'Brushing up' on the basics

Drug Store News, Sept 8, 1997

The retail community at large has generally embraced a two-tier management approach for the oral care category: the chemical segment, which includes pastes and rinses and is driven by the likes of Colgate, Warner Lambert and Procter & Gamble; and the mechanical segment, made up of brushes, floss, interdental and power-assisted products and driven by Oral-B, the only manufacturer to compete in all subsegments. Clearly the separate purchasing patterns require separate merchandising strategies. While the chemical segment is a destination business, mechanical items are purchased primarily on impulse. "The first decision point for the toothbrush consumer is class of product," says Tim Wiseman, Manager of Business Development for Oral-B. "Then it comes down to adult versus children's product, and finally the split between branded or private label."

Inside the store, there are several factors that influence the consumer's final purchasing decision, such as price -- premium, mid-range or commodity - and bristle type - soft, medium and hard. "The retailer must match up the category consumer with the store consumer to optimize variety and grow category profitability," stresses Wiseman. "The baseline set must be skewed to the specific consumer, and should drive the most profitable segment, which is the premium segment."

That plays perfectly to the strength of the drug channel. Of the five different consumer profiles that shop the category, the largest is the "Orally Inclined," which represents about 37% of consumers. This group typically visits their dentists more than once a year and is likely, to purchase dentist-recommended premium toothbrushes. "The `Orally Inclined'are most concerned with their health and appearance, and that is the profile most closely. aligned with the drug store. There is an ethical twist to their shopping pattern," says Wiseman.

To help draw the impulse brush buyer, Oral-B espouses a horizontal, eye level set on top of toothpaste and rinse. "With horizontal adjacencies we are able to leverage a destination item, such as toothpaste, with a high profit impulse toothbrush segment," explains Fred Howard, National Sales Manager. "In a vertical set, they might not even see the toothbrushes." Even with a horizontal set, he cautions, the in-line toothbrush segment is one of the most difficult to merchandise. "There is anywhere from 80 to 120 SKUs in this drug store section - most single-spaced with very subtle differences."

"The section can become very messy in a short period of time." To combat the confusion, Oral-B has developed a unique merchandising system that organizes the SKUs by color and number so that the consumer, as well as the aisle manager, can easily locate the proper product. Inasmuch as 75% of toothbrush sales are made on impulse, off-shelf merchandising also plays a pivotal part in generating incremental sales.

"About 85% of toothbrush sales are baseline business, with the remaining 15% being incremental," says Wiseman. "However, only 40% of the total ACV is promoted, so it is a very profitable business. We need to maximize the incremental purchases through off-shelf vehicles like floor stands and endcaps." To pay their way, though, these secondary units must offer a strong value to the consumer. "Well-merchandised displays with valueadded cross-promotions have proven to be very effective," according to Howard. Oral-B's "VersaPak" merchandising fixture, which holds a dozen brushes and can be easily placed by the in-line destination display -- whether it's greeting cards or cough/cold -- has been very well received by the drug store channel.

Oral-B has greatly increased its offshelf merchandising efforts significantly in the last 18 months, and the results have been "phenomenal," notes Wiseman. "Consumers walk the HBC aisle less than 3 out of 10 trips to the store. if they don't see the toothbrushes, they aren't going to buy Pharmacy and front end merchandising will help increase the closure rate on mechanical plaque removal products."