In the dynamic world of veterinary medicine, a golden opportunity awaits — one that aligns with growing pet wellness trends and offers significant financial growth. For veterinarians and savvy business owners, it’s time to focus on an area with huge potential: veterinary supplements.
Untapped Potential
The trend of viewing pets as family members and focusing on their long-term health has sparked a shift toward preventive care and integrative treatments designed for various life stages. Supplements assist with that, whether formulated to address skin and coat problems, mobility, gut health or calming issues, to name the major categories.
The global pet supplements market was valued at $1.8 billion in 2021 and is anticipated to reach $3.1 billion by 2030, underscoring a significant sales category in veterinary practices. By incorporating supplements into our clinics, veterinary professionals can meet the rising demand for comprehensive pet health care and create a strategic pathway to financial growth.
As pets enjoy longer lives, their owners increasingly confront the challenges of managing chronic age-related conditions. These striking statistics capture the reality:
- 38% of dogs at least 1 year old are at risk of developing osteoarthritis.
- 59% of U.S. dogs are overweight.
- Skin issues are the top reason for veterinary visits after vaccines and routine visits.
Laying the Groundwork
Let’s explore how integrating a single type of supplement, such as one for mobility issues, can significantly improve a veterinary practice’s revenue and productivity. Picture this scenario:
- Each veterinarian in your clinic works four days a week and sees about 1,500 unique canine patients over a year — approximately seven a day.
- If 38% of them have or have had arthritis, the veterinarian can recommend mobility supplements to potentially 570 dog owners.
- The mobility supplement you offer has a 50% profit margin when sold for $60 per bottle per month. If just half of the owners buy the product, there’s a potential for significant revenue ($205,200) and a six-figure profit ($102,600).
- We cannot assume 100% compliance, so let’s assume you sell a four-month supply. In that case, the adjusted annual revenue drops to $67,716 per doctor.
- The average full-time equivalent veterinarian generates about $575,000 in revenue annually. Adding supplement sales could boost your practice’s revenue by 11.8%.
Even if you don’t achieve a 12% revenue increase with joint supplements alone, you can easily hit the number, if not exceed it, by providing a broader spectrum of supplements for skin conditions, gut health, immune support, weight management and dental issues.
Making Sense of the Noise
In the competitive veterinary care market, the importance of selecting high-quality supplements cannot be overstated. We must sift through the noise — evidenced by 94 pages of hip-and-joint supplements on Amazon — and recommend products backed by solid evidence and rigorous standards.
I recommend:
- Choosing products with thorough third-party testing to ensure label accuracy and reliable dosing.
- Seeking evidence-based products. Some ingredients are proven to be more effective than others in peer-reviewed studies.
- Opting for supplements produced at U.S. facilities compliant with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) or other quality standards certifications.
Moreover, selecting high-quality supplements not easily found elsewhere will elevate the perceived value of your services, foster client trust and reaffirm your dedication to comprehensive care.
Maximizing the Benefits
After you select the proper supplements, implementing educational and promotional initiatives will help you develop recurring revenues seamlessly. Here are some best practices:
- Focus on education: If you find sales talk difficult, leverage your passion for sharing knowledge by promoting your products and services to clients eager to maintain and improve their pets’ health.
- Develop protocols: Ensure your team members’ messaging is consistent when they discuss and review supplements with clients. Consider creating separate plans for puppies, adult dogs and senior pets, as well as breed-specific or condition-specific treatment strategies.
- Leverage client touchpoints: Every visit is a chance to educate, raise awareness and sell. Leave each client with valuable information at every visit.
- Use technology: Maximize client communications, such as email and text messaging platforms, to promote new offerings and send reminders.
- Encourage loyalty: Start a subscription plan with discounted prices for supplements.
Adding supplements to your product offerings delivers a triple benefit: improved pet health, enhanced client engagement and boosted practice revenue. Doing it positions veterinarians as leaders in preventive care and meets the growing demand for integrative solutions. Let’s embrace the opportunity to advance veterinary medicine and ensure a prosperous future.
MERCHANDISING SUPPLEMENTS
Effectively promoting supplements in a veterinary clinic goes beyond their mere availability. A strategic approach is critical and encompasses the 5 P’s of marketing: product, price, place, people and promotion.
- Product: Select supplements based on scientific evidence of their efficacy.
- Price: Set prices that reflect the value of your veterinary expertise and help you remain competitive. Collaborate with suppliers for favorable wholesale costs and consistent retail prices so that you can target a 50% margin. Also, incorporate discounts and loyalty programs to serve diverse client budgets.
- Place: Display supplements within the clinic and on your website. Set up an area where clients can engage with the products, and include sampling opportunities. Enhance client convenience through online sales and home-delivery options.
- People: Train your team members on the use and benefits of supplements. Empower them to convey the information confidently to clients. Relationships based on trust and credible advice drive repeat business and referrals.
- Promotion: Utilize educational materials, digital marketing and success stories to inform and encourage your clients. Personalized recommendations during consultations can further underscore the value of supplements.
DEFINING SUPPLEMENTS
According to the National Animal Supplement Council, an animal health supplement is “a product intended to support the maintenance of normal biological structure and function in animals that are not intended for human consumption, such as dogs, cats and horses.”