As the owner of a nutritional supplement store, you provide a service that enhances the health and wellbeing of your customers. In fact, the market for supplements is thriving in Canada. But are you protected against the risks of operating in this industry?
Insurance for your Supplement Store
Like all businesses, your supplement store is in need of insurance to guard against possible scenarios that could threaten your business. Some of these are well known, and some may be less so. The supplement industry is not regulated by Health Canada, and that could open you up to potential liability if one of your customers experiences harm as a result of using one of the products you recommend. In addition, there are inherent risks associated with operating a location with expensive inventory that is open to the public. It is important to ensure you are insured against these and other potential threats to your operation.
Supplement Industry Statistics and Trends
As you are likely well aware as the owner of a supplement store, this industry continues to enjoy steady growth in Canada. Here are some of the statistics from Statistics Canada (link: https://bit.ly/38mWZn1).
- In 2015, 45.6% of Canadians aged one year and older (approximately 15.7 million people) used at least one nutritional supplement, so nearly half of Canadians use some sort of supplement in daily life
- Multivitamins are the most popular supplement in the country with nearly one quarter (23.1%) of Canadians taking a multivitamin when surveyed in 2015.
- Women are more likely than men to take supplements, with the most notable difference being in the 51-70 age group (in this age group, 65.1% of women reported taking a nutritional supplement, while 42.5% of men did).
While it’s a thriving industry, what are the risks of operating a supplement store?
The Risks Associated with Supplement Stores
You may have opened your supplement store with the intention of only doing good for people and assisting in good health. But sometimes the unexpected occurs when operating a business and some examples of these could include:
- Your staff person accidentally advises a client to take the wrong dose of a particular supplement, resulting in costly health complications for the user. The customer claims damages against your store.
- While reaching for an item high on one of your shelves, a customer is caught off balance and falls, injuring themselves.
- A product manufacturer is sued when their supplement is found to cause side effects. Your store is named in the suit.
What insurance does your Supplement Store need?
To make sure you covered in a variety of potential claim situations, you should consider the following coverage for your supplement store:
- Commercial General Liability provides protection against bodily injury and property damage claims related to your premises, operations, advertising and completed operations. Commercial General Liability Insurance also typically includes product liability coverage which is a key coverage for supplement stores to protect themselves from allegations of injury or harm to health as a result of the products sold.
- Professional Liability Insurance may be necessary if you have a professional naturopath doctor or other professional dispensing advice to your customers.
- Small Business Property Insurance will protect you in the event of extended perils at your place of business, such as floods, fire, etc.
- Auto Insurance is necessary if you and your staff operate company vehicles as part of your business.
- Cyber Liability Insurance is a good idea if you keep client files on your servers as it will protect against data breach or loss.
Find the Right Supplements Store Insurance from ALIGNED
ALIGNED works with Canada’s top insurance companies to provide custom insurance packages at affordable prices. Click Here To Get A Quote or contact one of our business insurance experts for information or with any questions you may have.
