HANDMADE NATURAL SOAP IS RED HOT
Merchandising Strategies Are Adding Fuel to the Fire
Newcastle, Maine – Handmade natural soap is not only good for your skin and the environment, it is good for retailers' cash registers. According to Natural Foods Merchandiser (NFM), the natural products industry grew by 11% from 1998 to 1999 and total sales in 1999 exceeded 28 billion dollars. NFM reported that sales of natural body care products experienced similar growth, with sales in natural food stores increasing by more than 12% from 1998 to 1999. Customers are buying handmade natural soap in record numbers. Vermont Soapworks, one of the industry leaders, has experienced sales increases of more than 35% in each of the last 5 years. To keep up with consumer demand, Vermont Soapworks completed an expansion project in 2000 that boosted capacity by 50%. Other handcrafted soapmakers have experienced similar growth.
Merchandising Strategies are Leading the Way
Merchandising strategies have contributed greatly to the sizzling growth of handmade natural soap. Unpackaged bars of soap presented in colorful and rustic displays and clear bulk bins are boosting sales. Shoppers can't help but approach the displays and pick up the soap, inhale the aroma, admire the rainbow of natural ingredients and buy it. Unpackaged bars of soap in the displays typically sell 4 to 5 times faster than the same soap in its usual colorful packaging. Not only do the displays sell natural soap faster, they virtually eliminate consumer packaging. Many of the merchandising displays are also educational. Often, a creative chart is attached to the display that informs customers of the appropriate skin type for each bar of soap in the display. Selling unpackaged natural soap reduces the producer's unit costs, and those savings are often passed on to retailers and consumers.
Sample and trial strategies are also boosting natural soap sales. Some soapmakers provide factory "seconds," usually under-size soap trimmings, to retailers so customers can sample the product in the store. Another popular natural soap merchandising strategy is to allow customers to cut their own soap from a brick, with the sale price usually determined by weight. Because handmade natural soap is not usually sold into mass-market venues, these merchandising techniques provide customers with a shopping experience that is unique to the natural products market.
How is Handmade Natural Soap Created?
Creative displays and sampling are great sales vehicles, but it is the mildness of handmade soap that keeps customers returning for more. Vermont Soapworks, the largest maker of handmade natural soap in North America, does things the old-fashioned way. Natural ingredients are blended in small batches and poured into wooden block molds. The molds are then warmed for several days, which forces the soap to set up very slowly. Any excess alkali rises to the top like cream and is skimmed off. When ready, the soap is wire cut into bars, placed on oak drying frames and aged in a special curing room for nearly a month. This 200 year-old process removes excess alkali from the soap, a major cause of dryness and irritation often found in conventional bar soaps. Handmade natural soap can be made from a number of renewable vegetable and botanical sources such as saponified oils of palm, coconut and essential oils in aromatherapy blends. Many Soapmakers use Rosemary extract as a natural preservative.
What Can Make Some Soaps Harsh and Harmful?
Trapped free alkali is the most common irritant in soap. The handcrafting process for natural soap removes excess alkali that traditional soaps leave in. Ingredients in many mass-marketed soaps include Isopropyl Alcohol, DEA, artificial fragrances, FD&C Colors, Propylene Glycol and Triclosan. These ingredients can cause skin irritation and/or dryness and are suspected to be harmful to human health.
Evidence abounds of the healing powers of handmade natural soap, particularly when essential oils are included. Eczema and psoriasis sufferers, as well as people that have sensitive skin or are hypoallergenic often find immediate relief by switching to natural soap.
No Sign of Cooling Down
In the next couple of years, the handmade natural soap market is expected to meet or exceed the projected growth of the natural products industry. Retailers note strong repeat sales and customer loyalty, especially for natural soaps that provide relief for dry and sensitive skin. As the public becomes more educated on why handmade soap is good for their skin and tests out the product, sales are sure to continue to be red hot.
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