Aesthetic industry shows very positive sales results for practices after COVID-19 shutdowns
Aesthetic medical practices are seeing very positive sales results nationwide after reopening following the COVID-19 shutdown, according to a recent analysis conducted by industry leaders Acara Partners and PatientNow.
These findings were presented during a recent webinar hosted by the Aesthetic Business Institute and are based on an analysis of PatientNOW’s dataset involving 378 aesthetic medical practices including plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and medical spas throughout the United States. The 378 practices included in the data analysis are those that were open in June of 2019 and 2020, and are a subset of the 900+ practices in the PatientNOW database.
“This is a large sampling of data in the aesthetic medical industry, involving over 661,000 patients, spread out over the entire United States,” said Wes Olis, director of products at PatientNOW. “This includes about 65% core practices (dermatologists and plastic surgeons) and 35% non-core (medspas, etc.).”
When comparing June 2019 to June 2020 overall, core practice sales are up 8.8%, and non-core sales increased 18.8%. However, based on a set of specific procedures (injectables, non-invasive body contouring, laser skin rejuvenation, clinical skin care, and retail products) the core increase is 22.4% and the non-core is up 58.5%.
“Part of these increases are attributable to a pent-up demand for aesthetic services,” commented Francis X. Acunzo, CEO of Acara Partners and chair of the board of directors for the Aesthetic Business Institute. “But we also believe there is a marketplace expansion of aesthetic services taking place.”
Why the growth in aesthetic medical sales in June 2020 as most practices reopen after the COVID-19 shutdown? Acunzo believes there are four factors at play:
• pent-up consumer demand from aesthetic practices being closed for over two months
• the “Zoom Effect.” With many people spending hours each day in Zoom meetings over the last two to three months, everyone has been looking at themselves on the screen non-stop. This has had an impact on the increase in demand for aesthetic procedures.
• for the past two years, consumers have not been able to keep up with new aesthetic technology available to them. The shutdown over the last two to three months has enabled people to research this new technology and procedures, leading to an increase in demand.
• aesthetic practices with the largest sales increases kept up or increased their marketing spends during the shutdown and through their reopening.
“We have practices in different regions of the country posting amazing sales results,” Acunzo added. “For example, one practice in the southwest completed $550,000 in sales during a one-day virtual event. Another practice in the northeast reported sales were up 50% this June compared to last year.”
Some of the strongest sales numbers involve injectables, where non-core practices are seeing a 61% increase and core practices 33%. Overall, surgical procedures are up 8.4%, with some plastic surgeons seeing 50-100% increases from last June.
What does the immediate future hold for the aesthetic medical industry? Acunzo cautions that there are three external factors that will impact sales moving forward.
“Certainly, another shutdown due to a spike in COVID-19 cases will obviously impact sales for aesthetic practices,” Acunzo added. “In the same way, the availability of a COVID-19 vaccine and/or a treatment will have an enormous effect on our industry.”
Acara Partners and PatientNOW plan to produce quarterly reports moving forward to analyze aesthetic practices during this time of uncertainty.
To view the full webinar, please visit aestheticbusinessinstitute.com/video-resources.