Understanding the market is key to selling more aids to daily
living, says Peter Shmagola, CEO, Parsons ADL, and the target
consumer may not be as obvious as you think.
Shmagola suggests the person making the buying decision is more
likely to be 50 years old than 80. He sees the caregiver —
that member of the “sandwich generation” who is
struggling to keep the kids in college while caring for an aging
parent — as the key to selling more Aids to Daily Living
(ADLs).
“The 85-year-old might not want to admit they need the
product or might not want to spend the money,” says Shmagola.
“The caregiver is more likely to buy.”
The breadth and diversity of the ADL category — from
reachers to bathroom grab bars to leisure products — can
appear challenging for HME providers looking to balance the need
for a broad offering that serves customer demand against the
expense of devoting extra shelf space and inventory. But the
rewards are great for those who get it right: higher cash sales
that can help to offset money lost to lower reimbursements. And
although the products can be low-cost, the profit margins are
healthy, according to manufacturers.
Shmagola contends that consumer awareness is crucial: Many
people just don't know these items exist.
“Don't tuck these products in the back of the store where
they will be forgotten,” he warns. Parsons offers a broad
array of products, from cleaning aids and reachers to kitchen
items, eating devices, dressing aids and bathroom grooming aids.
The Canadian company does about 30 percent of its business in the
United States, where about 200 HME providers carry its
products.
With products designed to offer ease and comfort of daily
living, the category also may offer an opportunity for HME
providers to branch out.
“It's about disability but also it's about the simple
aging process,” says Ruth Mallin, owner of Independent Needs
Centre, which provides a variety of personal care items for
dressing, eating, grooming and toileting. The company also provides
leisure products such as magnifying glasses, book holders and
large-number playing cards.
Mallin stresses the importance of listening to the customer
base. “Who are your customers and what are they looking for?
If you are located near a medical center that does a lot of hip
replacements, you should know what they will need and cater to that
need.”
“ADL products should adapt to the person rather than the
person adapting to the product,” says Alan Bingham, senior
product manager, AliMed. The company has been branching out into
the bariatric area, where specific needs related to reach and
personal hygiene are important. The company has adapted aids to
enable a bariatric patient to extend his or her reach to do a
variety of tasks, from using toilet paper to applying lotion.
Ergonomic Product Design
A common element in many ADL products historically has been a
“cheap, bland feel,” like they have been made
inexpensively and put together without any thought to the people
who need them, says Bingham. But that is a trend that is changing.
“We have some very elegant eating and cooking elements that
are ergonomic and convey a level of dignity,” he says.
Consumer focus — including product design — is core
to the offerings from Carex Health Brands, which supplies a variety
of ADLs such as bathroom safety (rails, grab bars, shower seats),
reaching, dressing and opening aids, and mobility aids such as
canes and walkers. One example is the company's E-Z Grabber
reaching aid, which removes the need for users to rotate their
wrist to reach for and pick up household items.
Essential Medical Supply has changed the ergonomic design of the
handle on its lotion applicator and offers bendable spoons and
forks that are useful to stroke patients. The company breaks down
its ADL products, around 100 in all, into four categories: eating
and drinking, dressing and bathing, reading and home products.
The manufacturer/distributor sells a lot of “hip
kits” targeted to anyone who has had hip surgery. A typical
kit might include a reacher, a dressing stick, a shoehorn and a
bathing sponge, all in one package. The kits can be custom-designed
to meet the specific needs of the occupational therapist-driven
market.
AliMed's focus on product design includes a research and
development department with biomedical engineers on staff who can
create computer prototypes of products for daily living and later
test the items in the field. One of those items is the Universal
Bedpan, which is made of high-density polyethylene rather than
stainless steel and can support up to 1,000 pounds.
According to Parsons, product design is improving by leaps and
bounds, especially in Europe and Canada. The company's Blue Nosey
Cup looks like a regular glass and is an example of taking the
institutional look out of products. For personal hygiene, the
Buckingham Easy Wipe is a toileting aid that is ergonomically
designed.
Mallin of Independent Needs Centre suggests magnifying glasses
as a product category for which ergonomic design has paid off. From
heavy-duty items, magnifying glasses have evolved to lighter-weight
versions with ergonomic handles, long-lasting batteries and LED
lights instead of light bulbs.
“Now we have taken them and put them in packaging so
people can see and touch the handle and test out the magnification
before they buy without opening the package,” she says.
Mallin also observes that eating utensils are becoming more
ergonomically designed, and many are now dishwasher-safe.
She points to increasing consciousness among consumers about
what plastics are used in water bottles. The company has
transitioned away from the use of latex, for example, in exercise
equipment or the handles of its plastic cutlery.
Importance of Packaging
Essential Medical has devoted a lot of effort to its packaging
in the last several years, including creation of color-coded icons
to guide the consumer, says Mike Hoepner, president. For example,
anyone looking for an item in the eating category can look for a
yellow icon with a fork and a spoon. For items in the dressing
category, there is a blue square with the outline of a shirt.
The company also stresses uniform, high-impact packaging. Its
planograms group related products together and help promote add-on
sales.
