Drug stores target student buying power; college towns gear marketing plans toward influential college sect

Drug Store News, Jan 22, 1990 by Christine Bizzarro

Drug stores target student buying power

College students continue to wield considerable buying clout in markets where they go to classes, study for exams, cheer at football games, make lasting friendships, and hopefully earn that sheepskin when it's all over.

Retailers who operate in these markets - which are really self-contained consumer markets - are making a conscious effort to cater to their needs as students and young adults. Drug Store News spoke with retailers who operate drug stores in six major U.S. college markets, and found that each one has a unique way to sell to the college student.

College Track, a market research and consulting firm, calculated that nationally, students at four-year and two-year colleges possess about $41 billion in personal buying power, with grad students representing another $19 billion in average annual personal buying power.

The college market is dynamic, the report said. Only 60 percent of undergrads today attended school at the same campus last year; thus, 40 percent of students are entering a new campus environment. What's more, the campus has also changed for the 60 percent who returned to school: returning students are meeting, and being influenced by, the broad array of new students who are living on campus for the first time.

Service and convenience

Drug stores are constantly tailoring their mix to these changing markets. Managers, owners and pharmacists at both chain and independent stores who spoke with Drug Store News agreed that service and convenience are two ways to lure the students into the store - whether that means offering check cashing privileges over the amount purchased, selling bus tickets to "escape" destinations, UPS and Federal Express shipping, or Traveler's Express money orders.

Most retailers said snack and convenience foods are a mainstay in these markets, and some stores have added or expanded their mix to include bottled waters.

Year-round bestsellers among students: feminine hygiene, which gets up to 28 feet in some stores, eyelens care, cosmetics and fragrances, and hair care. At the pharmacy counter: condoms, birth control pills, vaginal creams for yeast infections, diabetes supplies and acne medications.

Small electronics, such as telephones, alarm clocks and television sets; OTC cough-cold-allergy medications; and, of course, school supplies, are traditional September purchases for collegiates. Stimulants like No-Doz and Vivarin, and antacids like Pepto-Bismol and Tums, disappear from the shelves a few weeks before finals each semester.

Some offbeat nontraditional favorites: canned stews and chili, and party goods like Silly String and squirt guns.

Most drug stores in these markets operate within five miles of the campuses, but managers said they can't rely on students for the bulk of their prescription business. Campus health centers provide fierce competition by often selling prescriptions at cost.

However, pharmacists said they do a good Rx business when the centers close for winter breaks and in the summer. And, one pharmacist said many students are covered under their parents' prescription plan, not usually honored at the health centers.

Retailers advertise in many ways to reach students - in campus newspapers, on radio, in football and basketball programs, in the yearbook, on local TV spots, and through a circular distribution program.

These promotional efforts are not in vain, according to College Track. The marketing company pinpointed a number of media vehicles that do reach students, provided that they are selected carefully. For example, two-thirds of undergrads have their own TV sets and 85 percent watch some TV programming each week. They average nearly 12 hours of TV watching per week.

Ninety-five percent of them listen to the radio each week, and nearly 90 percent of undergrads read at least one of the last five issues of their campus newspaper, with over 40 percent reading all five issues.