How to Choose the Perfect Retail Products for Med Spas
In this interview Patti Biro shares HOW to choose retail products for med spas… and why you MUST offer them! You will learn how to choose exactly the right retail products for your med spa. Patti also shares how to create a collection of carefully selected retail products for your med spa that will not only represent your brand, but strengthen it!
In this episode, we’ll cover:
- Key benefits of adding retail products for med spas
- Selecting retail products for med spas that complement the current services, even if you don’t have private-label products of your own to sell
- Missed opportunities to delight your customers, create brand evangelists and generate more revenue
- Understanding the missing link when it comes to deciding on the perfect retail products for your med spa
Retail Products for Med Spas Are CRITICAL!
Here's Why...
Today, I talk with Patti Biro, founder of Patti Biro Associates. Patti’s consulting firm specializes in creating brand enrichment through brand definition. The firm offers program planning, special events, retail consulting and education in personal products for wellness industries. Patti began working with medical spas in 1995.
Patti discusses the benefits of offering retail products for med spas, how to select products that will complement your service offerings, and the opportunities you’re missing if you’re not offering retail products in your med spa.
Benefits of Retail Products for Med Spas
The sad truth, according to Patti, is that there are still many med spas that are not selling retail products… or if they are, they’re not selling very much of it. It is human psychology to want to buy a product within 48 hours of having a treatment performed to maximize the results of that treatment.
First off, if you’re not making a product recommendation, the customer WILL go elsewhere to buy it, which means you missed a sale. And truly, you haven’t fully delivered on that service, Patti says. Not offering a retail product recommendation means you have not finished delivering the service. You can’t separate retail product recommendations from the service; it’s part of the service.
Second, by integrating retail products for med spas into your service protocol, the effectiveness of that service is prolonged. It also encourages the patient to return to your med spa. When people receive great results, they start to fall in love with your company.
Finally, the client truly feels “loved”and taken care of, strengthening the perceived value of the services. The client truly believes they’re getting the maximum return on their investment.
When clients get great results, it leads to:
- Great customer reviews and testimonials
- Referrals of friends and family to your med spa
- Above all, increased lifetime value of each customer
When people are paying out of pocket for a treatment or service they don’t necessarily need, they have higher expectations. The med spa that delivers on those expectations is the med spa that extends the positive impact it has on that customer and, ultimately, its brand.
Creating Collections of Retail Products for Med Spas
Patti explains how creating and selling collections of retail product for med spas promotes your brand. She also emphasizes that you should always link retail purchases with the services that you provide.
Selecting the right retail products for med spas can be achieved by:
- Identifying the vibe or the feel and culture of your med spa
- Thinking about what makes your med spa unique
- Knowing the experience you want to create for your customer
- Taking a look at your med spa’s demographics
- Selecting products that support the overall goal of the service or treatment
What is your vibe?
First, think about your med spa’s mission, vision and vibe or culture. Are you an upscale and luxurious? Do you have more of an organic vibe?
What makes your med spa unique?
Is there anything that makes your med spa unique or different from other med spas? Do you offer cutting-edge techniques or have a proven process? Have you won awards or been featured in media or in any publications?
What kind of experience do you want to create for your customer?
How do you want your customer to feel? Do you want your customer to feel pampered, like they just left a 4- or 5-star day spa? Do you want them to feel great knowing you only use naturally-sourced, organic retail products?
Demographics
Consider demographics, such as the age of your ideal customers and where your med spa is located. Are you in a hot, sunny location that values the importance of good sun protection? Do you serve millennials or mostly men? Segmenting your retail products into collections for a particular demographic will result in the customer feeling understood and cared for.
What are your service goals?
Identify retail products that support the goal of the service, such as body products that maximize the effectiveness of a body sculpting treatment. Bundle and create retail product packages, collections or menus that are solution-driven and that complement the service.
You always want to be thinking med spa first, then thinking of products that fit that higher goal. Patti provides some great examples in the interview, such as offering fun products like bath bombs or body brushes as part of a collection if it’s in line with the service being offered.
