The second annual Dermatology and Retail Alliance met in October, and the main takeaway from the event is that trained beauty consultants and pharmacists can fill gaps, especially as innovative skin care products are available on retail shelves.
Composed of dermatologists, brand leaders and retailers, the Alliance works collaboratively on strategies to improve patients’ skin care outcomes.
The number of Americans reporting sensitive skin conditions and other issues is on the rise yet only 38% seek professional help. Trained beauty consultants and pharmacists can help.
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This year’s session focused on topics such as:
“We are trying to reshape the experience as a shopper and a patient,” said John Reed, general manager-CeraVe US, Integrated Health, L’Oréal derm sales team and one of the creators of the alliance. “As people care more about their skin today and chronic skin conditions are increasing, we are missing opportunities and have a shared responsibility to do more.” For the second year, CeraVe hosted the industry event.
This year’s gathering in Austin, Texas, included a tour of the Sanova Dermatology, a private dermatology practice specializing in skincare retail, custom IRI research sponsored by The Emerson Group, a deep dive into the transformation of retail services from VMLY&R and two informative panel discussions headlined by leading retailers and top-notch dermatologists.
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Highlights from The Personal Skin Health Journey presented by Laura Toscani, consultant analytics and insights at IRI include the following:
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Here are some highlights from The Personal Skin Health Journey presented by Laura Toscani, consultant analytics and insights at IRI:
“At Walgreens, we are focused on driving efficiencies that allow our pharmacists to provide more clinical services and establish more meaningful connections with patients and providers,” said Heather Hughes, Walgreens Group Vice President, GMM of Beauty, Personal Care and Seasonal. “Our micro-fulfillment centers remove routine tasks from the pharmacy by filling prescriptions at a central location that are then sent back to the local Walgreens pharmacy for customer pick up. Walgreens is among the first pharmacies to leverage micro-fulfillment centers at this scale to drive efficiencies and cost savings in the last-mile delivery of prescriptions. Enabling our pharmacy team to focus on the activities for which they are licensed and provide expanded patient care not only helps us better serve our communities but allows for more fulfilling and purpose-driven work for our team members. In addition to our pharmacists, we have highly educated and trained Beauty Consultants in over 3,000 doors. Having both sets of expertise for shoppers and patients is the key to the future. For example, as part of our Feel More Like You service, pharmacists and Beauty Consultants are specially trained to help people better manage internal and visible side effects from cancer treatment. We partner with our clinical team to validate what products are best for patients and it’s strides like this that help us to be more inclusive to everyone as we live out our purpose of creating more joyful lives through better health.”
“There is skinification across all beauty categories. We know it can be daunting walking into a skin care environment, especially with prestige, masstige and mass offerings across so many brands,” said Penny Coy, Ulta Beauty’s VP skincare, Sun care, fragrances and bath. “That’s why we have licensed skin aestheticians, beauty experts, and our skin advisor app. Even while in front of a display, our guests go to the brand and our website. One white space we are exploring and leaning further into is the guest who is interested in pre-menopausal and menopausal skin care. Additionally, our Skinfatuation program works to share greater education by specific themes. Brands come in and educate our teams via videos and in-store events which creates richer guest connections.”
Dr. Peter Lio, Board Certified Dermatologist: “I really believe if you get the right topical OTC products you can change the course of someone’s illness and prevent them from needing the next level medication. What we recommend can mean all the difference in someone’s journey. Companies like L’Oréal are pushing the limits, in the best possible way, of a drug. We are seeing amazing stuff.”
Dr. Patty Farris, Board Certified Dermatologist: “We saw the intersection between wellness and beauty [retailers reported] as practitioners as well. Topical skin care [sold at retail] is more top-of-mind than ever before and the more dermatologists know, the better. I take my hats off to the industry, especially the dermatology brands—before CeraVe no one was talking about ceramides. Now everyone is. All the brands do an incredible job with R&D and that’s why derms are recommending them.”
Here are some highlights from the panel, Winning in the New Retail World, presented by Brian Owens, VMLY&R Health Senior Vice President, Commerce Strategy:
Owens, who brings personal experience with skin conditions, focused on personalizing the skin care journey, “skinfluencers,” the symbiotic relationship between skin care, health services and new commerce experiences.
Panel: Winning in the New Retail World
Owens’s presentation served as a jumping off point for a lively discussion with practitioners and retailers. Highlights include:
