Children's toiletries offer lively sales potential

Drug Store News, Sept 27, 1993 by Barbara White

The children's toiletries department is a hard category to decipher. Buyers know there's a market for the merchandise, but they don't know how much product to stock, how varied a mix they should offer or even where they should put the department.

To help guide retailers, Drug Store News commissioned a study from Leo J. Shapiro and Associates Inc.

The study found that there is a substantial market for children's toiletries. In a survey of 450 heads of households, 55 percent of the respondents said they had purchased some type of children's toiletry product in the past.

The interest is there

Half (49 percent) of those surveyed said they had a current interest in purchasing one or more such items. Households which included children under 12 had the highest rate of positive responses to the question; of that group, a full 80 percent expressed interest in purchasing one or more kid's HBA items.

The survey also found that the market for children's HBA products knows no gender boundaries. When asked who they might buy the products for, respondents were as likely to say a boy (43 percent) as a girl (40 percent).

According to Shapiro's data, parents with younger children (under age 7) are attracted to a wider range of products than are parents of older children. Parents of children under 7 had an interest in, on average, 4.6 of the seven products asked about (see chart) compared to a 3.9 average for parents with children between the ages of 7 and 12.

Why they buy

The Shapiro survey also asked parents why they buy children's toiletry products. The study found that adults influence the choice of item far more often than the children. Three-fourths (76 percent) of adults said they influenced selection, compared to 21 percent who said their children influenced the choice of product.

And parents want products made specifically for kids. By more than a three-to-one margin, parents preferred children's brand name products over kids' products produced by an adult brand. Of those brands they saw as children-specialized lines, Johnson & Johnson was the preferred brand (66 percent). Mennen came in a distant second with 10 percent. Colgate (6 percent), Gerber (5 percent), Fisher Price (4 percent) and Procter & Gamble (4 percent) were also mentioned.

The survey found that one in four (25 percent) adults would consider using children's toiletries themselves if a complete line were available. Ten percent of adults surveyed use children's shampoo and 4 percent use baby oil, lotion and powder.

Where they buy

The survey found a discrepancy in where people say they buy the products and where they actually make their purchases. When asked where they expected to buy children's toiletries, most parents cited discount stores (43 percent) and drug stores (31 percent). Supermarkets came in third with 28 percent. But when asked where they made their last purchase, one in three said the supermarket (36 percent), 30 percent said the discount store and only 23 percent said the drug store.

The low rating may point to missed opportunities at the drug store. Retailers should look at their offerings to see if they are stocking enough items to spark purchases.

 Percent expressing interest in children's toiletries
                                 All           Children age
                                 children   under 7      7-11
Any children's toiletries (net)    80%      80%          78%
Shampoo                            51       60           41
Bath soap                          39       52           24
Bubble bath                        37       47           24
Toothbrush                         67       71           64
Toothpaste                         58       58           55
Sun block                          64       62           64
Deodorant                          28       23           32
Source:  Leo J. Shapiro and Associates.