Study: Homeopathic shoppers buy more

Homeopathy products, especially in the cough-cold space, appear to be doing very well. That’s good news in and of itself, but according to recent Boiron research, it gets better: People who place homeopathy in their market baskets tend to buy more by the time they get to the checkout.


“Overall, our research shows that 27% of shoppers have successfully used a natural/alternative over-the-counter medicine in the past, while 55% have not but are interested in trying,” said John Durkin, Boiron VP sales and marketing. “This suggests a substantial opportunity to increase sales,” he said. Consumers who buy homeopathic products are more valuable shoppers, Durkin added, across all channels. “Specifically in drug stores, baskets with homeopathic medicines have an average value of $42 in comparison to $21 for those that don’t,” Durkin said, citing SpinScan “Shopper Insights” for the year ended June 26, 2010.


But homeopathy isn’t selling better because it’s homeopathy, per se. Rather, it’s more of a right-place-right-time scenario. Recommended use for all of kids’ cough-cold medicines were scaled back to older than 4 years old for many allopathic formulations. That had many parents in search of a solution that was priced right, worked and could be recommended for use in their children. The answer turned out to be homeopathy. 


“The past issues with pediatric cold medicines have been great for homeopathy and the natural segment,” said Michele Boisvert, president of Homeolab USA, which offers a number of pediatric cough-cold products under the Kids Relief brand. “There is certainly an increased amount of homeopathic and natural offerings on the shelves today for consumers to choose from. Now with recent recalls, it leaves the door wide open for natural options.”