Disposables snap up film/photo sales

Drug Store News, May 17, 2004

Despite a rise in digital camera and camera phone sales, there is one piece of the conventional film/photo business that actually still is growing. One-time-use cameras ranked No. 19 among the top-selling categories at the front end, generating sales of $345.5 million in drug stores, up 2.3 percent, according to Information Resources Inc. Given the introduction of value-priced entries, such as the Kodak FunSaver--which drove incremental sales of $14.2 million in drug stores last year--the relationship between dollars and units has been distorted: Unit sales were actually up 8.7 percent in 2003.

The dominance of disposables in the conventional film business also is reflected in recent data from the Photo Marketing Association, with the mix of processed film formats continuing to shift in favor of one-time-use cameras.

Helping drive sales are the new generations of specialized, situational-use disposable cameras with increased capabilities and functionality--and increased price points.