The holidays are a profitable time for retailers, but so is the period after New Year’s, when everyone flocks back to stores in search of post-party remedies. The Nielsen Company issued a short report profiling this activity, noting that U.S. consumers will purchase more than $61 million on stop-smoking aids and more than $46 million on diet solutions in the month of January.

Anti-smoking and smoking alternative products generated 8.7% of annual dollar sales in January last year, an above-average share; while complete nutritional diet aids generated 9.9% of their annual dollar sales during the same period.

The advice to supermarkets selling wellness solutions is to hit shoppers now, and hit them hard, because sales drop off significantly once the month passes. According to Nielsen researchers, anti-smoking products declined steadily from more than $61 million in sales in January to $49 million in September. After a high at nearly $47 million in January, sales of nutritional diet aids dropped more than 14% to $40 million in February.

What are you doing right now to promote your stores and your pharmacies as a destination? To be sure, consumers know what’s coming. They’re already thinking of the Day of Reckoning. So shove aside the holiday stuff and make room for the new personal improvement products people will be looking for. Make a sharp, comprehensive merchandising strategy your New Year’s resolution. Your shoppers might not thank you for it, but they’ll be grateful.

Del Monte is exposing everything it’s got starting today — everything about its fresh produce products, nutrition, recipe ideas and healthful lifestyle advice.

The Coral Gables, Fla.- based company today is launching www.fruits.com, a new consumer website that profiles the company’s products and shows how they can fit into a healthful lifestyle. Del Monte has been hanging onto the highly desirable domain name for quite some time now, and it’s the first time it’s being used to full advantage. The launch is actually part of a larger, multifaceted communications platform, but the consumer web program is among the first to be introduced.

The new site is divided into four sections: Products, Recipes, Nutrition and Fitness and a Kids Corner. The latter two are the most interactive. Nutrition and Fitness is overseen by Tracey Ryan, a registered dietician, and Bryan Fedor, a personal trainer; while Kids Corner includes games that carry a nutrition message.

Some might say it’s a bit late for Del Monte to be coming around with a consumer web site like this. But let’s face it: Consumers need all the help they can get, and with such a simple domain name to remember, www.fruits.com will become popular soon enough.