Amazon Elements Supplement Success Leads to New and Growing Siblings

Trust Transparency Center, which has remained diligent in its coverage of the advances for the Amazon lines of dietary supplements, takes a deep dive into Amazon Elements, Solimo and Nature’s Wonder and their impact on the industry and consumer perception/misperception

Currently,
there are over 14,000 dietary supplement brands listed as vitamins and supplements
through an Amazon search, and at least five of the brands listed are Amazon
owned: the Elements line, Solimo line, Revly, Own PWR and Mama Bear.

An
overview of the offerings:

• Elements was launched by Amazon in February
  2016 with just four products; it now has 30 SKUs, and targets the general
  population. It does not provide structure function claims for any products or
  ingredients, thus eliminating an area of regulatory concern experienced by most
  brands.
• Solimo, an Amazon line launched in March
  2018, already has 91 dietary supplement SKUs. It also targets the general
  population, and does not provide structure function claims.
• Revly is clearly geared toward women.
• Own PWR targets men and the power-lifting
  community.
• Mama Bear is Amazon’s kids-focused line.
• Nature’s Wonder. Amazon is expanding its reach
  through its “Our Brands” program, which includes Nature’s Wonder. It was
  launched as an Amazon exclusive in September 2017 and now has 72 SKUs. Unlike
  the other Amazon brands, Nature’s Wonder provides specific claims and targeted
  branding.

The Amazon
Element line expresses its main product differentiator as transparency. The
offering page details historically opaque items of product detail such as
contract manufacturer and country of origin of ingredients as well as many other
aspects of the product. Through a QR code the consumer can find lot specific
analytical test data for the product purchased.

Based upon sales ranking data, the Elements line is performing respectably for Amazon. The Solimo line is a more price aggressive line with no transparency. The Solimo products routinely have less benefit than the Elements line and border on deception in some items. For example, Amazon Elements Milk Thistle states the product provides 150mg per serving. The Amazon Solimo Milk Thistle offers 200mg on front label:

The Solimo
label would seem to indicate a 30% increase of Milk Thistle over the Elements
brand. In reality, each Solimo softgel contains 67% (80mg vs. 120mg) of Milk
Thistle found in each Elements capsule:

This type of discrepancy routinely occurs between the three
brands and is perhaps most apparent when reviewing the multivitamin products
with similar label names (i.e. One Daily Men’s, Women’s One Daily Vitamin and
Men’s One Multivitamin).

Another element of interest as it relates to transparency is
the label phrasing “Contains 2% or less of…”. On some labels this phrasing
includes magnesium stearate, polysorbate 80, polyethylene glycol and other
sometimes-controversial items.

While the Elements and Solimo brands are more similar than
different, Nature’s Wonder brand is “Targeted Health” and condition specific.
This brand takes on the leaders in their category including Centrum, Move-Free
and Flintstones brands and names them in comparison on the front of the label:

The pricing between the three brands is inconsistent but
trends toward offering the Nature’s Wonder product at a discounted price from
the Elements and Solimo brands. Some examples:

An interesting note here is the
least “generic” looking Amazon-exclusive brand, Nature’s Wonder, is the least
expensive. If the synthetic Vitamin E is an indication of ingredient quality, as
evidenced by the natural Vitamin E in the other Amazon brands, the ingredient
quality is likely low.

What is clear is that Amazon is continuing to create a
formidable line of private label dietary supplements. Benefit claims are not
going to be part of the majority of Amazon marketing and they are leaving that
to others to provide or the consumer to discover on their own. What is not clear
is how the “bare bones” marketing of Solimo will fare against the transparency
initiative of the Elements brand. Trust Transparency Center will continue to
analyze and track the emergence of the Amazon impact on our industry from a
variety of angles.

Nature’s Wonder and Solimo appear designed to
get market share at the low/economy end of the spectrum. Solimo and Elements
are offering a minimalist approach to information and benefits of their
products. This opens the door for competing brands and retailers to improve
upon the Solimo approach and create meaningful and valuable content for the
consumer. 

So, what does all of this internet knowledge and
Amazon Brand exploration mean to you, the WholeFoods
Magazine reader? The reality is this information is affecting the way you sell
or buy products. The Amazon brands discussed are clearly focused primarily on
price and so opportunities exist everywhere but
price when competing. Every aspect of the Amazon strategy should be analyzed
for opportunity and/or improvement. On a monthly basis in 2019, Trust
Transparency Center will provide insight on this topic. Let us know how Amazon
is impacting your business and questions you have by emailing editor@wfcinc.com.