Growing Front End Sales with Mason Natural Vitamins

Shannon Battle 0:23

Well, hello everyone, and welcome to IPC’s Vendor Advantage Network monthly Spotlight Video. Today we’re going to discuss ways to incorporate supplement sales with into your pharmacy and everyday conversations, clinical programs and things of that sort with one of our trusted vendors, Mason vitamins. My name is Shannon battle. I’m the pharmacy services manager here at Independent pharmacy cooperative and I’m here with Idanys Alapont, the vice president of sales and operations with Mason vitamins. And Idanys, thank you for joining me today. I’m so excited to sit here and talk with you and. Kind of shed some light on opportunities that our pharmacies have to really educate their patients and step up and provide that full health and Wellness service for the stores that may not know much about Mason vitamins or what really sets you apart from other supplement vendors. Please tell. Us a little bit about yourself and your role within Mason and how you work to really elevate those independent pharmacy owners.

Idanys Alapont 1:16

Shannon, thank you so much and thank you for for allowing Mason to to come on here and speak to you and speak to Members from IPC. IPC has been a trusted partner of ours for many, many years. I myself have been with the company for 20 plus years and worked with IPC for many of those years and attended the shows and the events and always happy to see the the pharmacist out there and expanding to see what roles they can play in the market. And how we can help them in a system so. Going into that, I just wanted to talk about who we were as a company. So we’ve been around for 50 plus years and we actually started in the prescription side. So that’s one of the reasons why we’ve always had very high-quality vitamins, because when we transition from RX generic RX into vitamins, we maintain those same standards. So we had very, very high quality products, but with the independent in mind, we always had. Aggressive pricing, mid-tier pricing. Because that allowed us not only to have quality and be able to give that to the pharmacy and to the consumer, but we knew how important it was for that pharmacist to survive. So they’re able to sell the products and make a very nice margin on it. You know, minimum 40% GP, which is really, really great. And that’s something that has always been a focus for us and the focus has also been how can we educate the pharmacist. So we have a sales team that’s on, but we really don’t refer to them even as sales consultants. Let’s say we really call them vitamin experts because they come on, they talk to the store, they help educate them on things that are trending, things that are going on. In the market right now and we give them just a high level of education so that they’re able to tie the back to the front. And because we want to show you know who Mason is. And we want to let them know that we’re there to support them. We actually ship the first set to the store, which is a four-foot set absolutely free. There is absolutely no charge or anything. For that location and on top of that, there’s all kinds of marketing support that we do on the back end and we also keep a very low shipping charge for the minimum order to $100. So it’s not a lot for a store to bring in in one shot. We don’t want to over stock. You want to put you in a situation? Where there is just, you know, too much inventory out there. So those are some of the things that we do, you know for the stores right off the bat. Education, free goods, building the relationship and just really giving them anything that they can to compete against some of those large chains that are out there.

Shannon Battle 4:15

I like the education point just because there’s so many opportunities that pharmacists and technicians they know about these vitamins, but within everyday conversation, they don’t think to always bring them up. So that reminder, you know of what these things are used for, how beneficial it can be and where they can really fit it in the conversation is always really beneficial for the stores. So we know that it’s become, you know, increasingly important with our stores to expand their clinical services, the programs that they’re offering and really make a full.

Idanys Alapont 4:36

It is.

Shannon Battle 4:45

Patient health total Patient health program within their store offering and a lot of the heavier focus lady lately has been on cardiovascular health. Weight loss, you know immunizations. Point of care testing things like that. So what kind of support can Mason offer to stores in the way of supplement lines, or add on sales to really help them boost that?

