New product intros drive increase in lens care-eye care space

Drug Store News, Feb 20, 1989 by Ted Gladson

New product intros drive increase in lens care-eye care space

The lens care category, as expected, increased sales by 12 percent in 1988 to $266.2 million, according to data supplied by IMS Pipeline.

Soft lens care products increased 7 percent and hard lens products increased 5 percent. The top 10 SKUs accounted for 29.2 percent of category sales, compared to 36.7 percent in 1987 and 39 percent in 1986. The products that had sales sufficient to earn their space in our 8 foot planogram reached 105 SKUs in 1988 compared to 74 SKUs in 1987 and only 59 SKUs in 1986.

The sales increase was, as we have seen in the past, generated by new product introductions. Sales of the new products have, for the most part not been at the expense of existing products, as we see in such mature categories as shampoo or toothpaste. This type of growth through innovation often makes it difficult for a new brand to enter the market. Many retailers are reluctant to add new products to existing lens care lines because of severely undersized departments.

Last year we recommended that you consider expanding the lens care-eye care section to at least 8 feet if you only had a 4-foot section. This year you should be able to see the reason for added space for this category, based on the number of SKUs that earned space this year.

There are two things drug stores can do to help increase sales in the lens care category. The first would be to actively promote themselves as eye care professionals. Ciba Vision, Barnes Hind, and Bausch & Lomb currently have programs to better educate the pharmacist on the proper use of their products. There is additional sales and profit to be made from proper counseling of soft and hard lens wearers. Some observers estimate that sales of lens care products could double if people followed proper maintenance schedules in disinfecting and cleaning their lenses. Better compliance means increased sales, and less people who become disenchanted with their lenses and go back to wearing eyeglasses. This latter group, former users who had problems with their lenses because of improper maintenance, has the potential to double lens care sales.

A second way to increase sales is to promote the category. The information supplied by Vereen & Associates shows that 2.3 percent of the ads by drug stores were for lens care products. This places the category near the bottom of promotional activity. An increase in ads based on price together with having a professional on hand to answer questions would help not only to increase category sales but also profits.

The future for lens care looks bright. One area which is developing and needs to be looked at is disposable contact lenses. Johnson & Johnson has already begun promoting its disposable lenses, Acuvue, while Bausch & Lomb's See-Quence and Ciba Vision's New Vues are currently in test market. The overall market isn't expected to be very large for disposables to begin with since the annual projected cost for lenses is now $500. This could change if prices drop or if people like the maintenance-free aspect of disposables.