Take hair and e-cents off - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

LOS ANGELES -- Marzena Body Care Products, an innovator in the hair care removal category, is introducing an Internet couponing program to drive sales of its products and support its retail partners. Utilizing its extensive Web site, www.depilatory.com (see the Jan. 11, 1999, issue of Drug Store News for more on Marzena's Web site) the company will offer three consumer coupons that can be easily printed from any computer and redeemed at any retail outlet carrying Marzena.

Susan Jorenby, a spokeswoman for New Zealand-based Marzena, said the couponing initiative is an innovative one on the supplier side. "There are a lot of 'coupon' Web sites, such as Save.com and coolsavings.com, but we think we're the first to drive consumers to the manufacturer's Web site and thus to the stores," Jorenby said. She noted that the Web site includes a store locater via Zip code.

The Internet coupons will promote two best-selling Marzena products, Wax Strips (75 cents off) and Petite Wax Strips (50 cents off), and also feature its latest product introduction, Body Hair Inhibitor Serum ($4.50 off). The coupons will be available on the Web May 1 and valid for redemption between July 1 and Aug. 31, the peak sales period for hair removal products.

Alister Taylor, vice president of marketing at Marzena, noted that the company has invested heavily in implementing a professional and user-friendly Web site since the Internet has become such an integral source for shoppers.

"This couponing program will utilize the success of the Web site to bridge the retail/Internet gap by capturing consumers through the site and driving them to the store for purchase," Taylor said.

Marzena looks to drive traffic to its Web site by working with teen and women's magazines to run information on the Marzena site. A sampling program with one of the major magazines is also in the works. Readers will receive a sample of one petite and one large Marzena wax strip, along with coupons for future purchases.

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