Retail Focus - Winter Remedies

Julie Belyeu – manager of Acacia Health in Wilmslow, Cheshire – explains how to keep your customers happy and healthy during the winter months

Our customers are very aware of the benefits of boosting their immunity to prevent colds and ‘flu, as well as other illnesses, so we get people buying immunity-boosting products all year round. But we see a definite upturn at the start of October, as people realise that winter is looming! We have seen a real increase in people looking at preventing, rather than curing, in recent years, particularly among young people. I’m not sure why this is; I think partly because people are more interested in health now, and taking things like Echinacea has become less niche and more mainstream.

Immunity boosting

The most well-known remedy for boosting your immune system is Echinacea. Personally, I take it all year round, morning and night, and my favourite product is Avogel Echinaforce. It’s an easy-to-use tincture, and I find it really effective, so I don’t hesitate to recommend it to my customers. I think people appreciate a personal suggestion that a retailer has actually tried. I get really good feedback on this product, and on Echinacea in general; people come in and tell me that their immunity has been much improved.