Idanys Alapont 5:07

Well, you hit the nail on the head because it’s, you know, how can they tie the back to the front? What can they do? And you talked about weight loss. You talked about some of the other things like doing immunization and having screenings at the stores. So those are things that we’ve done since the very beginning and right now, a popular segment that’s growing is weight loss and it’s the GLP one. So some are semaglutide Ozempic. You know, we’re seeing all of those things. Growing day by day. So one of the things that we did is and you’ll see it here. The right side of the page is a GLP one display because one of the things that we noticed is all the side effects that those drugs are, you know, are having. So the consumers are coming in and the store, the pharmacist now or even the person on the front end is able to assist them and say, hey, you know you have this for immunity, if you’re on a glp1, you have this for your digestive. Area if you have. If you’re on this particular drug, we know that. There’s also a lack of energy because you’re eating a lot less. So there’s AB 12. So we look to see how can we tie that into some of those drugs and then we do that again, not just for GLP one, but we can make those displays for just about anything. So if you’re doing flu shots, we have an immunity display. If you have, you know if you’re doing screenings for blood sugar, we can do a display for that. So we customize it. So it’s able to go into the store. It ties it in and then we don’t. Again, overstock you because it’s an in and out display. So once it’s over, you’re able to get it out of there. The other thing too is that once you have that consumer in the store and they’re coming in for a prescription, you really want them to look at the other things that you have to offer. So every month we design A circular which you can see it here at the bottom it says compare and save and what we do is we look at items that are doing well in the market and then we have a promotional retail on there and we pass a. Promotion on to the store so. The ones that consumer walks in, they know, oh, these are some vitamins are on special. And we send the circulars, posters and shelf talkers to the store free of charge. And this happens every single month. Now quarterly we do a buy one, get one free, which you’ll see it here on, on the bottom which again you have a promotion every month, but then every quarter you can do a full line engaging with that consumer that’s coming in. So they know that they don’t have to leave the store to get special pricing. They don’t have to exit to do anything. They can do it all in one location. And tying back to the Wellness Guide, that’s fantastic, because that’s also free of charge to the store and the pharmacist or the front end people can give this out to the consumer. They’re able to take it home and there’s education there, so they’re able to see certain ailments and may be having and they can go to those page and then say, OK, I could be taking this item or I should be taking this and it really ties in a lot with the with the RX section. Because we actually have a page where we try to tie that in. So for example, we’ll say if you’re taking a statin. If you’re taking these drugs, you should be taking Coq 10. You should be doing certain things for liver support, so we really go out to try to tie the whole thing, the front and the back.

Shannon Battle 8:28

Yeah, I love that Wellness guide. I have one myself and I’ve probably read it back to front more than once, but I’ve also seen it where stores have hung it like on a little ring with their vitamin section.

Idanys Alapont 8:37

Yep.

Shannon Battle 8:38

And I’ve noticed patients looking at it and, you know, things like that in the store, just getting their own education, you know, that maybe the store doesn’t have to provide, but you have that guide there for the patients. So that’s perfect. I love it.

Idanys Alapont 8:49

Yeah, we get calls all the time from consumers and they’ll literally tell us, oh, on page five or on Page Six and it’s fantastic because a lot of times when they ask us for the products, we don’t sell direct. So we look for a pharmacy that’s in their region and we send them to those pharmacies. So yeah, the Wellness Guide is fantastic. And you know what, Shannon? One thing that I did forget to mention too is when stores are doing screenings and when they’re doing any type of promotion. The Wellness Guide is a great tool. But if they let us know that they’re doing something, we also send free goods. So if they’re doing, let’s say, a flu shots, we may send some free vitamin C, little trial sizes or vitamin E or anything like that, that during that time period they can give it to their consumers free of charge. You know, again building that community, building that trust.

Shannon Battle 9:35

Right.

Idanys Alapont 9:36

And it helps tie in the back to the front of the brand. So it’s like a nice little hug.

Shannon Battle 9:41

Definitely, definitely will you guys provide tons of marketing support? Tons of clinical support. You know, I’ve never heard anything out of the way. You know, as far as stores, they have nothing but great things to say about the support that’s offered. So I really appreciate you guys. You know, I’m a Mason user myself. I love hearing the great feedback from the stores and really look forward to continuing success within you know both our IPC stores and Mason as well. So as you all can see here, there is AQR code on the screen. It’ll take you directly to the Mason vitamin landing page on IPC S website. While you’re there, you can log in and see the specials we have for new sign up new members and also submit that contact form for any additional information or just to go ahead and get started should you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out either to. Myself or to our Danis here, with the information on the screen and I do again appreciate you joining me today and look forward to continue conversations and partnership.

Idanys Alapont 10:36

Thank you, Shannon. Thank you so much.

