White Label or Private Label Skincare…Should I or Shouldn’t I?
Private Label skincare or White Label as it is sometimes called was something our brand had never considered when it started in 2006. Wholesale and online retail was going to be the business model and we never imagined how that would shift gears as we grew. It really became about our customers and serving their needs as much as it was about the product.
When my late sister, Michelle, and I opened the first store, it was supposed to be more of a product making and shipping place, not really a shop.
We cleaned it up but didn’t really decorate it. That was until our local customers wanted to pick up their orders and not pay to ship.
Then we had some fun designing it to look more like a store and less like a production place and realized that we were enjoying retail more than wholesale. So we moved to a bigger store and shifted to a retail-only model.
We stayed in that location for 3.5 years. We added “Make Your Own Scrubz” Parties to that store and really dug into the one-on-one joys of retail. After losing Michelle, I decided to move the store once again (A few landlord issues, plus, I think I needed out of the place with all those memories), still maintaining only the retail and the party part of our business.
It was the right move and the business continued to expand in retail, party, and online business. Thank you to all who helped us grow!
We couldn’t keep it to ourselves any longer
Private label, was something we considered over the years, but put aside. Building the ScrubzBody brand was always top of mind and first on the list, so it was hard to imagine having someone else put their name on a jar of our amazing products.
I guess I kept thinking back to when I first started ScrubzBody and how hard I worked to get people to consider our brand over others. Back in the day when we were expanding it was all about getting our product onto the skin of everyone we could. I was hawking our wares at holiday boutiques, craft fairs, street fairs, and home parties.
Everything I put out had our name on it so that we could build a reputation as a high-quality, low-fuss solution to dry, irritated, and/or sensitive skin.
And then a long-time customer (who soon became a private label client) walked into my shop and made me change my mind.
Katie was in the middle of branding her own yoga studio and it had a retail space. She really wanted products to sell that she could call her own with a feeling that matched her young, colorful vibe. So instead of saying no, I said yes.
She chose to jar it up herself and do all the labeling, so all we had to do was whip it up by the gallon. When Katie called 2 weeks later and had sold out of her jars and she needed another gallon in that scent and added a second, I realized that maybe private label was something great.
3 weeks later Covid-19 Lockdowns Hit
We shut the shop and started with online sales only. People canceled their parties and asked for deposits back. The store was not allowed to be open, so finding another way to remain in business besides online was the goal.
I remembered how great the private label experience was, so I created a full-on program and began to put the information out in different business channels I had.
We slowly built up a client base and have never looked back. Contact us if you need help starting your own skincare business!