Boiron: Room for growth in homeopathic medicines sales

ANAHEIM, Calif. — According to a study presented Friday at the Natural Products Expo West, Boiron has found there is substantial opportunity for growth in the retail sales of homeopathic medicines with notable interest among consumers in trying homeopathic medicines.

Nearly half of all consumers have used a natural or alternative medicine successfully in the past, and there is strong consumer desire to minimize their usage of traditional over-the-counter medications because of safety and purity concerns.

Overall, 8-out-of-10 consumers are interested in using natural products.

The survey found that 79% of consumers are attempting to limit their overall usage of traditional OTC medicines. While they believe in the efficacy of OTCs, they feel these products aren’t “good” for them, especially when used frequently. Coming off the heels of numerous product recalls, a sizable number of shoppers cited purity and lack of irritants (64%) to be important factors when choosing OTC products, Boiron reported.

The study also uncovered increasing familiarity with homeopathic medicines. Six-out-of-10 of the shoppers surveyed were familiar with these natural OTCs, a jump of 50% from the previous study.

Approximately 9-in-10 shoppers have at least heard of homeopathy. Personal networks, such as family, friends or colleagues, were the most common triggers for starting to use homeopathic medicines. However, not knowing enough about homeopathic medicines continues to be a key barrier to usage (42% to 52% in various product categories). When these same shoppers were made aware of the benefits of homeopathic medicine, such as them being safe and having no side effects or drug interactions, up to 49% said they would be interested in trying them.

The study is the second phase of a multiyear study conducted by the Hartman Group on behalf of Boiron. The Hartman Group contacted 2,055 women between the ages of 25 and 70 years online in January.