Triple A product study

Drug Store News, Nov 21, 1994

Keeping the cash registers ringing steadily is the name of the game in retailing. But achieving that kind of music is a complicated process that retailers eternally struggle with.

A large part of the solution is carrying the products consumers want to buy.

The Triple A study sheds a lot of light on that subject.

Culled from the database compiled by New York-based Towne-Oller & Associates, a division of Information Resources Inc., the Triple A study is a record of the best-selling items within a category, based on the year ending July 1994.

In this study, seven product categories are profield. Five are HBA categories: digestives, foot care, fragrances, hair care and vitamins. Two are GM categories: batteries and camera film. Together, these categories represent some 15 percent of chain drug sales. And the 25 top-selling items command up to 40 percent of their category.

Some of the categories are more fragmented than others. In the foot care category, for example, the top 25 items account for nearly 40 percent of sales, and three manufacturers dominate the list. In the vitamins/nutritional category, the top 25 items account for more than a quarter (27.9 percent) of sales, and seven manufacturers are part of that honor roll.

And growth rates also vary widely. Vitamins/nutritionals, growing 17 percent as a category, also posted the most consistent growth within the top 25: a couple of new items exploded with four-digit increases; another 15 posted double-digit increases as high as 77 percent.

Please note: Dollar volume, included in the majority of charts, is missing in some because of a lack of availability. But percent of market share is present.

Digestives

                                                   Current  Item %
Rank    Manufacturer               Item            $(MM)    share
  1   McNeil Consumer      Imodium Anti-Diar-       $14.8    1.9%
      Products Co.         rheal Caplets 18 ct.
  2   McNeil Consumer      Imodium Anti-Diar-        11.3    1.4
      Products Co.         rheal Caplets 12 ct.
  3   Lederle              Fibercon Laxative 90       8.8    1.1
  4   McNeil Consumer      Imodium Anti-Diar-         8.0    1.0
      Products Co.         rheal Caplets 6 ct.
  5   McNeil Consumer      Mylanta Liquid 12          7.1    0.9
      Products Co.
  6   Purdue Frederick Co. Senokot Tablets 100        7.0    0.9
  7   Rhone Poulenc Rorer  Perdiem Granules           6.8    0.9
                           250 g.
  8   SmithKline-Beecham   Tums Assorted              6.7    0.8
                           Flavor 150
  9   McNeil Consumer      Lactaid Caplets            6.5    0.8
      Products Co.         100 ct.
  10  McNeil Consumer      Mylicon Drops 1 oz.        6.4    0.8
      Products Co.
 11   Schering Healthcare  Correctol Tablets 30       6.4    0.8
 12   McNeil Consumer      Mylanta Double             5.9    0.7
      Products Co.         Strength Liquid 12 oz.
 13   The Procter &        Pepto-Bismol               5.6    0.7
      Gamble Co.           Liquid 8
 14   Adria                Emetrol Cherry            $5.6    0.7%
                           Liquid 4 oz.
 15   Private Label        Private Antidiarrheal      5.6    0.7
      Manufacturer         Caplets 12 ct.
 16   McNeil Consumer      Imodium A-D Anti-          5.6    0.7
      Products Co.         Diarrheal Liquid 2
 17   Roberts              Colace 100 cap 60          5.4    0.7
      Pharmaceuticals
 18   SmithKline-Beecham   Tums Original              5.4    0.7
                           Flavor 150
 19   The Procter &        Metamucil Sunrise          5.2    0.6
      Gamble Co.           Smooth Orange
                           Sugar-Free 23
 20   Reed & Carnrick      Phazyme 125 Max            5.1    0.6
                           Soft Gelcaps 50 ct.
                           #45050
 21   Schering Healthcare  Correctol Tablets 90       5.0    0.6
 22   Ciba Consumer        Dulcolax Tablets 25        5.0    0.6
      Pharmaceutical Co.
 23   The Procter &        Pepto-Bismol               4.7    0.6
      Gamble Co.           Liquid 16
 24   Private Label        Private Antidiarrheal      4.6    0.6
      Manufacturer         Caplets 18 ct.
 25   Private Label        Private Senna              4.4    0.6
      Manufacturer         Concentrate Lax
                           Tablet 100

Digestives Overachievers

SmithKline-Beecham's

Tums Assorted Flavor

150

26 percent

SmithKline-Beecham's

Tums Original Flavor

150

20 percent

McNeil Consumer

Products Co.'s

Mylanta Double

Strength Liquid 12 oz.

15 percent

Source: Towne-Oller & Associates, a subsidiary of Information Resources Inc.

Information based on product movement from distribution centers among Towne-Oller-reporting retailers/distributors.

In a ranking of the top five brands, branded digestives were edged out by private label laxative products for the No. 1 brand position in the category. Metamucil laxatives, with sales of $64.1 million; Tums antacids, with sales of $50.5 million; and Imodium antidiarrheals, with sales of $44.6 million, came in as Nos. 2, 3 and 5 respectively. Private label antacids commanded the No. 4 spot.