Product manufacturers welcomed the June retail sales report, which shows year-over-year numbers at pre-pandemic levels.
The June retail sales report showed two strong numbers:
- 0.6 percent increase in retail sales for June that exceeded expectations.
- 18 percent year-over-year sales growth, which is sharply above the pre-pandemic levels.
“Domestic and international product manufacturers are watching the U.S. numbers carefully,” said Mitch Gould, founder and CEO of Nutritional Products International, a global brand management firm based in Boca Raton, Fl. “Despite the pandemic, businesses are planning for the future. NPI clients are looking to launch new products in the U.S.
“Many business sectors, such as health and wellness, have weathered the impact of the pandemic,” Gould said, adding that online sales of dietary supplements, especially vitamins, skyrocketed during the past 18 months. “The companies I talk to weekly are cautiously optimistic. They realize that immediate success will lie with online sales rather than traditional brick-and-mortar purchases.”
During the pandemic, consumers switched to online shopping even for products they had always purchased in person. As a result, online retailers, such as Walmart and Amazon, saw tremendous growth because of COVID-19.
Walmart reported U.S. e-commerce sales increasing by 37 percent during the first quarter of this year. Worldwide, e-commerce sales grew by almost 43 percent.
Amazon also reported huge sales numbers. The first-quarter sales led to the fourth record quarterly profits during the past 12 months.
“There is a lot of pent-up consumer demand fueling retail sales,” Gould said.
Gould and NPI work with health and wellness consumer brands seeking to expand sales or launch new products in the United States.
During the pandemic, NPI continued to develop the U.S. infrastructure that brands need to sell their products in the U.S.
“I developed a system — the ‘Evolution of Distribution’ — that provides all the professional services product manufacturers need to expand their sales in the United States or launch new products here,” Gould said.
Through the “Evolution of Distribution” platform, NPI offers sales, logistics, and regulatory compliance services to its clients with marketing campaigns carried out by its sister company, InHealth Media.
“The ‘Evolution of Distribution’ is a cost-effective strategy that emphasizes speed to market,” Gould said.
Gould and NPI also offer clients years of experience with e-commerce.
“Back in the early 2000s, I placed more than 100 brands with Amazon, when the online giant launched its health and wellness category,” Gould said. “Amazon was branching out beyond books and electronics.”
This was when Gould met Jeff Fernandez, president of NPI, who in the early 2000s worked on the Amazon team of retail buyers tasked with stocking the virtual shelves with health and wellness products.
“Amazon was looking for products, and I had the contacts in the industry,” he said.
Eventually, Gould hired Fernandez to work for NPI, where he is now the president of the company.
As the U.S. economy rebounds, the NPI professional team continues to develop the retail infrastructure health and wellness brands need to sell their products in the U.S.
“We are working every day to place health and wellness products with large and small retailers,” he said.
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, founder and CEO 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.
