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Chain Drugstore Daily 4 7 Tuesday, August 22, 2017 behind the founding of the company, its mission and philosophy. SR: Piping Rock Health Products was started in 2011 by Founder and Chief Executive Officer Scott Rudolph. As the former Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of NBTY Inc, I have been a leader in growth and innovation in the vitamin industry for more than 30 years. The inspiration behind starting Piping Rock Health Products is and has always been to help people stay healthy and bring wellness to people around the world. Our mission is to deliver the highest quality, innovative products at the best value to our customers. Understanding our consumer's desires and needs has fueled our success. Hence, being such a consumer centric company is what drives our opportunity to get our consumers the products they want and need. CDD: Can you describe your Wellness 360 approach? SR: We approach this business as a total health and wellness category. Our Wellness 360 approach is all about how we incorporate supplements and other healthy living techniques, such as exer- cise, healthy eating, vitamin and essential oil recipes to better educate our con- sumers. It's not just about our products, but what techniques work well with the products for great overall health and wellness. For instance, there are strong syner- gies between vitamins, beauty and aro- matherapy, so we offer products across all these segments for a total approach to wellness. We have our finger on the pulse when it comes to identifying emerging trends, and our innovative formulas and packaging will bring new users into the wellness category. Piping Rock (Cont'd. from p. 1) CDD: You say Piping Rock thinks strate- gically outside of the box. Can you explain this in more detail? SR: When we think about wellness and today's consumer, we do not limit our- selves to think just about the typical vitamins as the category was once defined. We approach the business not only with an open mind, but through the eyes of the consumer, to offer them products to support their unique well- ness goals and lifestyle. This has enabled us to bring new categories into the vitamin aisle, such as aromatherapy and now our new beauty serums. It's all about a total approach to health and wellness on the inside and out. Aromatherapy is fueling incremental growth in the vitamin aisle, contribut- ing 271 percent growth in the last year and bringing in new users. This emerg- ing segment has been instrumental to category growth this past year, and I expect to continue to see strong growth trends throughout 2017 as well. CDD: Do you see a shift toward more nat- ural and organic products in vitamins and supplements? If so, how is Piping Rock responding? Is Piping Rock expanding into new product areas or innovations? SR: We are launching new products that are non-GMO and support many of the 'free of' statements. We are also launch- ing many new herbal products, like Charcoal and Turmeric, and others that I can't discuss just yet. Innovation is key to the growth of this industry and we are always looking into the future and creat- ing products as we see trends emerge. Our essential oils are 100 percent pure plant based and we clearly call that out on the front panel. Just over a year since our aromatherapy launch, we are the leading brand, with more than a 59 per- cent share in XAOC. We will continue to create new, unique and trending products to fuel growth. MH: Yes. Print book sales increased last year by 3.3 percent. In fact, print book sales increased for the third straight year, while eBook sales lost market share during that same period. Print books are the largest and fastest growing physical media category, larg- er than DVD/Blu-Ray and CDs com- bined. CDD: What trends are you seeing in terms of department sizes at retail? MH: Despite on-going channel pres- sures that have threatened space for all media categories in the retail market- place, physical books have demon- strated a clear sustainability. U.S. print book readership remains strong, and as a result, many retailers are investing in additional book space. Where space has been lost due to ini- tiatives to add more fresh foods and convenience items, retailers have increased focus on seasonal and pro- motional outposts. CDD: How can Readerlink help to drive book sales? MH: Readerlink creates a customized book program for each of its retail partners, featuring weekly new releas- es and recognizable children's licenses that make the category relevant and topical to customers. Because we serve all the leading drug, grocery, mass, club, airport and specialty chains in the United States, we know what licenses, price points and formats work best in each channel. We continually analyze sales data and make adjustments to optimize each program to maximize sales. CDD: What do you see as the biggest Readerlink (Cont'd. from p. 1) opportunity for retailers in the book cate- gory? MH: Books