by Kelly Zygowski, category analyst, part of Monthly Retailer Category Tips
Shine a light on the reasons customers should be stocking up on first aid products.
A good way to promote first aid items is to remind customers that many products should be medicine cabinet mainstays — good to always have on hand for when the need arises. Use signs and your promotional channels (like your social media sites) to recommend the items you suggest they have to address the most common first aid needs, such as bandages, antiseptic, hydrocortisone, burn relief products, and more.
Along the same line, encourage customers to keep their on-the-go first aid kits freshly stocked, especially with warmer weather around the corner. Most people have a first aid kit in their/each car, and parents of school-age children may even have first aid kits they send along with kids to sports practice, camp, or other occasions where a cut or scrape is apt to occur. This is a great reason to build an endcap that could also include pain relief, allergy, sun care, and health supports. Some out-of-the-box ideas include recording brief videos with your top 10 products to include in a first aid kit and post online or post the list on your social sites and home page of your website.
Get creative with promotions to make customers aware of the anti-itch products you carry or can order for next-day delivery. Asking “what’s your itch?” or “what’s itching you?” is a playful way to open a conversation and understand what may be troubling them: bug bites, poison ivy or oak, ringworm, jock itch, etc. It’s also an opportunity for education — share pictures and other resources to help them identify what these conditions typically look like so customers can have products on hand to treat appropriately.