Kelly Kaplan and her partner were excited to take advantage of the growing demand for natural health and beauty products when they purchased The Natural Dentist brand in 2010. By tapping into the market of ingredient-conscious consumers, the brand has grown their product line to include creative and innovative oral care solutions that are winning over customers and buyers alike. Read on to hear this RangeMe Verified™ brand’s experience working with Target and landing 7 SKUs on Target.com through RangeMe.
The Natural Dentist’s niche
Kaplan and her partner ran another oral care brand together for several years, and when they saw that The Natural Dentist was for sale, they decided to make a big move and purchase it in 2010.
“The time was right,” Kaplan says of the decision to purchase the brand. “We knew that the natural segment was growing, and savvy consumers were looking to avoid certain ingredients in their personal care products.” Since then, the demand for natural beauty and health products has only increased.
One of The Natural Dentist’s most popular products is a charcoal toothpaste, which has been a growing oral care trend. The brand sets their charcoal toothpaste apart from the crowd with innovative ingredients and flavoring. “Our charcoal comes from burned coconut shells, which gives it a coconut-mint flavor,” Kaplan explains. “That makes it a little different from other charcoal toothpastes, and reminds customers that the charcoal is coming from a natural source.”
Targeting toothpaste
The Natural Dentist’s unique products don’t just appeal to consumers—their offering also caught the eye of a Target buyer on RangeMe.
“I got the most exciting inquiry you could ever ask for,” Kaplan says of her experience connecting with Target. “A new buyer at Target reached out through RangeMe and said they were interested in our line. When I received that, I definitely did a little happy dance!”
Kaplan was surprised and pleased by how quickly the deal with Target went through on RangeMe. “Within four weeks of when the buyer reached out to us via RangeMe,” she says, “we had seven SKUs listed on Target.com.”
She also notes that RangeMe gave The Natural Dentist exposure to buyers that they otherwise may not have had access to. “I wasn’t even aware — and neither was my sales team — that there was a new buyer at Target who we hadn’t dealt with before,” Kaplan explains.
A naturally bright future
“This is just one example of what RangeMe has done for us.” With this online success under their belt, The Natural Dentist looks forward to growing its product line and scoring additional retailer placements. They are working on expanding the distribution of their charcoal toothpaste, and plan to come out with more flavors and formulas in the future.
As their products continue to do well on Target.com, Kaplan is hopeful that they will soon be stocked in brick-and-mortar Target stores as well, and she is actively working on expanding the partnership. “It’s damn exciting,” she says of her overall experience working with Target. “It’s a great story that, if you told me it would happen to me before we put our offerings on RangeMe, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
“And,” Kaplan continues, “this is just one example of what RangeMe has done for us.”
