Add Spas to Rejuvenate Your Client List

The growing spa industry offers promotional products distributors a wealth of potential clients.
Dec 8, 2008

By Liz Aull, Contributing Writer

Where are you as you're surrounded by the sounds of a cool stream, the scent of flowers and the feeling you just might be in heaven? Well, it's not actual heaven, of course — but you're close. The soothing scents, sounds and surroundings of a spa are where more and more people go to rest, renew and rejuvenate.

The spa industry is a growing niche that can be a lucrative segment for promotional products businesses. Mark Yokoyama, marketing director for ePromos, New York, says his company has several types of spa clients: traditional day spas, fitness club spas and hotel/resort spas. "Day spas typically want to generate brand awareness among patrons to get repeat business," he says. "Their typical recipient is a customer with the potential to be a repeat customer or give referrals. Fitness club spas, or spas with memberships, use promotional products to drive new membership and increase local word of mouth."

Julie Warnock, owner of Gardena, Calif.-based Bath Promotions, says spas represent a significant portion of her business — particularly those associated with hotels and resorts. "It's a huge marketing plus for a hotel to have a spa, so they often do a lot of marketing [to promote] it," she says. Yokoyama explains another reason why promotional products are so important for spas located in resorts. "They typically want to impress customers and make them feel like the expense was worthwhile," he says. "A promo can be a relatively inexpensive way to [do that]."

Spas comprise a fairly narrowly defined market segment, making it easier for PPDs to map out strategies for targeting new business clients. For example, the type of spa will help you determine who does the buying. At spas located in hotels or resorts, a corporate buyer handles ordering promotional products. In smaller, boutique spas, the owner or the manager pulls double-duty as the buyer. "Most spas are small businesses and don't have a dedicated marketing department," says Yokoyama. "We often find ourselves working directly with owners and acting as their promotional marketing department." That's great news for you, when you get your foot in the door. Not only will you have the leverage against competitors, you'll have the opportunity to act as a true partner to your client and showcase your knowledge and expertise.

Most promotional products in this market are gifts for the spa guest rather than employee uniforms, according to Leslie Roark, owner of PromoPros, Spring, Texas. Yokoyama  agrees. "Many spas are small businesses without a lot of employees, so typically imprinted employee gifts are not as common," he says. "Some spas also may work with a number of freelance specialists — like massage therapists — or have relatively high turnover." However, hotel or large spas typically are more inclined to spend money on employee apparel and gifts.

One advantage of spas is their order schedules. They often need products, such as travel candles, on a regular basis for everyday gifts. Spas also may require unique gifts during several holidays. While December is a huge month for gifts in this niche — as with many other industries — but spas also do a tremendous amount of business around Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. Those two holidays can mean big orders during what can be a dry season.

For spas at hotels and resorts, a notable portion of their promotional products budget can be gifts for event planners who book large groups into hotels. "[One of our hotels] needed small, branded items to give away at a trade show for event planners to promote the opening of a new spa," Warnock says. Not only do those orders help the spa acquire more business, they can mean more business for you.

Most promotional products purchased by spas are perceived as luxury or decadent items, despite the price point. For instance, travel candles in tins are extremely popular. Warnock names a soy travel candle scented with essential oils as a big seller. Most of ePromos' spa products relate to health or beauty. "[They are usually] home items or pocket- or purse-sized items," says Yokoyama. "Aromatherapy kits and reed diffusers are popular because they allow customers to bring the spa experience into the home, which, in turn, drives a desire to return to the spa." Items that generate positive word of mouth, such as totes, also are popular instigators of additional business.

The industry does come with its own set of unique challenges for promotional products distributors. "[Products] are more hit or miss than in other industries," Roark says. Because spas are high end, something I think looks great may be rejected by a client, she explains. As with other clients, however, once you figure out their taste, you can do a better job shopping for them.

The current economy affects each spa client differently. Roark says she has noticed orders slipping off. However, Warnock reports her spa business remains steady. "People who go to spas have disposable income, so they aren't as affected," Warnock says. "I haven't seen a noticeable decline in sales due to the economy." Promotional products certainly can help increase the perceived value of the spa experience, Yokoyama says. "They can convince customers that 'a spa experience' is a worthwhile indulgence in an economic recession," he says. "It may sound crazy, but a $2 compact mirror can totally change how a customer perceives and remembers a $200 spa experience."

A spa client will give you the opportunity to use your imagination. Some of Roark's most popular products are ornaments made from seeded paper, which is paper embedded with seeds that recipients plant to grow flowers. So go ahead and pull out all the stops — a unique idea for a local spa can be just the way for you to add to your client list. And it might just be the most relaxing sales call you'll ever make.

Liz Aull is a freelance writer in Atlanta and a contributor to Impressions magazine. She can be reached at liz.aull@gmail.com.


Spa Stats:

• As of July 2007, there were 14,615 spas in the United States.
• There are more than 32 million active spa-goers.
• In 2006, $9.4 billion of revenue was generated by the U.S. spa industry.
• In July 2007, there were 234,600 total spa employees.