Power cells - What's Hot - rechargeable batteries increase in popularity - Brief Article

DSN Retailing Today, April 8, 2002

All those digital devices driving sales at retail also are driving consumers to purchase batteries in droves. While total sales for this category are impossible to accurately estimate since Wal-Mart stopped supplying sales data to research firms, Information Research Inc. reports dollar sales for all retail channels, excluding Wal-Mart, totaled more than $1.76 billion for fiscal 2001. Add in Wal-Mart's sales and those numbers likely top out at between $2 billion and $2.5 billion.

But sales of alkaline batteries, the traditional workhorse of the business, have been flat or in decline for several years. Rather, rechargeable batteries are surging in popularity. Overall unit sales of nickel metal hydride batteries (NiMH) have posted triple-digit gains for three of the last four years, growing 108.4% overall for the year ending Dec. 23, 2001, according to IRI. In contrast, unit sales of alkaline products declined 4.3% at food, drug and mass merchants (excluding Wal-Mart). It's a trend expected to continue as consumers seek more economical alternatives to disposable batteries.

Fueling this trend is the increased popularity of high-drain digital products, especially digital cameras. To meet demand, manufacturers are coming out with new products and packaging specifically designed for digital needs. Energizer has its E2 product, and in May, Panasonic will go one step further when it introduces new nickel-zinc batteries so specialized consumers will be advised not to use them in anything but digital cameras.

GE Sanyo's newest line of rechargeable batteries and chargers also are being marketed specifically to digital camera users, though the product is less about specialized technology and more about the packaging, which is meant to steer consumers toward products for particular digital uses.