1. Health Check: Natural products retailing in 2018/19 – the findings
Rosie Greenaway
Editor, Natural Products News
Dominic Roberjot
Publisher, Natural Products News

2. How long have you owned your business?

3. What best describes your store(s)?
More stores are embracing their sustainable values in 2019 and identifying as 'Green Lifestyle Stores’

4. How many shop units do you own?
2019 average – 1.23 stores
down from 1.36 in 2018

5. How many staff do you employ?
Average Health Store
2017
2018
2019
Full Time – per retailer
2.40
1.62
2.14
Part Time – per retailer
3.19
3.85
4.27
Full Time – per store
1.75
1.43
1.76
Part Time – per store
2.33
3.40
3.51
No Full Time Staff
13%
32%
No Part Time Staff
18%
20%
22%

6. What was your revenue for 2018?
Year
Average store revenue
2014
£429,605
2015
£413,095
2016
£470,479
2017
£493,250
2018
£491,797
Average store revenue has decreased by 0.25%

7. Approximately, what % is this up or down on last year?
2015
2016
2017
2018
Up average 9%
10%
18%
Down average
-7%
-9%
-5%
-7.5%
Overall
6.29%
7.54%
7.03%
10.65%
The gap between the retailers thriving and those that are struggling is widening.
18% of retailers reported a reduction in 2018 revenue (8% in 2017).

8. Has footfall increased or decreased in the past 12 months?
The number of retailers reporting a decrease in footfall is at a 5 year high.

9. Has average consumer spend increased or decreased in the past 12 months?
The number of retailers reporting a decrease in average spend is also at a 5 year high.

10. Over the past 10 years, has the average age of your customer base become:
The number of retailers reporting a younger average customer has slowed (67% in 2018 and 70% in 2017)

11. What would you estimate the average age of your customers?
35-54 is the perfect demographic for health stores.
The average health store customer is 43 years old – down from 45 in 2018.

12. Which health issues / lifestyle factors are the biggest driver of sales in your store?
2017
2018
2019 1
Digestive Health
Stress & Anxiety 2
Sleep, stress and energy 3
Bone & Joint Health 4
Women’s Health
Cold & Flu 5 6
Healthy Living 7
Allergy 8
Brain Health 9
Heart Health & Blood Pressure
Preventative Care 10
Diet & Weight Loss 11

13. Approximately, what % of your store is given to:
A significant amount of shelf-space has returned to high margin - Supplements & Remedies

14. Which product category do you think offers the strongest growth potential (for your store) in the next 12 months?
2016
2017
2018
2019 1
Supplements / remedies
Vegan / Vegetarian
Green Lifestyle / Eco 2
Special Diet / Free From 3
Vegan / Veg
Organic 4
Bodycare & Beauty 5
Beauty / Bodycare 6
Raw Food
Fairtrade / ethical
Sports Nutrition 7 8 9
Fairtrade / Ethical
Raw Foods / Superfoods
Green Lifestyle and Eco Products are seen as the category with the strongest growth potential.

15. What is your biggest motivation to stock a product in your store?
Motivation in 2016
Motivation in 2017
Motivation in 2018
Motivation in 2019 1
Quality of Product 2
Customer request
Exclusive to independents 3 4
Support from Supplier
Support from supplier
New Product 5
Margin / Price deal
Margin / Price Deal 6
Supplier Deal
Supplier deal 7 8
Account Terms
52% of retailers state 'Quality of Product' as the main motivation for stocking a product. However 20% now cite ‘Exclusive to Independents’ as a key driver to help offer a point of difference.

16. Which wholesalers do you use?
CLF and The Health Store remain the most popular wholesalers – but retailers are shopping around.

17. What do you currently see as the biggest threat to independent natural products retailing?
Uncertainty surrounding BREXIT along with online retailers is seen as the biggest threat to independents.
‘Other’ focussed on town centre decline and local council mis-management.

18. What do you currently see as the biggest opportunity for independent natural products retailers?
Changing shopping habits is still seen as the biggest opportunity for independent retailers.
‘Other’ included the growing consumer awareness around health and eco lifestyles.

19. Do you have an e-commerce site?
A third of independent retailers sell via their websites.
16% also see selling online as their biggest opportunity in 2019.

20. If yes, what % of total sales do your online sales represent?
Average % of total sales has dropped from 12.5% in 2018 to just over 7% in 2019

21. What marketing activities do you currently use?
Retailers are embracing technology to promote their stores - at the same time as engaging with their customers through local and instore events.

22. Which social media platforms do you currently use to promote your business?
2017
2018
2019
Facebook
90%
93%
95%
Twitter
50%
54%
44%
Instagram
31%
47%
75%
None
10% 4% 2%
Pinterest 6% 5% 3%
LinkedIn 0%
11%
Google Plus
Facebook is still the independent retailer’s most popular form of social media for promoting their business but Instagram has again seen the biggest growth.

23. Do you offer additional services?
Yoga classes are now a more popular offering than cookery classes

24. In the near future, do you plan to:
2018 NO
1-2 years
2-3 years
3-5 years
5+ years
Expand / refurbish your current premises?
57%
29%
11% 3% 0%
Take on additional premises?
70%
17% 9% 2%
Sell your business?
64%
14% 7% 8%
2019
51%
40% 4%
67%
27%
46% of retailers plan to expand or refurbish within the next 5 years.
27% of retailers plan to take on additional premises within the next 2 years.

25. Where do you currently get most of your information (industry and business)?
Trade press and is still the most important source of information
Trade shows and online b2b content are also increasingly important.

26. If you belong to a trade association, please let us know which one(s):
Those who answered ‘no’ questioned the value of joining a trade association.

27. Are you more, or less optimistic about business than 12 months ago?
Retailer optimism has dropped from 61% to 39% over the past 12 months.

28. What is the independent natural health store's single biggest Unique Selling Point?
Invest in your staff! Staff product knowledge and overall customer care are the successful health store’s biggest USPs.

29. “Increase social media presence”
Thinking about the things you learnt in 2018, what will you do differently in 2019?
“Be bolder with new products”
“More vegan products”
“Do more instore promotions”
“Do more instore events.”
“Close our store!”
“Increase social media presence”
“Plan, implement and measure more than in 2018.”
“Open an online store”
“Sell the business”
“Stock more zero waste products”
“Try to take more time off”
“Try to have less waste”

30. Thank you