are an impulse-driven cate- gory, so seasonal aisle placement is the best opportunity to drive incremental sales. Chains participating in seasonal programs, whether they be Valentine's Day, Easter, Halloween, Back to School or Christmas, see sales lifts ranging from 22 to 40 percent. Books are a per- fect fit in any seasonal program because they remain the third most gifted item overall, behind only gift cards and clothing. Readerlink works with more than 500 publishers, so we can create a seasonal program with trays or floor displays designed to fit nearly any space requirements that meet the needs of any retailer. CDD: Where are some of the other areas that retailers are seeing success in book sales? MH: Because of the wide breadth of licenses, price points, formats and gen- res, books do not need to live in just the book department; they can be cross-merchandised in almost every area in the store. Whether it's board books in the baby department or near greeting cards for baby shower pres- ents, pet books in the pet aisle, cook- books in grocery or coloring and activ- ity books at checkout, books can be merchandised anywhere in the store to help drive up the average basket size. Our research shows that books placed adjacent to food and other GM items will help the consumers to purchase those items in addition to the book. The best way to sell crockpots is to have a slow cooker recipe book next to the device. For more information, go to www.reader link.com, call 708.547.4408 or email mhesselbach@readerlink.com. FIVE STRATEGIES TO SWEETEN SEASONAL SALES Americans love the seasons and holi- days, and they go to great lengths to make celebrations extra special. Often, this means including chocolate and con- fections that are family favorites, like seasonally flavored or colored M&M'S ® Brand Candies. Retailers should take note: candy in seasonal packaging represents 18 per- cent of overall confectionery sales and 26 percent of confectionery sales in the drug channel. (Source: Nielsen) To help maximize category sales potential, Mars Chocolate and Wrigley recom- mend five winning seasonal strategies: 1. Differentiate and inspire. Winning retailers anchor their seasonal strategies to a creative statement that comes to life in a centrally-located destination in- store, which then is complemented with impulse destinations throughout the store. 2. Overt and highly shoppable mini-destinations. Retailers can inspire greater seasonal participation by offer- ing solutions for traditions such as gift- ing, decorating and entertaining. Secondary locations, from the pharma- cy to check lanes and everything in between, will drive impulse sales and build bigger baskets. 3. Purposeful executions during "blurred" and "mini" seasons. Shoppers often navigate through multiple seasons at once, such as February's Super Bowl, Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day. Successful retailers emphasize the pri- mary season, with supplemental mer- chandising for mini-seasons. 4. Bold, clear pricing. No matter what the season, bold pricing state- ments on quality candy are critical to driving store choice, aisle navigation and impulse. Ensure representation of a variety of price points, particularly in gifting. 5. Early and often promotional cal- endar. Candy is relevant throughout seasonal periods, yet what shoppers buy changes over the course of time. For example, a shopper may explore the first taste of the season, and later buy for snacking, parties and gift- ing. Seasonal gifting continues to grow, and shoppers seek out gifts with a unique flavor or personal touch. Another trend is seasonal shapes, like new DOVE ® Chocolate Peanut Butter Eggs; TWIX ® Hearts, Eggs and Ghosts; and SNICKERS ® Hearts, Eggs, Pumpkins and Trees. Placed by the register, these are ideal grab-and- go snacks. In addition to festive shapes, Mars Chocolate is rolling out new items, including: Halloween 2017: A "Spooky Chocolate Variety Mix" bag filled with 150 pieces; a Chocolate & Sugar Variety Mix Bag with 170 pieces; M&M'S Brand White Pumpkin Pie Candies; and MALTESERS ® FUN SIZE ® in a medium bag. Christmas 2017: CELEBRA- TIONS ® Brand Bottle filled with indi- vidually wrapped miniatures of BOUN- TY ® , DOVE, MILKY WAY ® , SNICK- ERS and TWIX Brands; M&M'S Caramel in the red and green colors of the season; DOVE Brand PROMISES ® Silky Smooth Milk Chocolate Mint Cookie Gifts; and a 4-pack of M&M'S Brand Minis Milk Chocolate Candies in tubes. New items from Wrigley will entice shoppers, including: Halloween 2017: Skittles Cauldron Spooky Spells Book; Skittles Original Mask Book; Variety packs including Trunk or Treat 80-count bag, 315-count Variety Bag and 95-count Variety bag with Skittles Original, Skittles Sour, Starburst Minis and Starburst Halloween Mix. Christmas 2017: Skittles Ugly Sweater Stand Up Pouch; and Skittles and Starburst Holiday Story Books. For more information, go to www.mars.com, call 800.631.7630 or contact your Mars Chocolate or Wrigley representative.