directly to consumers online, indicating that spas continue to be mainly brick-and-mortar retailers when it comes to selling products. The online retail space for spas could signal untapped revenue potential for spa owners since data has shown that e-commerce is beauty's retail growth engine

As a whole, retail sales comprise between five and 15% of total revenue for over half (57%) of all spas. This number was slightly larger for resort and hotel spa respondents, with 65% reporting that retail sales made up for between five and 15% of their total revenue.

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