Courting the teen shopper

Drug Store News, March 1, 1993

In the past several years, chains have been trying to court the fast-growing, high-consumption teenage market, Chains like Eckerd, Walgreens and Perry Drug have enhanced their merchandising presentations of products and brands popular with teens, especially beauty care products like cosmetic organizers, teen fragrances and body sprays, oil free makeups and cleansers, feminine hygiene, bath and body products with natural ingredients and lipglosses.

At the same time, they are also finding the space to merchandise new lines dedicated to teens like Almays's teen treatments and cosmetics, Del Labs Naturistics and Natural Glow, and the new skin treatment line from Cover Girl.

The are reacting to what Jay Cole, publisher of 'TEEN magazine, a major teen publication targeted to girls of high school age, calls one of the country's largest and fastest growing niche markets: teenage girls.

Cole points out that teenage girls spend approximately $40 billion a year on consumer products, and 50 percent of those dollars go for products that make them look good.

"Teen girls are also given another $21 million a year for family shopping," says Cole, "and their brand awareness, brand loyalties and store loyalties begin at an early age and continue on into adulthood."

However, as attractive as retailers say they find the market, they also report that teens are "fickle" and hard to pull into a store's franchise.

"We try to market to teens," says Perry Drug's vp of merchandising Steve Lund, "but they're constantly changing, and what's |in' one day, is |out' the next. Also teens don't respond to ads the way adults do, so it's not that simple to reach them."

Even chains that advertise in teen magazines report that it's difficult to judge how successful their marketing efforts have been. Many chains are still experimenting with a variety of different strategies to reach this market, ranging from direct mail programs to buying regional editions in teen magazines.

But in spite of all the interest in and attention being paid to teens, many teens still say that they don't know much about drug stores, and don't often think of them as a place to shop.

Research shows that teens do the bulk of their shopping in food stores, department stores or in specialty shops. Many also buy their cosmetics from the Mary Kay or Avon lady who services their mothers.

However, as philosophers and athletes often remind us, whatever can be interpreted as a problem can also be interpreted as an opportunity: a challenge to overcome.

And that is how Drug Store News sees the teen market. As a challenge. An opportunity. A group to be courted, charmed and won over.

But to court or charm someone, you first have to get to know them. That means teens need to be given a chance to speak for themselves about what it's like to shop in drug stores.

So with the help of 'TEEN magazine and BKG Youth, the country's leading the youth marketing company, Drug Store News organized the charm drug industry's first Teen Market Basket Study.

We wanted to see if, given some discretionary money to spend, teens would think to go to a drug store as a place to shop and, if the did go to one, what they would buy and how they would like the experience.

We asked BKG Youth to pick out six typical teens from markets around the country and, in partnership with 'TEEN magazine, we gave six of these young women $100 to spend in drug store.

How our teens shopped; what they bought; what they thought of drug stores, and some suggestions on how drug stores can improve their image with teens, is the subject of this special report.