Seasonal Sales Increase Called ‘Healthy Number’ During COVID-19 Pandemic

BOCA RATON, FL, Jan. 05, 2021 — The American retail economy continued to show resiliency during the 75-day holiday season by growing 3 percent and beating expectations.

“Online sales continue to keep retail sales moving in the right direction,” said Mitch Gould, founder and CEO of Nutritional Products International. “Retailers did pretty well when you consider the 3.5 percent decrease that occurred during the 2008 recession.”

A senior advisor for Mastercard called the 3 percent sales increase this holiday season a “healthy number.”

“The trend toward online sales had been increasing for several years, but the pandemic kicked digital purchases into warp speed,” Gould said, adding that this trend is not going away in 2021.

Mastercard reported a 49 percent increase in online sales from a year ago.

Gould said Shopify recently came out with a 2021 eCommerce report.

“Shopify reinforced what many of us in the retail industry had already realized,” Gould said. “Shopify reported that 10 years of eCommerce growth occurred in just 90 days during the height of the pandemic. Consumers also began purchasing products they previously had not bought online, such as groceries, health products, and home goods.”

Gould said the retail industry has realized that consumers value “convenience” and “immediacy” when making purchases today, which is why online sales have become so attractive.

“Although brick and mortar sales should increase as more people receive the COVID-19 vaccines, online sales will never go back to pre-COVID-19 levels,” he added.

Gould is a 30-year retail professional who has expertise spanning several consumer product categories, including lawn and garden, hardware, sports nutrition, dietary supplements, skincare, nutraceutical, cosmeceutical, and beverages.

Gould founded Boca-Raton-based Nutritional Products International to work with domestic and international health and wellness brands that want to expand their presence in the U.S. or enter the American market for the first time.

“I developed a proprietary retail platform called the ‘Evolution of Distribution,” Gould said, adding that the “Evolution of Distribution” method provides health and wellness brands with services they need to succeed in the U.S., such as marketing, operations, FDA compliance, and sales.

To better serve his clients, Gould has hired top retail professionals to lead NPI.

Jeff Fernandez, NPI president, previously worked as a buyer for the two largest retailers in the world: Amazon and Walmart. At Amazon, Fernandez helped stock Amazon’s brand new health and wellness category during the early 2000s.

Kenneth E. Collins, NPI’s new executive vice president, comes to NPI with decades of experience in top-level positions in the sports nutrition and consumer goods industry.

“I talk to hundreds of brands monthly from around the world,” Gould said. “NPI offers these companies nearly 75 years of experience in the retail industry. When you combine our knowledge and my ‘Evolution of Distribution’ one-stop retail platform, you have an unbeatable force working for you.”

For more information, visit Nutritional Products International online.

MORE ON NPI AND ITS FOUNDER
NPI is a privately-held company specializing in the retail distribution of nutraceuticals, dietary supplements, functional beverages, and skincare products. NPI offers a unique, proven approach for product manufacturers worldwide seeking to launch or expand their products’ distribution in the U.S. retail market.

Mitch Gould, the founder of NPI, is a third-generation retail distribution and manufacturing professional. Gould developed the “Evolution of Distribution” platform, which provides domestic and international product manufacturers with the sales, marketing, and product distribution expertise required to succeed in the world’s largest market — the United States. Gould, known as a global marketing guru, also has represented icons from the sports and entertainment worlds such as Steven Seagal, Hulk Hogan, Ronnie Coleman, Roberto Clemente Jr., Chuck Liddell, and Wayne Gretzky.