Page 27 - Retail Pharmacy Assistants - November 2020

Chemcorp works with a number of brands. Talk us through some of these and how you decide what brands to work with and represent. Yes, we have a lot of brands in our portfolio. These are both owned brands, including 1000HOUR, Bathefex, Protech+, Schoolies and our just acquired pureTAN brand, plus distributor brands including Real Techniques, EcoTools, SheaMoisture, Dr Teal’s, Spascriptions, UpCircle, Black Leopard and Freeman Beauty. In terms of taking on brands, there’s quite an extensive list of criteria, including market trends and gaps, whether we feel a brand fits well in our portfolio, distribution matrix and area of expertise, as well as finding business partners that are like-minded and we feel we can have a good working relationship with. How has the pandemic affected business at Chemcorp and what innovations have you implemented to ensure the continued success of the business? It’s certainly been an interesting year. Overall, Chemcorp has operated well throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, due to our diversity of brands. Some of our previously best-selling brands, for example Real Techniques, took a bit of a hit along with the cosmetics category generally, due to people working from home and not going out socially; whereas we literally couldn’t keep up with demand for our 1000HOUR Lash & Brow Dye Kit, already an iconic Australian beauty must-have, as women turned to DIY beauty with beauty clinics closed for some time. We were also able to build on our existing Protech+ brand with sanitiser and face mask products, too. Like many businesses, we were unable to be out on the road as such, but saw our teams embracing digital technologies to ensure continued customer care and connection with accounts, which we know supported our success during this period and will play a bit part in continuing this success moving forward, too. What have the trends been within beauty and wellness in 2020? DIY beauty plus a focus on skin care and wellbeing has definitely come to the forefront in 2020. A combination of more time at home and no other choice but to self-care at home is driving these overall trends. Within this, we’re also seeing the continuation of consumers looking for brands with natural and clean ingredients. In our portfolio, brands including 1000HOUR, as mentioned, as well as wellbeing products Dr Teal’s and Bathefex, have performed well. SheaMoisture has also performed exceptionally throughout this period, with hair treatment masks selling out. With increasing need for handwashing and increased use of hand sanitisers during the pandemic, what are your tips for ensuring that our skin doesn’t become dry and cracked? How can people who suffer from conditions such as dermatitis ensure proper hygiene while also maintaining healthy skin? Sanitisers, particularly, are made up of 70-plus per cent alcohol, which strips skin of moisture, so the top tip here would be to ensure that moisture is replenished continually so skin doesn’t dry out. Our Bathefex range features a new Repairing Hand Mask, which is formulated with shea butter, coconut oil and vitamin E to deeply nourish and rehydrate skin. We don’t think twice about using a face mask once to twice a week, and this is no different. In terms of the conditions you’ve mentioned, we’d always recommend consulting a medical professional for the best way to manage these. With issues such as anxiety increasingly seen in the community due to the uncertainty of the pandemic and the lockdown measures needed to curb the spread of the virus, how have relaxation/wellness brands performed throughout the past 12 months? As I mentioned, our wellness brands, or those brands that allow for at-home self-care, have all performed well. It’s been great to see so much in the media generally encouraging people to make self-care part of their day-to- day over the past six-plus months, and hopefully this is something that extends beyond the pandemic to become a part of all our daily lives. How has the beauty segment of retail pharmacy changed in 2020 and what does the future hold for it? Throughout 2020, probably the biggest change in the pharmacy beauty segment has been the product mix. 6 MINUTES WITH ... 25 Given pharmacy is an essential service, and has been open throughout the pandemic period, people have possibly been reminded of the extent of beauty within this channel. In line with what we’ve experienced from a brand perspective, the product mix has skewed more to DIY beauty, skin care and wellness products, and away from cosmetics (makeup and accessories). It doesn’t look like this will change in the immediate future, but I don’t doubt that as the pandemic slows and life starts to look a little more normal with people heading back into offices for work and starting to go out more, cosmetics will pick back up again, too. Perhaps the biggest impact might be on the professional side of beauty. With so many people having embraced DIY beauty, they may be happy to continue with some of this in their regular routine after realising how quick, easy and cost- efficient it can be. What does the future hold for Chemcorp? Can you talk us through some of your plans for the rest of 2020 and beyond? Business as usual for us. Although, as I mentioned, we’re really excited to have just acquired the pureTAN brand. This is an iconic Australian tanning brand – made in Australia from locally sourced ingredients. It fits into our DIY beauty portfolio, and we really believe that with the continued consumer trends toward natural products, this brand is perfect for now. The formulation is plant-based, it contains no nasties, and of course is not tested on animals. The brand is currently ranged in Priceline Pharmacies. Also, look out for some new innovation under our 1000HOUR brand too. As someone with significant experience in sales and in the pharmacy space, what is your advice to pharmacy assistants who may have big career goals and aspirations? How can pharmacy assistants become leaders in their industry? I think the best advice I could give is to be proactive, stay curious and customer focused. Learn as much as you can about the business you work in, so you can offer real value, continually educate yourself on the brands and products you work with and sell everyday, so you become the expert and go-to, both for your work colleagues but also your customers. RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • NOV 2020