Latest / The Science of Skin / Skincare from the Retailer's Perspective: A Conversation with Walgreen's Skincare Decision-Maker

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Skincare from the Retailer's Perspective: A Conversation with Walgreen's Skincare Decision-Maker · The Science of Skin

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the Skin Care Confidential Podcast.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I am Dr.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: Ted Lane.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a board-certified dermatologist, your host for today's episode.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also a co-founder of the Science of Skin Care Summit, happening in Austin, September 21st to the 23rd, 2023.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: But I am so excited to have with me as our guest, Miss Heather Hughes.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: So Heather is the group vice president and general merchandise manager for Walgreens in charge of beauty, personal care, and seasonal.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: And Heather is also a registered pharmacist.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm not sure how she jumped from being a registered pharmacist to her day job, but it sure is huge.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: She started with Walgreens in 2001 and has really just moved her way up the ladder from there very, very quickly.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: So Heather, thank you so much for being with us.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much for having me, Ted.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: So good to see you.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_00: It's good to see you as well.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: So Heather and I know each other because we met at a retail uh alliance, essentially a meeting where uh retailers and dermatologists and pharmacists were all kind of paired together to talk about how we can improve outcomes for patients.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: It really was all focused on the consumer or the patient.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it was uh, I mean, eye-opening to say the least for me.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how you felt, Heather.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: I totally agree.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's you know, you don't have a lot of opportunities to get together, one, with other retailers with the same focus, but then two, to get together with dermatologists and experts in the area to have just really profound conversations, push the elements and how we partner together.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: So I it was fantastic.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: My first one to ever go to.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I know it was only the second one that had ever existed, but I I am I'm very much looking forward to attending it next year.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, me too.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: It was it was really um, as I said, eye-opening, enlightening.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I think we're we'll get we're gonna be able to really um make some change and and help people when they get to the shelf at Walgreens, for example, help them um inform them better so that they can make better decisions and make sure they're getting the right product for what they need, which I think is the goal.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I 100% agree.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I even, you know, uh a takeaway was forming a Sun Care Consortium.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: And we've already taken that and run with it.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: And we had our first meeting and we're having more to say how do we as retailers in Durham's help our patients, customers with the right SPF and protection that they need for their skin?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I love it.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: I think a lot of actions that we've already taken and lots of opportunities going forward.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Can't wait.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that was one big action item actually from last year was you know, in pr in terms of sunscreen in particular and sun care, what can we do to make sure that there are products available for every price point and make sure that the products have the right ingredients and and are uh merchandised appropriately and advertised appropriately.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: So can't wait to see what comes out of that SunCare consortium.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: But Heather, can we just focus on you for a second?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, tell us how in the world do you jump from being a registered pharmacist to to your day job now?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Can you just walk us through your career?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: So um, yeah, I went to school, obviously studied pharmacy, practiced as a pharmacy manager for Walgreens.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: And as I was in the role, I I mean, I went into the profession because I wanted to help people and knew I needed to help people in a medical sense.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: I have always loved healthcare and everything about it, the science, um, and and that the result you can help people.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: And so I wanted to step into a role where I could help more people.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so I came up into the pharmacy side of the business actually, and then met a lot of people in merchandising and moved over into that business, in particular in healthcare.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_01: So I was um doing a lot of work uh in merchandising as it pertained to our over-the-counter products, vitamins, wellness products, um, and then fell in love with the business too.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: So being able to touch many lives with the products I need, support our pharmacists in the stores.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I kind of jumped around with various categories, which pushed me on the business side.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: But I love right now, I've had the opportunity now to come into our beauty and personal care business at right the moment right the moment, right moment in time, because it is the time where healthcare and beauty have come so close together and kind of more of this how do I take care of myself in the best, most holistic way.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and in particular, skincare is at the center, I think, of where that comes together.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I have a ton of passion, like I said, around health and being able to bring that to our customers.
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: And so I that's that's how it happened.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: I know it seems like the craziest of journeys, um, but I do think I'm I might be the right person to help bridge this together uh at a point in time when the customers are asking for it.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: I love the passion, right?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Especially the passion for skincare, because that absolutely resonates with our audience, I'm I'm sure.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, Heather is is has been named one of the 50 most influential women in retail by mass market retailers the last three years.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: So congratulations.
