A Return to Health

• net sales increased 18.1 percent for the 2011 fiscal year, and have been up 31 percent and 21 percent in the first and second quarters of this fiscal year, respectively;
• gross profit for the full year 2011 was up 6.1 percent year-over-year, and 25 percent and 35 percent in the first and second quarters of this fiscal year, respectively; and
• total new customers in the first and second quarters of 2012 have increased over 100 percent year-over-year.

Zucker credits a lot of this growth to the significant increase in budget he's been given to implement his marketing plans as well as the more effective use of those dollars. In addition to giving Zucker and his marketing team more money to spend on acquiring and retaining customers, Vitacost has invested in expanding the product offering those customers have to choose from. The retailer has expanded its SKU count by close to 10,000 SKUs in the last year.