Industry News: Flu Season A Chance To Boost Sales


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Industry News: Flu Season A Chance To Boost Sales

Issue: 2009nov

The flurry of flu headlines mixed with overwhelming demand for hand-sanitizer products has meant a boom in sales for many industry suppliers, but keeping up with the interest has proven challenging for some.

Mel Ellis, president of Portland, Oregon-based supplier Humphrey Line (UPIC: HUMPHREY), says producing his company’s popular hand-sanitizer products in the U.S. and maintaining 10-day lead times, along with “drop-dead reliable service,” means Humphrey has seen a marked increase in sales.

“I think our experence here underscores the importance of customer service in our industry,” says Ellis, adding that the response from clients has been “terrific.”

While hand sanitizer has been a top seller for the past few years, Ellis says the supplier also provides educational materials on its website for distributors so they can educate their clients on maintaining healthy lifestyles that incorporate Humphrey Line products.

Hauppage, New York-based distributor Positive Promotions (UPIC: POSI0008) also places a great deal of emphasis on education.

“I would consider us a market leader in health and wellness, and I try to stay on top of what’s happening in the news,” says Stephanie Felner, Positive Promotions senior marketing manager for the healthcare group. To that end, the distributor decided to focus on H1N1 safety and prevention in addition to its standard seasonal flu efforts, she says.

“We have developed educational items and hand sanitizer [promotions] to create awareness about staying healthy,” says Felner. “Our customers are hospitals and schools and we want to help them educate their communities through our materials.”

Felner says though it was difficult for many of her company’s suppliers to anticipate the recent high demand for sanitizer, Positive Promotions has no shortage of supplemental educational materials. Having in-house printing capabilities means “we have control over our stock of those items.”

Parker, Colorado-based supplier Leashables By OraLabs (UPIC: oralabs) is keeping up with the increased demand thanks to some early planning, says Kathy Vichakchon. The company has already seen a record September and is looking at a record this month, as well.

“Our peaks have a lot to do with available inventory,” says Vichakchon. “It seems as soon as some comes in, in the next 24 hours it goes out.”

Leashables customers began asking for hand sanitizer as early as May, when the H1N1 was prominently featured in mainstream news. “You can see a direct relationship to consumer reaction; we started adding inventory after May but even then that was not enough,” she says.

Vichkachon says Leashables’ “bread-and-butter” business comes from the small and medium promotional products orders, and serving those as well as sudden influxes of large orders is a balancing act.

The alcohol-based sanitizers provided by Leashables are also popular because the formulation is most recommended by public health organizations like the Centers for Disease Control.

Vichakchon adds that the supplier’s emphasis on quality extend beyond its sanitizer’s effectiveness; Leashables also takes care to combine the benefits of its products with branding. “The packaging and the quality of the imprint play a big part” in sales, she says.

Ellis says though he believes much of the publicity surrounding H1N1 is overblown, he also believes in heeding the guidelines given by the Centers for Disease Control and World Health Organization about flu prevention; Felner and Vichakchon agree.

To that extent, Ellis’ team of employees in Oregon have all received hand-sanitizer samples and had flu shots courtesy of the company. “And if they’re sick, they go home,” he says. Positive Promotions also held a flu-shot drive to help prevent the spread of the seasonal flu.

Vichakchon says while there is no stated health policy regarding H1N1, employees are discouraged from reporting to work while sick. “We’re in the healthcare business, so we know how to take care of ourselves,” she says.

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