Wall Street Transcript Interview with Brian D. Helman, the CFO of Vitacost.com, Inc. (VITC)
67 WALL STREET, New York - September 3, 2013 - The Wall Street Transcript has just published its Retail Report offering a timely review of the sector to serious investors and industry executives. This special feature contains expert industry commentary through in-depth interviews with public company CEOs and Equity Analysts. The full issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
Topics covered: Brick-And-Mortar Versus Online Retail Sales - Cautious Consumer Spending - Strong Secular Growth in E-Commerce - Competition From Big-Box Retailers
Companies include: Vitacost.com, Inc. (VITC) and many more.
In the following excerpt from the Retail Report, the CFO of Vitacost.com, Inc. (VITC) discusses company strategy and the outlook for this vital industry:
TWST: Obviously you are not a brick-and-mortar store. What are the advantages and the challenges of being an online retailer versus a brick-and-mortar store?
Mr. Helman: I think one of the great advantages of being an online retailer is our ability to offer customers such a great product selection, as we are not constrained by a tight retail space. We also do not have any of the overhead of a traditional retail store, so we can pass savings directly through to customers by typically offering them substantially lower prices.
TWST: Health and wellness has become quite a huge topic. What are some of the trends you are seeing in the market, and what changes are you anticipating? How will that impact your business?
Mr. Helman: Health and wellness is a worldwide megatrend and represents an enormous market growing very quickly. The U.S. market for VMHS products alone is estimated at $30 billion, and when you look at the broader U.S. total nutrition industry, which includes all of the other categories that we address, it is over $125 billion, so it's a tremendous opportunity. About 5% of the market is online, growing roughly twice as fast as the overall market, so we feel it's a great opportunity as consumers' purchasing behavior continues to move more online, and we are well-positioned to benefit from...
For more of this interview and many others visit the Wall Street Transcript - a unique service for investors and industry researchers - providing fresh commentary and insight through verbatim interviews with CEOs, portfolio managers and research analysts. This special issue is available by calling (212) 952-7433 or via The Wall Street Transcript Online.