• 5:14
  SPEAKER_00: We absolutely have the right person here.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um tell me, could you define merchandising?
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm not sure everyone listening understands truly what that means.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I in the most simplest of terms, merchandising, they're they're the group of folks that decide which products are going to be brought into a retailer and they work with various teams to decide what the price is going to be, what kind of value we want to offer to the customer, and and truly decide how that shows up on shelf, how we merchandise it, uh, what we put on display.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: And so when a customer walks in and they see all these products, merchandising shows those products for the customer and put them there in that fashion and the way they shop.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you have so much power on this.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: If you think about it, I've had the opportunity to present to Walmart.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: I remember I was representing a brand or a couple of brands, and I went to the Walmart headquarters and and I met with the people there that kind of determine what's going to be on their shelves.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: And I just I left Bettonville thinking, wow, they have so much power in terms of kind of what's the next big thing in skincare, especially mass market skincare and what people have, you know, what's available to to the market.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if they realize that, but um, how how do you decide, like from a retailer viewpoint, from your viewpoint, like what are the the key aspects of the new products that you think, okay, this is going to do well for our consumer or or this won't resonate?
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: So as much as it feels like maybe we have the power, because we do, we ultimately decide.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think the customers have the power.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: So what's great is we have so much data, and I mean social media allows us to understand where where customers are turning and what's trending and what they are focused on.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: So you kind of couple all that together and look at their shopping behavior and patterns, and that allows you to choose what types of products interest them on shelf.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: And in particular, what types of problems they're trying to solve so we can choose the right products to put on the shelf for that.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because sometimes they can be mislaid on the types of products they think they need, but rather focusing on what the what is it they're trying to solve and making sure we put those products on the shelf for them.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I always like to say the customer is doing the voting and we're putting those products there based on their voting.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: And their voting is through what they purchase and what they um are focused on.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so it's really that kind of behind the scenes, there is a huge amount of data that you're using to determine what's kind of what needs to go on the shelf, which totally makes sense.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I would imagine Walgreens in particular, because of the pharmacy there, you really know kind of okay, people are I'm making this up.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_00: People, this this month, people are having a lot of acne.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: So we really need to kind of put the acne products front and center, or it's eczema time, or something like that.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Am I right?
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: Or can you use the pharmacy data?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's a little tricky.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm gonna do a legal disclaimer here.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Obviously, I I haven't worked in the pharmacy in a few years.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: However, we are HIPAA compliant in all data that we use.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so you know, you you cannot get at a granular level with the data.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: So we are very focused on the front-end side of the data and understanding the customers.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_01: But there's certainly trends that we understand that happen, right?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: You you know when people are getting sick, you know when it's certain times of year where um sun, the sun is more impactful than other times of the year.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Therefore, photosensitive medications might be more important to even stress how much an SPF is important.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: So there's ways to use your intuition of how seasons flow without the even the true data to help drive decisions that support the data we can use on the front end side of the business.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: I noticed the last time I was in a pharmacy that the pharmacist kind of right around where the pharmacy is in the store, there's a lot more skincare than I remember there ever being.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I noticed that the pharmacist, or maybe it was a pharmacy tech, was asking me about, hey, do you, you know, do you know about you know gentle skincare?
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Or it was something to that effect.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And so there must be more education happening at the pharmacist level as well.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_01: You are spot on.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: So we we are on a journey right now to we have two roles in our stores.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: One's the pharmacist, and then one's our beauty consultants.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: But for the pharmacy, we're trying to make sure there's this good bridge between our beauty consultants that are in the store and our pharmacists.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, pharmacists, when they go to school, they do get a certain amount of education on skincare, but products change, ingredients change, how those come together change.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_01: And so there's ongoing education and continuing education that we make available to our pharmacists to allow for those conversations, and then making sure there's products there that are easy for them to access to support their patients as they come back and have those conversations.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm super curious.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: In terms of uh if a if a skincare brand right is working on a new line or a new product, will they early on come to you and say, hey, do you think this will, you know, you would like this or or consumers would like this?