Shannon Battle 10:38

Thanks Idanys. Everyone have a great day. 0:23

Well, hello everyone, and welcome to IPC’s Vendor Advantage Network monthly Spotlight Video. Today we’re going to discuss ways to incorporate supplement sales with into your pharmacy and everyday conversations, clinical programs and things of that sort with one of our trusted vendors, Mason vitamins. My name is Shannon battle. I’m the pharmacy services manager here at Independent pharmacy cooperative and I’m here with Idanys Alapont, the vice president of sales and operations with Mason vitamins. And Idanys, thank you for joining me today. I’m so excited to sit here and talk with you and. Kind of shed some light on opportunities that our pharmacies have to really educate their patients and step up and provide that full health and Wellness service for the stores that may not know much about Mason vitamins or what really sets you apart from other supplement vendors. Please tell. Us a little bit about yourself and your role within Mason and how you work to really elevate those independent pharmacy owners.

Idanys Alapont 1:16

Shannon, thank you so much and thank you for for allowing Mason to to come on here and speak to you and speak to Members from IPC. IPC has been a trusted partner of ours for many, many years. I myself have been with the company for 20 plus years and worked with IPC for many of those years and attended the shows and the events and always happy to see the the pharmacist out there and expanding to see what roles they can play in the market. And how we can help them in a system so. Going into that, I just wanted to talk about who we were as a company. So we’ve been around for 50 plus years and we actually started in the prescription side. So that’s one of the reasons why we’ve always had very high-quality vitamins, because when we transition from RX generic RX into vitamins, we maintain those same standards. So we had very, very high quality products, but with the independent in mind, we always had. Aggressive pricing, mid-tier pricing. Because that allowed us not only to have quality and be able to give that to the pharmacy and to the consumer, but we knew how important it was for that pharmacist to survive. So they’re able to sell the products and make a very nice margin on it. You know, minimum 40% GP, which is really, really great. And that’s something that has always been a focus for us and the focus has also been how can we educate the pharmacist. So we have a sales team that’s on, but we really don’t refer to them even as sales consultants. Let’s say we really call them vitamin experts because they come on, they talk to the store, they help educate them on things that are trending, things that are going on. In the market right now and we give them just a high level of education so that they’re able to tie the back to the front. And because we want to show you know who Mason is. And we want to let them know that we’re there to support them. We actually ship the first set to the store, which is a four-foot set absolutely free. There is absolutely no charge or anything. For that location and on top of that, there’s all kinds of marketing support that we do on the back end and we also keep a very low shipping charge for the minimum order to $100. So it’s not a lot for a store to bring in in one shot. We don’t want to over stock. You want to put you in a situation? Where there is just, you know, too much inventory out there. So those are some of the things that we do, you know for the stores right off the bat. Education, free goods, building the relationship and just really giving them anything that they can to compete against some of those large chains that are out there.

Shannon Battle 4:15

I like the education point just because there’s so many opportunities that pharmacists and technicians they know about these vitamins, but within everyday conversation, they don’t think to always bring them up. So that reminder, you know of what these things are used for, how beneficial it can be and where they can really fit it in the conversation is always really beneficial for the stores. So we know that it’s become, you know, increasingly important with our stores to expand their clinical services, the programs that they’re offering and really make a full.

Idanys Alapont 4:36

It is.

Shannon Battle 4:45

Patient health total Patient health program within their store offering and a lot of the heavier focus lady lately has been on cardiovascular health. Weight loss, you know immunizations. Point of care testing things like that. So what kind of support can Mason offer to stores in the way of supplement lines, or add on sales to really help them boost that?

