Vitamin Shoppe investing in omnichannel retailing

NORTH BERGEN, N.J. — The Vitamin Shoppe is making significant investments into omnichannel retailing, CEO and director Anthony Truesdale told analysts during a conference call on Tuesday. 

"Our omnichannel initiative is an important focus for the company, one which will enable us to further improve service to our customers," he said. "This is a multiyear project. Phase one includes the ability for customers to buy online and pick up in the store. We expect to have this service available by the end of next year," he said. "All [of] this is designed so that customers can shop however, wherever and whenever they want, and this will set us further apart from pureplay e-commerce companies."

Vitamin Shoppe recently boosted its online retailing appeal with the addition of PayPal as a payment option earlier in the quarter, Truesdale added. Also in an effort to enhance its online offering, Vitamin Shoppe has been tweaking its multiple interfaces. "We're seeing the tremendous movement of customers and growth in the tablet business and our phone business," Truesdale said. "So we're going to continue to invest in those two devices, to make sure that … it continues to meet what the customer expects from The Vitamin Shoppe," he said. "The tablet experience is different than the phone experience, and we're adapting our experiences based on how the customer uses those devices when they shop at Vitamin Shoppe."

Vitamin Shoppe also announced the launch of two new premium private-brand products, including a probiotic under its Probiocare label and a line of herbs to be marketed under its Plant label.