The retail business increases for 50% of dispensing physician in 2018.

Aesthetic Physicians Are Set to Grow Skin Care Sales

The physician-dispensing market in the United States continues to be attractive, with newly licensed doctors starting to dispense skin care products. This has been a tradition mainly for dermatologists and plastic surgeons, as over 40% of them have been dispensing skin care products for more than 10 years, according to Kline’s recently published Physician-dispensed Skin Care: Perception and Satisfaction Survey.

The survey mainly focuses on identifying the most important attributes to physicians dispensing skin care products while choosing a brand and how various brands perform against these attributes. According to the survey findings, the most important attribute to dispensing physicians is product portfolio and innovation; however, training and education was the most important attribute to physicians in the previous edition. The importance of attributes varies by physician type, as price and value-added services is considered to be the most important attribute to dermatologists, while training and education is the most important attribute to plastic surgeons.

A few other key and interesting findings emerge from our survey. Over 70% of the panel have been dispensing skin care products for more than five years, which implies most of the respondents are long-term accounts. Interestingly, the retail business grows for over one-half of dispensing physicians compared to the prior year. Moreover, about three-fourths of respondents want to increase their skin care sales over the next 12 months. This is good news for marketers who have a foothold in this channel.

It is also interesting to note that medium-sized brands such as ZO Skin Health, Biopelle, and Avene tend to receive the best performance scores overall. However, larger brands such as SkinCeuticals, Obagi and SkinMedica have stronger brand awareness scores. Medical spas are the most satisfied physician type across all attributes, followed by dermatologists.

Private label plays a key role in the business of dispensing physicians’ business. Surprisingly, while selecting the panel, there were over 500 physicians who were disqualified, as they had private label as their largest revenue-generating brand. This really shows that private label is a growing factor in the professional skin care landscape. In order to understand what factors motivate physicians to carry private label over branded products or alongside them, we are offering a new report. The first edition of our upcoming  Private-label Professional Skin Care Products: Importance and Demand Survey will provide insights on the dynamic role of private-label skin care products for back-bar and take-home use that are dispensed through physicians’ offices in the United States. It will also help professional skin care suppliers understand the impact that these products have or will have in the future on other professional skin care brands in the market.

As marketers continue to seek ways to grow through understanding consumer needs, it is also important for them to take stock of today’s climate. This month, we will publish our Professional Skin Care: U.S. Consumer Attitudes and Behaviors Survey, which offers an unbiased viewpoint of what consumers value most when it comes to purchasing skin care products and choosing outlets to visit for skin care treatments, as well as who and what influences their decisions. Volumes on Europe and China will also follow during the fourth quarter of 2019.

Written by Karen Doskow, Director of Kline’s Consumer Products and Sai Swaroop, Project Manager of Kline’s Consumer Products.

Share this
Follow Us
Select Category
Recent Posts
Play Video
Play Video