If you do not have private-label products of your own, select the most complementary retail products that will achieve the vibe of your med spa or the feeling you want your customers to experience.
Instead of just offering therapeutic skin care or body care retail products for your med spa, think of what else can create a 360° experience. What else would make the entire med spa treatment more enjoyable for your clients?
Do you offer retail products that help your clients’ results last longer? Or will your med spa products helps them heal faster? How about a tool they can use to apply the products with?
Do you current retail products for med spas reinforce all of these brand pillars?
Missed Opportunities to Increase Customer Retention and Revenue
Patti shares a few missed opportunities that can help strengthen your med spa brand, deliver exceptional service to your customers and increase your med spa revenue. She talks about the type of services to offer in your med spa, the power of hospitality, integrating retail products into your closing protocol and the idea of retail replenishment.
Med Spa Services
Most importantly, you’ll want to look at the services you offer. It’s easy to fall into the trap of offering a variety of medical and non-medical services without considering if they are congruent with your med spa’s core offerings.
Depending on the vibe of your med spa and the experience you want for your customer, some product offerings can actually lessen the impact of your brand. It is best to stick with services that are aligned with your brand’s mission, vision and feel of your med spa.
One example Patti uses is a med spa that wants to be more green and organic. They should consider if offering a Botox service is the best choice for them.
The most common misunderstanding that Patti sees is knowing what qualifies a procedure as “medical” and what falls under an aesthetician or board of cosmetology procedure. Patti stresses the importance of being licensed and have the correct liability insurance.
Retail Product Recommendations
Another missed opportunity is not making retail product for med spas recommendations at all. People want a product that is going to complement the service. If you are not offering it to them, they will go somewhere else. Likewise, make sure you are integrating retail product recommendations into your closing protocol.
Retail Replenishment
Patti also talks about customer retention and building your brand by having follow-up procedures in place. She refers to “Retail Replenishment,” which is a concept of being proactive, not reactive.
Here’s the idea behind Retail Replenishment:
Let’s say your customer purchased a cleanser from your med spa that typically lasts about 3 months and you have not heard from your customer in those 3 months. You then reach out to them prior to them running out of cleanser and offer to have a bottle of it waiting at the front desk for them.
By doing this, you have provided another service and created another chance to have a conversation with that customer… AND you’ve gotten them to come back to your med spa. When they stop by, it’s another opportunity to really connect with them and make a wonderful lasting impression on the customer.
Power of Hospitality
Last but not least, your med spa can greatly benefit from understanding the power of hospitality. Not only is it important to implement hospitality training in your med spa but to also follow the policies and procedures.
If your #MedSpa is not offering retail products at the end of a service - the service is NOT complete! #Truth #MedSpaMarketing @pattibiro
Want more help with choosing the perfect retail products for med spas?
Patti is offering a brief complimentary consultation to help identify your key issues and whether she can help you address them to grow your business. If not, there are lots of other people she can refer you to. For more information, visit Patti’s website at www.pattibiro.com or find her on Facebook at Patti Biro and Associates.
Full transcript of interview on how to use choose the right retail products for your med spa...
Guest Expert on Retail Products for Med Spas - Learn More about Patti Biro and Her Services:

Patti Biro
Founder Patti Biro & Associates
www.pattibiro.com
Patti Biro and Associates specialize in creating brand enrichment. They do so through brand definition, program planning, special events, and retail products for med spas consulting. Patti and her team also provide education in the personal products, spa and wellness industries.
Patti began working with medical spas in 1995. Since then, she has continued to develop integrated programs for hospitals, wellness centers, associations and employers. These programs link the best of wellness and lifestyle program components with medical spa and day spa services and retail.
The unique med spa business model requires a thorough understanding of the regulatory, scope of practice and compliance guidelines for the medical spa and wellness environment.
She is a frequent speaker, author and panelist on the medical spa, gift and personal accessories trade show industry circuit.
Patti writes extensively for trade magazines such as Skin Deep, Massage Magazine, Les Nouvelle Esthetique and Spa, Nails Magazine and others.
As an active member of the Spa Industries Association/ International Medical Spa Association she serves as the Director of Education