“People come in for one thing, but they can use two or
three,” says Hoepner. “Until they see it, they don't
know it's available.” Essential Medical also provides
brochures for customers to take home. “The keys are
high-impact packaging that increases the perceived value, making it
easier for the consumer to see what it is, and giving them
something to carry away, like a brochure,” he says.
AliMed packages its products in two ways, both for the
facilities market (more generic packaging), and for the consumer
(HME) market, including more detailed explanations and
instructions. Also, packaging items in a bubble pack with a
cardboard back helps consumers see what the item is, Bingham
says.
Shmagola of Parsons sees the benefit of allowing a customer to
touch and feel the products, for example, by showing a bathroom
setup or displaying plates on a tray. The company has replaced its
sealed packaging with a recloseable clamshell package with better
graphics to promote more sales.
“We have invested in equipment and are dedicated to making
our packaging more customer-friendly,” Shmagola says. He
recalls having a revelation while he was helping a retailer in
Canada arrange items on a wall. “I came back to the office
and said, ‘Every package has to have a picture of what the
product is and what it does.’”
Competing with Mass Retailers
Mass retailers typically have only a few ADLs on display and
feature the most common types, where HME suppliers are better
equipped to make a statement with a wider range of models to help
consumers see more options.
“Letting customers try a sample in the store would be a
great way to convert to sale,” suggests Matt McElduff,
president, Carex Health Brands.
“A lot of mass retailers are selling products that may or
may not work,” agrees Bingham of AliMed. “The HME
provider has a level of expertise so he can make sure the consumer
gets the right product. You can't walk into a large chain and buy
something that would solve a problem, and no one in the store has
any expertise.”
HME providers can also excel by offering a wider product range
rather than just one or two items of each type, he adds.
“People cherish the extra value of having exactly what they
need. HME providers are not competing on price, they are competing
on solving the problem of the patient.”
Adds Hoepner, “There are umpteen-million ADLs that mass
retailers are never going to carry. They aren't going to give up
the shelf space and they don't know what to stock.”
HME providers, on the other hand, have an opportunity to provide
the right product mix, to display it effectively and even to do
some creative cross-merchandising. “If you have a bedding
section of your store, put the magnifying glasses there because
people read in bed. Put the reachers near the canes,” he
suggests.
Ideas to Increase Sales
Mallin urges HME providers to check out the quality of what they
are selling and what it's for, and to educate staff so they can
explain items to customers.
“They are already selling medical equipment to someone;
they should learn what other products might be helpful to those
people and add it to the sale,” she comments.
Mallin also contends a store should have a consistent section
for ADL products.
“You can't just have one or two pieces here or there.
People just don't get it. You also need signage to direct people to
that area. It doesn't matter so much where you put it in the store,
it just needs to be a cohesive group of products that makes sense
and be attractive enough with decent signage.”
AliMed's Bingham suggests grouping items together in the store
that are related to a specific illness or condition, such as items
likely to be needed by someone who has had a stroke.
Growth in the elderly population also points to a need for
providers to keep a fresh supply of various solutions available
from manufacturers in the ADL category, says Carex' McElduff. He
also suggests the Internet as a tool providers can use to spread
the word about their offerings; Carex provides supporting images
and content to help ADL retailers fortify their Web sites.
AliMed produces product videos, some of which teach people how
to use their products.
Parsons offers several point-of-purchase displays, including one
for reachers and one for its Guardian Alert 911, a distress alarm
that automatically dials 911 when you push a button. The audio
display has a button customers can push to hear the product
explained in 30 seconds.
ADLs Are Getting Smarter
A “smart” medication dispensing device can remind,
dispense and report medication non-compliance to ensure that a
patient takes the right medications at the proper time. If a dose
is missed, the system sends a signal to designated caregivers via
text, voice or email. The MedSmart Medication Tool, developed by
American Medical Alert Corp., Oceanside, N.Y., is an example of the
growing influence of electronics in the traditionally low-tech ADL
category.
Another example is the Egress Alarm from AliMed, one of several
types of wander alarms that signal when someone goes out a door.
The Loc8tor from AliMed is a full global positioning system (GPS)
that can find people wherever they are; the device is unobtrusive
and lightweight, less than an inch square.
The company also offers a Stove Cutoff device that switches off
the stove if it senses nobody is in the kitchen for a specified
period of time.
Independent Needs Centre offers a similar device called the
Stove Guard.
Even for products that aren't necessarily “smart,”
Parsons ADL sees other technology improvements. Bath lifts, for
example, at one time were water-powered. Now battery-powered lifts,
such as the company's Sonaris model, are improving with the use of
smaller motors and smaller batteries that provide longer life
— 18 lifts instead of eight.
Experts Interviewed
Alan Bingham, senior product manager, AliMed, Dedham, Mass.;
Mike Hoepner, president, Essential Medical Supply, Orlando, Fla.;
Ruth Mallin, owner, Independent Needs Centre, Markham, Ontario;
Matt McElduff, president, Carex Health Brands, Sioux Falls, S.D.;
and Peter Shmagola, CEO, Parsons ADL, Tottenham, Ontario.
