Focus On: Yes To’s natural ingredients, effective products drive its retail strategy

Officials at Yes To want to make it pretty hard for both retailers and consumers to say no to their products.

The company, founded in 2006 by two entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity to introduce an affordable natural beauty line at retail, is pulling out all the stops to show that they have most of the category covered, with quality products, great packaging that delivers a clear message and a pricing structure that attracts a wide range of shoppers.

Yes To produces about 80 SKUs across the skin care, hair care, facial care and, now, the hand cream segments. The Pasadena, Calif.-based company emphasizes five key areas of differentiation from most products in the marketplace, including the fact that all of its items are fruit- and vegetable-based products that are made with at least 95% natural ingredients before water.

“Our objective is to show consumers that we offer straightforward, natural skin care products that are proven to work. Yes To offers much more than that, too. It is important to us that natural skin care is not only widely available, but affordable as well,” said Maggie Carey, the company’s CEO. “All of our products are under $16 with 75% of the items being offered for $10 or less.”

Carey said that the emphasis right now is to return the company to its founding roots and attract consumers with its pledge to quality, affordability and products that “are so good that consumers cannot say no to them.”

The company offers its products across six different lines, all based on a specific fruit or vegetable. The Purify Pores with Tomatoes is designed to work with blemish-prone skin, the Get Glow-y with Grapefruit is for dull and uneven skin, the Refresh Your Skin with Watermelon is for all skin types, and Soothe & Calm with Cucumbers is for sensitive skin. The company has just introduced the five-SKU Majorly Moisturize with Avocado for dry skin and four-SKU line of tea tree hair care scalp products.

The various lines include such items as face cleansers and moisturizers, scrubs, eye creams, masks, and hand lotions.

“We understand that we have to educate retailers about our products, that we are a gateway into naturals, the unique benefits we deliver and how to maximize shopability in stores and online,” said Dan Taylor, senior vice president of sales-global. “When we collaborate with our retail partners, we explain to them the state of the category, key ingredient trends and what consumers are looking for most. Then we explain what each of our products delivers in terms of natural skin and face care solutions.”

Carey noted the importance of marketing to the Yes To strategy. She emphasized an omnichannel approach that includes in-store marketing to educate consumers about the category and brand; the Yes To website to also help keep them informed; and social media, which is a combination of public relations support and getting influencers to talk up the line.

“The more people know about what we are doing at Yes To the more likely they are to try the products and see how unique they are,” she said. “Also, it will get retailers more excited about what we offer and the role we play within their skin care sets.

“We know the future looks great for Yes To. Consumers are already positively responding to the changes we have made,” Carey said. “This brand has a rich history of providing skin care regimens formulated for a range of skin types, and the strides we are making with consumers will only get stronger as we continue to build out our product line and marketing strategies.”