Liwell: generating turnover with natural cosmetics

Natural cosmetics are often a Cindarella subject in the wholefood trade, with turnover hovering between 6 and 12 % of total turnover. There is no shortage of fine words about the potential that is still to be exploited, but the specialist trade is slow to take advantage. By way of contrast, in the health food sector natural cosmetics occupy a much more prominent position – the share of turnover of nearly 18% on average is proof of that. In some stores the natural cosmetics department accounts for 20% to over 30% of turnover. A good example of generating turnover with natural cosmetics is the health food store Liwell in Bad Homburg. (Picture: Reiner A. Herrmann)
In the Liwell health food store in Oberursel, the natural cosmetics and chemist’s department occupies a third of the 430 m² floor space. The owner is Reiner A. Herrmann and he uses 150 m² to present his product range devoted to inner and outer beauty. “Customers have been very pleased with what we are selling, and we could add more shelves,” says Mr Herrmann, two years after opening the store. The Liwell concept was realised for the first time with this store in the centre of Oberursel and it has become a model for the new type of modern health food shop.

This means a number of special features in the Liwell store – there is, for example, a coffee bar near the entrance (picture on left). Safran Bio-Catering in Gießen will shortly be supplying soups so that lunch will be added to what the store is already offering. The wine department, cheese counter, frozen foods and meat and sausage (picture below right) are also not a common sight in a classical health food store. Following the BSE crisis, Mr Herrmann, who is also chairman of the supervisory board of Neuform, was determined to tackle stagnation in the health food sector head-on. So he looked for new strategies, and the Liwell concept was born: trendy shop design, with expansion of health food-wholefood ranges, diet products, over-the-counter remedies and cosmetics. Plus a new approach to marketing with smart campaigns, unconventional ideas and new images to communicate lifestyle and wellness. In Mr Herrmann’s own words: “The ideas behind reforming our lives – enjoying life and joie de vivre – are actually trendier than ever if we know how to translate them and present them for the modern age.”

Natural cosmetics fit very well into the Liwell concept that is encapsulated in the words lifestyle and wellness. The department for inner and outer beauty is the last place near the tills that customers come to as they go round the store. Passing slowly by the shelves with teas, over-the-counter remedies and diet foods, they reach the cosmetics. A complete wellness and beauty product range is clearly and appealingly set out along the outer wall. The ambience is high-value, the lighting the optimal setting for the products (picture). On sale in the parallel aisle are baby food and chemist’s articles, ranging from hygiene products to soaps and aromatic candles.

 Natural cosmetics contribute around 20 % of Liwell’s turnover. The most important health food and natural cosmetics brands are displayed on separate shelves. You also find second placing of various product groups and theme shelves for products like hair care and sun protection. You could describe the combination as the best of both worlds. Börlind, Hübner, Arya Laya and other cosmetics suppliers to health food stores stand next to Dr. Hauschka, Primavera, Lavera and Logona among others. Here mothers can find not only Sunval and Holle baby food but also Hipp and Milupa. “Customers want to buy as much as possible in one shop,” says Mr Herrmann. He estimates the brand mix of health food and natural cosmetics to be about 2:1. Then there are traditional special products too. The first 100 best selling natural cosmetics products account for 40.5 % of the turnover of cosmetics.

As far as marketing is concerned, Mr Herrmann adopts a special strategy. His cosmetics-wellness sector and the other product groups benefit greatly from 2 – 3 events that he devises every year. “These campaigns are often more than just advertising,” he explains. They enhance the loyalty of regular customers, but above all they bring in new customers. An example is Candle Light Shopping. The shop was decorated with hundreds of candles and customers had until 23.00 to sample, look round and buy. You could sample chocolates and wine, and in the cosmetics department Ayurvedic massage was available. Another example: together with the store next door (selling toys and household goods) Liwell organised a cookery book reading with event cooking. Liwell also has postcards advertising beauty, fitness and enjoyment. And households receive a monthly flyer too in which there are always cosmetic products on offer. In May, for the first time the Beauty Weeks brochure was available in health food stores countrywide – with a high circulation of 4 million copies, this publication focused on beauty products. The cosmetics department is looked after by health food advisers and specialist advisers. Manufacturers of natural cosmetics regularly attend as well.

The store near the pedestrian precinct in Oberursel stocks 7,000 lines. Mr Herrmann explains that the fresh food, that is supplied by Robin Weber of Tollgrün farm from the nearby Frankfurt wholesale market, is 100 % organic, and 80 % of food in the packaged range is also organic. Even sausage is now stocked – there is a chilled counter selling Ökoland specialities (picture). On the dry goods shelves you find products by Allos, Bohlsener, Rapunzel, etc., some of which are supplied direct by the manufacturer and some by Naturkost West. The health foods come from Kraushaar-Perner, the Rhein-Main supply service for health food stores.

At the beginning of the year another Liwell store (300 m²) was opened in Darmstadt and it will be followed by a new store in Offenbach in the autumn (300 m²). The other 14 stores operate under the name Reformhaus Herrmann. They are smaller and, from the point of view of design and product range, more like classical health food shops. But for Mr Herrmann the Liwell concept is the future. What drives him is the “holistic aspect”. “Organic is not enough for me, but unfortunately customers have been hypnotised by that magic word in recent years.” He also admits, however, that many health food stores have certainly been standing still for years and have now missed the boat.

www.liwell-leben.de