Fixtures, cross-merchandising help sun care shine

Drug Store News, Sept 27, 1993

The seasonal aisle was cited by many retailers as the preferred location for additional sun care merchandising. Many drug chains also place the items in a third location on an endcap in the front of the store.

There may be a small percentage of people who are still worshipping the sun, but the focus in the sun category has shifted from tanning to protection.

Retailers say that item movement data has allowed them to better manage the flood of new entries to the market. As a result, the category is becoming more item-driven; retailers are wary of bringing in full sun and skin lines from unproven manufacturers.

Some trends are certain: SPFs 15 and above dominate the category, and self-tanners--which take the sun out of suntan--are booming.

When asked about trends and strong items, retailers said:

* High SPF sunscreens have year-round appeal. Schering-Plough's Shade UVAGuard, which offers maximum protection, is having impressive sell-throughs. The higher price tag of roughly $9.99 retail isn't turning consumers off, merchants report.

* Sunless tanners also have appeal all year long. New Orleans-based K&B sells the products as early as March. May's Drug Stores of Tulsa, Okla., which carries about 20 SKUs of sunless products during the summer, keeps the top 10 sunless tanning items on the shelf year-round.

* Manufacturers are combining sun blocks with bug repellents. Body Glove's Bug and Sun Block formula is just one example of the convenient, dual-purpose entries appearing on the market.

* Sport formulas that stay put through perspiration are hot. Gel formulations, which are less greasy than lotions or oils, are also grabbing market share, as are spray formulations.

* Formulations specifically for kids, such as S-P's Coppertone Water Babies, Coppertone Kids, and Hawaiian Tropic's Just for Kids lines, are filling an important niche for gentle high-protection formulations.

When the season starts

Retailers say the summer selling season starts in late April and trails off at the beginning of August. For some retailers, the season ends even earlier.

"We sell 85 percent of our sun care products before the fourth of July," said Richard Theus, buyer at Medic Discount Drug in Cleveland. "After the Fourth, the category is pretty dead."

Depending on geography, of course, the season can run considerably longer at some drug chains. Wilsonville, Ore.-based Pay-Less Drug Stores, for instance, considers its sun care season to encompass Feb. 1 through Labor Day.

Some buyers say they would like to start the category earlier. That poses a problem for retailers like Medic's Theus. He'd like to add sun care items earlier in April, but Easter seasonal merchandise needs to be cleared before he has the room for sun items.

Warehousing pays off

May's Drug Stores, on the other hand, increased its sales by 50 percent this year by warehousing sun products for the first time.

"With sun products, we'd order, sales would come in spurts, and we'd reorder. The problem is that by the time we got the merchandise, the season would be over," said May's buyer Gregg Heller.

By ordering back-up stock at the beginning of the season, warehousing and using item movement data generated from scanning, May's was able to get a better feel for the category and to grow its sun care business.

Many retailers said they place sun care products in permanent sets to fill consumer needs for year-round protection. Permanent sets in most chains average from 3 to 5 feet.

To supplement their year-round sets, retailers are cross-merchandising sun products in additional locations throughout the store to capitalize on the summer boom.

Increased space maximizes sales

The seasonal aisle was cited by many retailers as the preferred location for additional sun care merchandising. Many drug chains also place the items in a third location on an endcap in the front of the store. Retailers say that their summer sets for sun care extend their departments to 8 to 12 feet.

Retailers have come up with a number of alternatives when it comes to extending their shelf space for sun care.

* One retailer is placing high-end high-SPF items (including Shade UVA) near the pharmacy along with educational pamphlets on sun protection and skin cancer.

* K&B extends its 4-foot permanent section by adding two endcaps near the seasonal aisle. One endcap is exclusively devoted to Schering-Plough's Shade line; another is shared among various manufacturers.

* PayLess increases shelf space from a 4-foot year-round department to an 8-foot seasonal set, which is supplemented with endcaps in the seasonal aisle. PayLess changes the endcap displays every month during the summer.

Manufacturers are helping retailers maximize their space by offering innovative fixturing and display alternatives.

Among them are:

* Banana Boat's "dominator display" available in varying sizes, from 18 inches to four feet. The combo rack has wheels and can be moved to various locations throughout the store.

* Schering-Plough's "health care products space system," a six-shelf fixture that can be used to display sun care items in summer and converted with signage to a cough/cold fixture in fall and winter.