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because I know they have their own data, of course.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm just wondering how complicit the the retailers are with product development.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: I would say, um, and I've worked in healthcare, so I'll I'll say broad senses, the best suppliers come to the retailers early to get those inputs on um as they're making the product and as it's you know, here's the insides, here's where we are.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: And we work under an NDA, right?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: So all of that is never never to reach anybody but the the team that's in front of them.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: And then allow for our inputs of you know what we're seeing, what might be a challenge, you know, product makes a ton of sense.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe the approach on how they want to deliver the product could be different.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: And then they bring us on their journey all the way along, all the way through packaging.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: I will tell you, merchants see many more product failures, brand failures than a brand team ever will.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: So it's super critical to bring us in early.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's free consulting, quite frankly, to help the products be more successful.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: So those who do it well bring us in early.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, and so it's it's a lot of fun as I've entered into Beauty of Personal Care to make those um connections with our skincare leaders and for supplier leaders to make sure that we're more upfront and having those conversations too.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Gosh, I can just imagine.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I know that there's so many focus groups that happen with consumers when skincare brands are are developing new products, and now I'm sure they're doing the same thing with with retailers as well.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like you said, it's reconsulting.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: You wouldn't take advantage of that, right?
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you one of the things what when I go into the store, I'm just using myself, I don't know why, but every time I go into the store, I see the Walgreens brand, right?
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I wonder, you know, we're aware as as physicians in terms of um generics versus brand names, prescriptions, and how they're like and how they how they can differ under that definition.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_00: But in terms of store brand um skincare products, how is there any kind of a requirement in terms of how they are supposed to mimic the brand name?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, as you mentioned, right, the FDA is quite particular as to anything that's FDA approved that has an active ingredient.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_01: We have strict requirements if we want to say compare to an actual FDA-approved product, strict requirements on how that product will show up.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: It's actually what's driven our health and wellness business because consumers do need value on the on the shelf, and we need to make sure that we offer options that can deliver a value offering with the same active ingredients.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_01: It is not dissimilar within the skincare realm.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_01: So when you think about products with true active ingredients, FDA approvals, if we're saying compare and save, it's because those formulations are truly comparable within what the FDA would would limit that to.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: So to me, those are cut and dry.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_01: And quite frankly, I think there's tons of opportunity where I think we can expand more just because there's so many more Durham-led, active ingredient-led brands and products out there that we can offer more of uh own brand, Walgreens brand, quality product at a value to our customers.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Now, with that being said, there are products that don't have active ingredients, and it's more of a formulation of um, you know, inactives that have non-FTA regulated actives, if you will.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: And so on those, we're still formulating them.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: And if we say compare and save, it is because we're formulating them to be very similar within those margins that that the FDA allows on that, that same thought, make sure the quality is the same on the products.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_01: So it is, it's our heritage, it's what Walgreens has always been uh within that healthcare space.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I see that the same in skincare.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: I see that development of these kind of Walgreens branded products to compare against the retailer, uh to compare against the uh brand name, excuse me, as really pushing the um the skincare companies to develop newer and better products, right?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_00: Because otherwise they're gonna lose market share to Walgreens.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so they have to come out with something better.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: I just don't see that as a negative.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure if I were to talk to a skincare company, they have a better view.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: But in terms of product development, it really must push them to constantly come out with something new.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, there's only so many actives that are approved, right, by the FDA.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's only so many monographed ingredients, for example.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_00: But reformulating, enhanced formulation, better penetration, that kind of thing, it that is kind of the result of these store brands.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, do you agree with that?
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: I totally agree.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: And I also think um sometimes there's price points that just are not accessible to a fair amount of our pay our customers that walk in the door.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: And so it does allow some of our customers who would love to have those branded products but can't really afford them the opportunity to have have the same kind of experience for their skincare.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I view it as that, and then I I think you're spot on.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: It pushes our national brand suppliers to continue to formulate, pushing an innovation, continue to, you know, deliver what the next great innovative product can be.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and and then we allow that innovation comes out, it's theirs to own, and the and you know, customers obviously respond to new innovation that allows them some new way of taking care of their skin.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Do you are are you also in charge of nutraceuticals, kind of the the supplements that people take to improve their skin?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_01: So I am not.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: I in my role today, I do not own vitamins and supplements.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_01: It falls within our health and wellness team.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_01: My disclaimer here is I have been in the past responsible for those categories.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm very familiar with it.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty apparent for those of us who work a lot in the skincare industry and try and educate our peers and consumers about it, that what's happening now is we're we're taking a more holistic view of skincare where it's not just what is applied from the outside, but it's also um what you're taking inside, right?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: And and so you know, the the idea of vitamins and supplements and replenishing deficiencies such as vitamin D is gaining more and more traction.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's gonna be supplementary to skincare in um a skincare regimen.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: And and so I'm wondering is is Walgreens doing anything in terms of consumer education around that?
