Premium products propel Hair Care

Drug Store News, Sept 7, 1998

In regard to current outlet sales trends, drug stores are growing at a modest 1 percent pace. Mass and food stores are growing at 9- and- 6%, respectively. Some opportunities for success in Daily Hair Care for drug are the following:

* Assigning Daily Hair Care as a destination category to increase consumer traffic - an area where drug is at a competitive disadvantage. Using hair care to institute a beauty center concept with other core HBA categories would leverage drugs' strengths.

* Using shampoo to encourage purchases of conditioners, hair sprays and styling products. The household penetration of these subcategories is much less than shampoo, but the purchase cycle is similar, ranging from 52 to 54 days. Setting up promotions that extend across all Daily Hair Care subcategories encourages multiple purchases and will result in incremental sales. Unilever HPC-USA is working with retailers to uncover the right merchandising recipe.

* Unilever HPC-USA recommends shelving shampoo/conditioners and hair spray/styling aids grouped together, with these subcategories placed adjacent to one another. Within these groups, brands should be shelved based on pricing segment and need. This will keep the shelf set consistent with consumer shopping patterns, but it will also encourage trade up to higher-priced items.

Concludes Gerri Spain, manager of customer category strategy for Hair Care at Unilever HPC-USA, "By better understanding today's consumer shopping patterns in Daily Hair Care, retailers can improve their product assortment and create more effective shelf sets, which will ultimately lead to higher sales and profits."

Unilever Home and Personal Care - USA 312-661-2407