Should you sell take-home products to your massage clients? It is a question you may be asking yourself as you consider ways to increase practice revenue. Maybe you have rejected the idea of massage retail products because of your own experience with pushy salespeople. Or you may be concerned that clients may lose trust in your commitment to their well-being if the session ends with “a commercial message” about at-home massage therapy retail products.
On the other hand, offering massage retail products provides clients with more ways to achieve their massage-related goals. Products for at-home use extend the benefits of treatment in-between sessions with you, although they are not meant to be a replacement for treatments. The goal is to enhance and extend the results of your sessions, all the while keeping in line with the type of massage therapy you offer. Masssage therapy retail products can:
Help clients reduce stress and enhance relaxation: As an example, aromatherapy massage oil blends and mists provide clients with an additional self-care tool to help ease stress and tension.
Aid clients in decreasing pain: Topical analgesics, self-massage tools or hot and cold packs are among the tools that can help relieve muscle and joint pain and increase comfort in between sessions, thereby improving a client’s quality of life. Clients easily can incorporate these massage retail products into their day-to-day activities.
Provide a gift: Your retail offerings may be just the right gift for a client to give or they may want to treat themselves to something to take home. Bath soaps or salts, aromatherapy mists or candles, CDs with soothing music and even yoga clothing may be just what a client wants for a friend or family member or themselves.
Criteria for selling massage retail products
In helping you decide if offering massage therapy retail products is right for you and your practice, here are criteria to consider:
- Your clients ask if you offer something they can take home and use.
- Products you know would be helpful are not available for sale in local stores.
- You have the volume of business that supports carrying massage therapy retail products, or you have an ecommerce channel on your website.
- You can afford the initial investment in retail inventory.
Getting started selling massage retail products
If you decide retail is right for your massage practice, you will want to take these steps:
Select products: If you are in a special niche, such as sports or prenatal massage, it may be easy to decide what massage retail products to carry. However, if your clientele massage therapy needs are broad, it will be more difficult to decide on a retail selection. Options in this case include those tools or products that you use in treatments that could be used at home, such as essential oils for aromatherapy, analgesics, or cold packs. Your current suppliers may be the source for products, or you may need to contact other companies. Larger companies may refer you to a regional dealer or distributor. It may be best to start with a small range of products and see how they sell. You can always expand your order.
Pricing: When it comes to pricing, your supplier should also be able to suggest retail pricing, so you will know what to charge the client. Make sure your pricing fits your clientele. If products are priced too high, they may be out of the reach of many of your clients. Those that are priced too low may not convey the quality of your massage practice. A good rule of thumb is to use the prices you competitively set for your massage treatments as a guide and match your massage retail products to these price points.
Look into licensing: States may require you obtain a separate license to sell retail products as part of your practice. Check into your state’s massage licensing requirements and your local business licensing bureau. You may need to collect, remit and report tax on your sales.
Display: Create an attractive and inviting display. Effective merchandising has a focal point, which can be a sale item or a new product offering. Make sure the lighting is good to make the products stand out; and vary size, texture, and color to draw more attention to – but not overwhelm – the product display. The best place to display retail offerings is right at the entrance of your massage business. But do not stop there. Add retail product display areas in your treatment rooms and even along highly trafficked hallway areas.
Marketing: Reach out by email or text with information on massage therapy retail products. Just make sure you have client permission to email or text them and provide an unsubscribe option. If you maintain a blog, include information about your products, discussing ingredients, as appropriate, use and expected results. Get more mileage out of blogs by posting links to social sites.
Retail has its rewards for your massage practice and your clients. Offering massage therapy retail products offers value to the client experience and it rings in more sales to boost your bottom line.