The $16.8 billion skin care continues to produce some of the biggest gains in the beauty category.
Emerging and established brands pump big dollars into product creation and marketing. An often-overlooked strategy is to leverage the link between dermatologists and pharmacists. Outreach to derms can generate sales, even for DTC brands. Simple and inexpensive sales materials distributed to pharmacists and elicit sales.
The drugstore channel is no longer the only channel staffed by pharmacists. CVS and Walmart are the largest retailers with pharmacies, but Walmart, Kroger, Publix, Target (powered by CVS) and even Costco all rank on the list of retailers with the most pharmacies.
Pharmacists consistently rank number one as the most trusted profession and their recommendations for products are followed a whopping 96% of the time, according to data presented at the recent Dermatology and Retail Alliance.
The alliance was created to foster greater communications between pharmacists and dermatologists. Now in its third year, the most recent gathering was held in Austin, Texas and attended by 15 U.S. dermatologists, 20 key retail executives, three partner organizations and leaders from CeraVe and La Roche-Posay USA.
ABOUT FAYE BROOKMAN
Faye Brookman has reported on the beauty and personal care industry for more than 35 years. 
She contributes to beauty industry publications including Women’s Wear Daily and CEW Beauty News. Her articles have also appeared in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. She also is a frequent moderator for discussions of the beauty business and retail industry.
A graduate of Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, Brookman resides in Skillman, N.J.
In case you missed it, check out Faye’s previous article about Beauty in an Uncertain Economy.
Categorized in: Beauty Declassified