Beauty and Personal Care Products

Ahava Alberto-Culver Company Allou Health & Beauty Apl Corporation Avon Products Company, Ltd. Axantis Holding Ag Babor Bare Escentuals BERGEN BRUNSWIG CORPORATION Biodroga Bioelements CCA Industries, Inc. Chuo Bussan Corporation Clarins Clinique Colgate-Palmolive Co. CONCERT INDUSTRIES LIMITED Copamex S.a. DE CV Cosway Corporation Berhad Creightons Plc Darphin

Decleor Dermalogica Dial Corporation Dsg International Ltd Estee Lauder Fort Howard Corporation Fort James Corporation FPO Gillette Company Guinot Harima-Kyowa Co., Ltd. Hengan International Group Company Limited Inbrand Corporation Japonesque Juvena Kao Corporation Life Energy & Technology Holdings Inc. Lion Corporation Market America Mehaz Murad

Nu Skin Enterprises Inc Payot Paris Peau Vive Perfect Beauty Peter Thomas Roth Playtex Products, Inc. Plias SA Prodenta Indonesia Pt. PZ Cussons Plc Scott Paper Company Scott Paper Limited Sothys Sunstar Inc. Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget Swallowfield Plc Tambrands Inc. Tendercare International, Inc. TITANIUM HOLDINGS GROUP, INCORPORATED Tweezerman Unilever N.V.

Guide to Niche Beauty and Personal Care Products

Add niche beauty and personal care products to your retail mix to boost sales
By Amy Jo Garner

Mainstream beauty care and personal care products may be the steady sellers in the personal care product department of your retail business, but niche beauty products brands catch the eye of the customer who's "just shopping" and result in increased sales.

Although niche products appeal to smaller segments of the population than mass market brands, they appeal to customers on the hunt for what's new.

When considering selling niche beauty and personal care products:

1. Determine the market demographics of your company.
2. Decide which types of beauty and personal care products you want to sell.
3. Consider private label and organic products.

Action Steps

The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Decide which personal care products suit your market demographics You can learn about your shoppers just by observing who comes into your store and what they buy. However, you may want more concrete data about who lives in your community. Market research can help position your business as the place to shop for the latest in beauty and personal care products.

I recommend:  You can look up basic demographic information by zip code at Melissa Data. You can also purchase community data by zip code at ESRI Data.

Find the products you want to sell Once you decide what type of niche products to stock, you need to find a distributor. Wholesale personal care products distributors provide a wide range of products, but some exclusive personal care products may only be available directly from the manufacturer. If you know a particular brand you want to carry, your best bet is to contact that company directly.

I recommend:  For beauty skin care, Burt's Bees is a popular, all natural product that must be purchased wholesale directly from the company. For super funky, unique products ranging from soaps to mineral makeups, try Indigo Wild. If you want to search the globe for a personal care product, visit Alibaba.com.

Consider selling private label products To establish your retail store as the go-to shop for new and unusual products, consider selling private label beauty care products. You can sell just a few niche beauty skin care products, or expand into an entire line of personal care products that consumers must come to you to purchase.

I recommend:  Lady Burd is a leading private label manufacturer of color cosmetics, including eye shadows, foundations and nail polishes. For organic products, consider working with Essential Wholesale.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• Don't overlook niche personal care products marketed by large companies. The sales reps who handle your orders for traditional personal care products may be able to point you to niche products from their companies.
• Consider stocking regional and local products. You may find a small local business selling custom soaps or other products that you could stock. Just be sure they can handle the volume of sales your store can generate.
• Examine samples of the beauty and personal care products before buying stock for your store shelves. You want to avoid ending up with poor quality product that you can't sell.