Online vitamin and health products retailer VitaCost.com Inc. recorded $34.4 million in web sales for the fourth quarter of 2008, a 40% increase vs. about $24.5 million in the same quarter in 2007.
Total sales for Q4 of 2008 were about $39 million, with a little more than 11%, or about $4.6 million, coming from phone orders and less than 1% via mail, says Wayne Gorsek, VitaCost’s founder. The web made up about 88% of sales for the quarter and for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2008.
Total sales for fiscal 2008 were $143.7 million, with about $126.5 million coming from the Internet. Web sales for fiscal 2008 were up by about 45%, or $39.7 million, from about $86.8 million in the prior year.
Vitamins, dietary supplements and health products sales proved to be very resilient in the quarter, particularly December, Gorsek tells Internet Retailer. “December is normally a weak month,” he says, “but not this one.”
Gorsek believes VitaCost’s health-related fare is not viewed as a luxury by repeat buyers. “People who buy high-end nutraceutical products are going to continue to buy regardless of the economy. They are an essential staple of the diet,” he says. Plus, VitaCost discounts its price from 30% to 80% below bricks-and-mortar health products stores, Gorsek adds, making the retailer an attractive alternative source in financially tough times.
VitaCost is No. 142 in the Internet Retailer Top 500 Guide.
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