Idanys Alapont 5:07

Well, you hit the nail on the head because it’s, you know, how can they tie the back to the front? What can they do? And you talked about weight loss. You talked about some of the other things like doing immunization and having screenings at the stores. So those are things that we’ve done since the very beginning and right now, a popular segment that’s growing is weight loss and it’s the GLP one. So some are semaglutide Ozempic. You know, we’re seeing all of those things. Growing day by day. So one of the things that we did is and you’ll see it here. The right side of the page is a GLP one display because one of the things that we noticed is all the side effects that those drugs are, you know, are having. So the consumers are coming in and the store, the pharmacist now or even the person on the front end is able to assist them and say, hey, you know you have this for immunity, if you’re on a glp1, you have this for your digestive. Area if you have. If you’re on this particular drug, we know that. There’s also a lack of energy because you’re eating a lot less. So there’s AB 12. So we look to see how can we tie that into some of those drugs and then we do that again, not just for GLP one, but we can make those displays for just about anything. So if you’re doing flu shots, we have an immunity display. If you have, you know if you’re doing screenings for blood sugar, we can do a display for that. So we customize it. So it’s able to go into the store. It ties it in and then we don’t. Again, overstock you because it’s an in and out display. So once it’s over, you’re able to get it out of there. The other thing too is that once you have that consumer in the store and they’re coming in for a prescription, you really want them to look at the other things that you have to offer. So every month we design A circular which you can see it here at the bottom it says compare and save and what we do is we look at items that are doing well in the market and then we have a promotional retail on there and we pass a. Promotion on to the store so. The ones that consumer walks in, they know, oh, these are some vitamins are on special. And we send the circulars, posters and shelf talkers to the store free of charge. And this happens every single month. Now quarterly we do a buy one, get one free, which you’ll see it here on, on the bottom which again you have a promotion every month, but then every quarter you can do a full line engaging with that consumer that’s coming in. So they know that they don’t have to leave the store to get special pricing. They don’t have to exit to do anything. They can do it all in one location. And tying back to the Wellness Guide, that’s fantastic, because that’s also free of charge to the store and the pharmacist or the front end people can give this out to the consumer. They’re able to take it home and there’s education there, so they’re able to see certain ailments and may be having and they can go to those page and then say, OK, I could be taking this item or I should be taking this and it really ties in a lot with the with the RX section. Because we actually have a page where we try to tie that in. So for example, we’ll say if you’re taking a statin. If you’re taking these drugs, you should be taking Coq 10. You should be doing certain things for liver support, so we really go out to try to tie the whole thing, the front and the back.

Shannon Battle 8:28

Yeah, I love that Wellness guide. I have one myself and I’ve probably read it back to front more than once, but I’ve also seen it where stores have hung it like on a little ring with their vitamin section.

Idanys Alapont 8:37

Yep.

Shannon Battle 8:38

And I’ve noticed patients looking at it and, you know, things like that in the store, just getting their own education, you know, that maybe the store doesn’t have to provide, but you have that guide there for the patients. So that’s perfect. I love it.

Idanys Alapont 8:49

Yeah, we get calls all the time from consumers and they’ll literally tell us, oh, on page five or on Page Six and it’s fantastic because a lot of times when they ask us for the products, we don’t sell direct. So we look for a pharmacy that’s in their region and we send them to those pharmacies. So yeah, the Wellness Guide is fantastic. And you know what, Shannon? One thing that I did forget to mention too is when stores are doing screenings and when they’re doing any type of promotion. The Wellness Guide is a great tool. But if they let us know that they’re doing something, we also send free goods. So if they’re doing, let’s say, a flu shots, we may send some free vitamin C, little trial sizes or vitamin E or anything like that, that during that time period they can give it to their consumers free of charge. You know, again building that community, building that trust.

Shannon Battle 9:35

Right.

Idanys Alapont 9:36

And it helps tie in the back to the front of the brand. So it’s like a nice little hug.

Shannon Battle 9:41

Definitely, definitely will you guys provide tons of marketing support? Tons of clinical support. You know, I’ve never heard anything out of the way. You know, as far as stores, they have nothing but great things to say about the support that’s offered. So I really appreciate you guys. You know, I’m a Mason user myself. I love hearing the great feedback from the stores and really look forward to continuing success within you know both our IPC stores and Mason as well. So as you all can see here, there is AQR code on the screen. It’ll take you directly to the Mason vitamin landing page on IPC S website. While you’re there, you can log in and see the specials we have for new sign up new members and also submit that contact form for any additional information or just to go ahead and get started should you have any additional questions, feel free to reach out either to. Myself or to our Danis here, with the information on the screen and I do again appreciate you joining me today and look forward to continue conversations and partnership.

Idanys Alapont 10:36

Thank you, Shannon. Thank you so much.

Shannon Battle 10:38

Thanks Idanys. Everyone have a great day.