Reinventing the well-care segment

Drug Store News, August 6, 2001 by Michael Johnsen

Matthews agreed, adding that natural synergies also exist between well-care and the rest of the self-care categories. "Paraffin baths are a classic example of the crossover between the therapeutic value and the personal spa experience." Indeed, paraffin spas have the blessing of the Food and Drug Administration in terms of making therapeutic claims against both arthritis and bursitis. As such, Matthews suggested placement closer to the pharmacy area, stressing the category's natural healthcare tie-in.

Of course, Matthews noted, there are other sound cross-merchandising ideas worth exploring, but these secondary placements should never take the place of a definitive home for the category. "There is a lot of [opportunity] with hand lotions and creams, which we've done with department stores when they've had [product demonstrations]," he said. "But we're a proponent of one centralized area for [well-care] products that can be merchandised under one umbrella."

Applying basic category management disciplines to well-care may help drive sales, as well. For instance, Cohen suggested giving less space to wellness items that may be trending down and replacing those products with categories within wellness that are on the uptrend. As such, retailers should give better prominence to water-therapy products like foot bathers and powered bath mats, Cohen remarked.

Wellness specifics

Although sales of tabletop meditation fountains have fallen off as of late, Matthews predicted that growth in this subsegment of the business may flow more freely once again.

"Some categories traditionally go through a certain lifecycle," he explained. "The relaxation fountain business is trending down, [but] we've got some new introductions [which is] one way to breathe new life into a category." At NACDS Marketplace, HoMedics introduced four new candle fountains, which combine sight and sound with aromatherapy, and seven new hand-blown glass fountains.

Another well-care category that hasn't attracted a lot of attention at the cash register is magnet therapy. However, sizing up the category at $50 million through retail, Matthews felt that retailers were not quite ready to cut bait on the segment just yet. "The dollar volume is so significant within that square footage," he noted, that retailers would be hard-pressed to replace it.

While the tide has turned somewhat on magnet therapy, Q-Ray has repositioned itself as the magnet alternative.

The company first introduced its pain-relieving, ionized metal bracelet to the mass market three years ago with limited success. Since that time, it has launched a $10 million direct-to-consumer television campaign in an effort to increase brand awareness. "We've been very successful with it," commented Lizz Ciprian, the company's sales and marketing manager. "We feel right now we're ready to hit the mass market where a year ago we weren't."

Working on a different principle than magnetic therapy, the ionized metal bracelets are designed to relieve excess positive ions in the body. What's more, Q-Ray is coming to market these days with something else the manufacturer did not have two years ago: clinical evidence of effectiveness. Ciprian noted that Q-Ray's recent study touting the pain-relieving qualities of its band was concluded in May and soon would be released.