How To Get Your Share Of The Walk-In Tub Market: Who Buys Walk-In Tubs?

Published in Home Modifications on October 10, 2023

By Ed Mazza, CEO of SanSpaUSA

Seniors who like to bathe and soak their bodies…these individuals genuinely enjoy the relaxation that comes from soaking their body in water. A shower alone just doesn’t do it for these people.

Seniors who have bathed most of their lives have come to relish the buoyancy of the water and the sense of the mind-body connection. Some people call it meditation, and some people refer to it as a form of prayer. The sense of peace, stillness, and relaxation are part of what they seek.

Many seniors may have gotten away from taking baths earlier in their lives while they were involved in the hustle and bustle of working every day and didn’t have the time to stop and bathe. Now, at a new station in their lives they have the time, as well as physical health conditions that did not exist in their earlier days.

Seniors who want to bathe are concerned with the SAFETY of getting in and out of a standard bathtub. They worry about falling. We all know the possible dire impact of falling, and even just ONE fall.

Seniors with health issues. What percentage of seniors have some kind of a long-term progressive disease or existing bodily ailment tied to circulation? How about 90%? How often do we give thought to the importance that circulation plays in our bodily functions?

What drives all walk-in tub sales?

SPACE: A one-bathroom home is not ideal for promoting the sale of a walk-in tub. The only exception to this is a senior female who is living alone. Two-bathroom homes are far more accommodating to the preferences of both males and females. Most households with two bathrooms prefer both a shower and a bathtub for a variety of very good and practical reasons.
NEED: For any senior who is not going to give up the pleasure of bathing, SAFETY is their first health priority. We all know the dire consequences that can come with falling while getting in and out of a standard bathtub. The other piece of their safety “need” is often tied to the clinical benefits derived from water therapy. Many of the walk-in tubs sold in the U.S. are driven by a clinical and/or the medical need of the patient. Many are age-related health conditions that derive a direct benefit from hydrotherapy i.e., arthritis, circulation, neuropathy, etc.
COST: What do you charge for a walk-in shower these days? Depending on the customer’s product preferences, they can range anywhere from $7k to $20k. The material costs for a walk-in-shower often far exceed the cost of a quality walk-in-tub. The same is true for the installation. Overall, installation hours for a walk-in tub are typically far less than those of a walk-in shower. I have never met a professional walk-in tub installer that was anxious to install walk-in showers. It was almost always all about the number of moving pieces and parts that had to be measured, cut, set, and placed into the right position with perfection.

How can you sell more walk-in tubs?

Embrace the clinical and medical research about the benefits of hydrotherapy and bring it up early in the assessment process. You have science on your side.

Does science support the fact that hydrotherapy helps people with arthritis, joint, and back pain, not to mention a plethora of other health conditions? The unequivocal answer is YES. Water therapy is not only widely accepted by the medical community, but it is also widely promoted by the medical community.

How To Have a Profitable Walk-In Tub Offering

It all starts with a quality product, great sales support, and value pricing. We design, engineer, and construct what we believe is the best walk-in-tub on the market with the best value proposition on the market. Our definition of a value proposition includes personal sales support and good pricing. Hire the best!

Ask VGM members who have worked with us what they think about our value proposition: