BALTIMORE — Due to the availability of natural and organic products in multiple retail channels, retailers looking to differentiate should carry a selection of products based on making the choice as to what to purchase easier on the shopper, according to speakers and retailer attendees at the Natural Products Expo East here yesterday. “Shoppers are coming into your stores are not looking for products, they are looking for ideas and what’s new. They say, ‘I don’t have time to think about it for myself,’” said Schuyler Lininger, president and chief executive officer of health information kiosk provider Healthnotes, Portland, Ore., while speaking in a presentation on wellness marketing. “What consumers are looking for is an edited selection,” he said. His sentiments were reflected during another presentation by Darrin Duber-Smith, president of the consultancy Green Marketing, Nederland, Colo., who urged retailers to differentiate by carrying products from small, new manufacturers that are likely to produce products with a higher percentage of natural ingredients as science advances in that area. “I am very particular with health and beauty care. I only provide products with basic ingredients. You have to be a label-reader for your customers,” said Shirley Potasz, owner of the independent store Dawn Nutrition in Foster City, Calif., after Duber-Smith’s presentation.

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