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_01: So um, first off, I want to say I completely agree with you on your sentiment on how you take care of inside is just as much as how you take care of the the topical um components too.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_01: And uh and of in Walgreens, and when I say Walgreens, retailers tend to have these located in very different spots, and we're not talking to the customer in that way.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we show up a little bit in whoever internally is responsible for those categories are are um overseeing it.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: So we're actually we're focused on how do we bring that together.
• 17:15
  SPEAKER_01: So we're testing some things, not to reveal any you know big top strategic um things that Wellgreens is doing, but we're testing some things where we're putting a full solution in to say, okay, will this show with education on shelf, training to our BD consultants, and training with the pharmacist to say, okay, how does this all show up together?
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: How does the customer respond to that being together?
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so we can understand it to have more of a rollout approach in the future.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: So it's absolutely something we're looking at.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: But the first thing we have to do is bring the products together because it's just not intuitive for the customer to even know to ask the question until we do that.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: So much of this relies on consumer education.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's where, as I've learned from you and others, so many consumers run into the store for one thing and then they run out with the engine running in their car, right?
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: They just we all think, oh, hey, if we put point of sale education, whether it's a video or if it's a QR code, you know, of course people will stop and and like listen and educate themselves.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_00: But in fact, that's not the behavior of the consumer at all.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so that piece I'm learning is super difficult to really utilize everything because so much work is being done on the back end just to to educate the consumer.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: But you know, you can have it available, but if they're not consuming that education, it does nobody any good.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's the rub, right?
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: Is just really figuring out how to change consumer behavior in the store so that they do spend another couple of minutes to learn about hey, this you know, supplement goes really well with this skincare for this condition.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you you hit hit it right on the head.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_01: So our consumer at uh you know, at a Walgreens, so think drug channeled, they're they're in our store for seven to eight minutes on average.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: On average.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe some stay a little longer and we're lucky, but most that is how long they're in there.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: And if you think about it, right, they had a list, it's probably like five or six items that are on this list that they need to grab while they're in the store and quickly get out.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_01: Now, if I remove the friction, so some of the things that are cut and dry to grab, um, that allows them to have a few more minutes to spend in our aisles, which is what we find, so that they would take bite-size, really bite-sized information that we might give them at shelf.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's how we have to think about it.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: If we try to do a full education at shelf, it will never happen.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: They won't even see it.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be cluttered to the eyes.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: If it's true bite-size to direct, and then you couple that with they can have a person there in store to ask a question to to help them fight quickly find what they're looking for, that is where we find the true success.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: We all know too, uh, many will do the research before they come into the store.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: So connecting our digital and how we educate digitally, how you might shop digitally back to the store is critical too.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: There you go.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Connecting with the consumer before they even enter the store, that's gotta be um a big hurdle.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's incredible.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: It's funny.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: When I go to Walgreens, I I sit there for like 30 minutes, right?
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm always up and down the shelves looking at what's available.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it's, you know, my my kids come with me and they're like, Dad, we gotta go.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_01: My kids feel the same way.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_01: We do store visits, I get talked into buying so many things, but they know they know it's a win for them.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I just want to turn real quick to Boots number seven, because I I don't know how many people realize, but Walgreens acquired boots, and and Boots is a UK brand, right?
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: Correct.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_00: And there are uh what, I think maybe one or two SKUs in the boots line in Walgreens stores.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_00: Am I right about that?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, yeah, we have several SKUs now.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_01: Several, yeah.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, Boots has over 80 years of science, the number one skincare line in the UK, and um obviously at more affordable prices too.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_01: So we've been able to bring it into our stores, um, the full suite of offering into our stores, which is really exciting to have such a great, credible brand uh backed by science, which yes, we own another team owns over there, and we partner really well.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_01: Really excited.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_01: We have a new product they're gonna be launching.
