01 - BACKGROUND

Founded in 1965 by pharmacist Susan Carlson, Carlson Labs is a certified women-owned, family-run brand rooted in trust, transparency, and innovation. What started in a small Chicago apartment with a single supplement created to help Susan's father has grown into a globally recognized name in nutritional supplements. Today, Susan's daughters, Carilyn and Kirsten, lead the company with the same commitment to quality and family values.

02 - CHALLENGE

Why Carlson chose to rethink retail training

Carlson has always prioritized education, particularly among retail store employees who help customers make informed purchasing decisions in the supplement aisle. As the retail landscape evolved and more new brands entered the space, Carlson faced the challenge of consistently educating and engaging retail audiences at scale. After trying to launch its own training platform, the brand realized the need for a more effective solution.

After trying to launch our own Educational Platform called Carlson College – and after speaking to some other brands about their experiences with the platform – I realized we couldn’t afford NOT to be on ExpertVoice.”

03 - SOLUTION

ExpertVoice dramatically improves the reach and efficiency of our education team, it allows them to pass along knowledge through the app rather than being constantly on the road doing in-person trainings.”

Product seeding and incentives are key to Carlson's strategy. Over the past year alone, the brand has distributed more than 3,200 free and discounted full-size products to experts who complete lessons — turning product education into firsthand experience and authentic advocacy.

Carlson has also integrated expert reviews into its e-commerce strategy. Through Yotpo syndication and the ExpertVoice recommendation display widget, they highlight expert reviews on product pages — and they've optimized placement based on performance testing. This testing has shown that certain placements of expert reviews on a PDP increase revenue per visitor by 9.25%.

We believe the combination of social proof (reviews) and expert recommendations (ExpertVoice) is the key.”

04 - RESULTS

Retail reach, expert engagement and results

Retail education impact: Nearly 40,000 minutes of learning from 2,381 retail experts across 1,447 store locations in the past year

Sustained education: Carlson has educated 2,000–3,000 unique experts annually since 2020

Most engaged audiences: The Vitamin Shoppe, Sprouts Farmers Market, Whole Foods Market and Natural Grocers employees

Expert review quality: Average star rating of 4.84 across all ExpertVoice reviews

Carlson has also invested in branded content by hiring the ExpertVoice team to produce custom videos filmed at their facility. These videos are designed to educate the ExpertVoice audience through lesson content and are repurposed across Carlson’s digital marketing channels.

CONCLUSION

Continuing to grow with the expert community

This partnership has become a cornerstone of Carlson's retail education and advocacy strategy. Lessons remain targeted and timely, while product seeding transforms knowledge into authentic recommendations. As Jared summarized:

“ExpertVoice is more than just a training platform – it’s a community of professionals who want to learn more about the brands they’re selling. And when they know more about your products, they’re more comfortable recommending them.”

As the brand celebrates its 60th anniversary, Carlson’s legacy of quality and education is stronger than ever — amplified by a community of informed and motivated experts.