Now is a perfect time for retailers to place their homeopathy department front and center. During 2009, manufacturers of dietary supplements and homeopathic medicines experienced incredible sales spikes and velocity of turnover. The economic crisis and uncertainty about health care reform have driven interest and sales among people who want to be healthy and try to curtail, if not totally eliminate, pricey doctors’ visits and prescription costs. The homeopathic section can be a perfect complement to customer purchases of condition-specific dietary supplements and daily maintenance formulas such as multis.
The beauty of homeopathy is that everyone can use it and benefit—from babies who are teething, to the elderly who want to ease a pesky headache. Homeopathics offer safe, effective treatment. Due to the way they are produced through precise diluting and succussing, by the time the formula reaches 4X, there are no longer any molecules of the original starting substance. What remains is its byproduct: the energy imprint of the starting substance, which works on the nervous system to direct the body toward healing. For this reason, homeopathy is safe for everyone, including children.
American consumers are also more leery of pharmaceuticals because of the increased number of tort lawyer commercials seeking bad drug experiences for class-action lawsuits; this has etched onto the national consciousness and has caused across-the-board concern about taking anything to alleviate health issues. This is yet another great opportunity to magnify your homeopathic department: Your staff can allay any fears about side effects and safety with homeopathic combination formulas.
Additionally, homeopathy excels at treating chronic problems such as allergies and ongoing sinus issues. Another plus is that quite a few people have sensitivities to over the counter (OTC) ingredients and cannot use the class of products to address their chronic issues. They can look to homeopathic combo remedies, which are gentle on the system.
These are all excellent motivators to spotlight the natural medicine department. More good news is homeopathic remedies can carry health claims, so you can clearly express and sell the health-curing/treatment benefits.
However, retailers should only purchase those combinations that contain official ingredients in the Homeopathic Pharmacopeia of the United States (HPUS), which is the highest assurance the ingredient has been used successfully and is used in the appropriate form. The HPUS is an always-updated compilation of ingredients that have gone through its process to be monographed. Only homeopathic ingredients in the HPUS are considered official by FDA.