• 21:29
  SPEAKER_01: So you'll hear it here first.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: Future um Future Renew is coming and it'll be in our stores at the very end of May.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, and you'll see it at Walgreens for about a month before you see it in the marketplace.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, with the intent of a new um mix of various peptides to reverse some of the damage that has been made to the skin.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: So super exciting.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I know they come in at a very compelling price point, and um we uh met with the there was a Formulator at at a recent conference, Patty uh Dr.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Ferris and I went to Dr.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: Patty Ferris is a co-founder and co-host of this podcast.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: And she spent a lot of time speaking with the formulator, and she came away so impressed with what they're doing.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um at the price point that's available in the Walgreen store.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of incredible, honestly.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_01: Love hearing that because they're doing a lot of great work.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, we feel super fortunate that it's kind of our sister company that we get to partner with and and bring to marketplace.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_01: So I love what they're doing as well.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: It's wonderful for our customers.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it is.
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's really it's great for the customers.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I, you know, when I've been in England before and I've seen the boots brand, and it's it's like 80 or something.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_00: Uh you say years, but I mean, there's a ton of products on in their line as well.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think there's a lot of opportunity for Walgreens to bring that over, as you said, um, and just have more offerings at at different price points.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: And what we're learning now is, you know, we used to think that the different price points kind of really equated with the different quality of the product.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not sure that's the case anymore, as you said.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: I I don't really understand why that is, but it doesn't seem to be maybe ingredient prices are coming down.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't know if you have any insight on that.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think um when you're the national brand supplier, you do a lot of research and development, right?
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: And that um that comes with the cost that you've been working on for many years, and that goes into the price for a period of time.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: So when you think about a number seven, some of this, I think the technology they're gonna launch soon, they've been working on for, I want to say over 10 years.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: I don't even want to quote the number of years for a very long time to try to figure out how to make it work.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: So there it comes with, okay, how do we price this in a way to offset all of the RD that you've been doing over time?
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: With that being said, your point is spot on as ingredient prices can come down when freight costs come down, when you know, whenever you have those kind of costs, those are other ways to help to offset some of the costs you take on with the RD.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, that's why own brands, when it comes into play, can be a way that we can help offset costs too.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, number seven, from a marketing standpoint, they do marketing, but they probably don't do the same kind of market, they don't have the same kind of marketing budget that maybe a very large supplier would have.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so that's another way that the costs can be offset a little bit to make it more reasonable.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_00: So just um as we're running out of time here, Heather, and I've enjoyed our conversation so much.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for your time.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I really appreciate it.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: I know I asked you kind of out of the blue, and you were so kind to say immediately say yes.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you again.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you mentioned and you hinted at that that in a few stores you were piloting some changes to the shopping experience.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um anything that, you know, that's happening right now, and and you know, as our listeners all over the country that they can go into a Walgreens and say, oh, hey, that's different and something that you're excited about.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um so not a pilot, but the moves that we're making in skincare is we're leading with dermatologist LEN brands.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_01: So brands that are formulated by dermatologists, supported by dermatologists, recommended by dermatologists, you're gonna see those are the front and center in our skincare aisle.
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: And that has been a new merchandising strategy that we have implemented.
• 25:26
  SPEAKER_01: And we're going to even drive further, bringing our therapeutic brands even closer to those derm brands so we can make sure that that's as visible to the customers as um as possible.
• 25:38
  SPEAKER_01: And then the rest of the brands will kind of follow.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_01: Not to say that those brands aren't great, but we know that it's important that we put that health care aspect there first.
• 25:46
  SPEAKER_01: Make sure when you only have seven or eight minutes with them, that they can find it very fast.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, perfect.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: I've learned so much.
• 25:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, everybody, this has been Heather Hughes.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: She's the group vice president and general merchandise manager at Walgreens over Beauty, Personal Care, and Seasonal.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Dr.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: Ted Lane.
• 26:04
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the co-host of Skincare Confidential.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to subscribe and share.
• 26:08
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and we hope you've enjoyed this one.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: If you have any questions, please send them to info at science of skincare summit.com.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: We will um look at those questions and try and answer them in future episodes.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe even ask our guests to weigh in as well.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_00: But anyway, uh Heather, thank you so much once again.
• 26:27
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much, Dr.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_01: Ted, for having me on the show.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: My pleasure.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_00: Take care, everybody.