Toiletries

Drug Store News, May 20, 1996

Hair color, body washes, intensive facial moisturizers, women's shaving cream and breath fresheners were among the products driving toiletries, dollar sales growth in drug chains last year.

In hair care, the largest toiletries segment for drug stores, drug stores lost their dominance to mass merchandisers last year. Mass had 37 percent of the $4.4 billion category, drug had 32 percent and food had 31 percent.

The best hair care news for drug stores continued to be in hair color. It was the only hair care segment that produced dollar sales gains for the channel. Semi-permanent products that last for 24 shampoos fueled the growth. Hair color and ethnic (miscellaneous hair cafe products) were the only hair care segment in which drug beat other channels.

Many chains, including CVS, Rite Aid. Walgreens and Snyder's Drug Stores, increased the size of their hair color sections as the size of the category grew.

In hair color, drug stores had 4B percent of the segment, followed by mass with 35 percent and food with ,17 percent. Drug stores are still the only stores committed to consistently maintaining a well-stocked, diverse mix of shades.

Other hair care segments continued to be a struggle for drug stores. Shampoo dollars shrank 7.1 percent and conditioner dollars dropped 5 percent as consumers continued to prefer the low prices offered by the other channels.

Premium performance

Clairol's launch of Herbal Essences shampoo and conditioner, however, was a pleasant surprise for many buyers. In addition, niche and premium-priced products continued to perform well for drug stores.

In skin care, a flurry of new, so phisticated skin care launches helped drug stores retain their dominance in the $2.1 billion skin care category. While drug lost some share in both facial cleansers and moisturizers and hand and body lotion, the trade channel still had a considerable lead over mass merchandisers.

Intensive treatment products, including Prevent & Correct, Revitalift, Healthy skin, Visage Optimale, picked up where alpha hydroxy acids left off and added sales to the category. This mix of more sophisticated, higher priced, heavily promoted products has been bringing new customers into drug stores and improving profits.

In the hand and body segment, several players added alpha hydroxy acids to formulations to revive brands.

Brushing up in oral care

In oral care, higher prices on new brushes and on dental accessories helped the brush/accessory segment stay profitable. While unit sales of toothbrushes and dental accessories dropped nearly 5 percent in drug stores last year, dollar sales in the category totaled $253.8 million, up 0.8 percent over one year ago.

Advances in toothbrushes caused a steady stream of introductions and pushed price points upward.

Dental accessories, which are becoming a larger part of the category as consumers take better care of their teeth, helped retailers offset the eroding margins in toothpaste and mouth rinses.

The success of glide dental floss heated up that segment, sparking other manufacturers to introduce their own versions of the product.

The increases were more dismal for toothpaste. The toothpaste segment was down 7 percent in dollar sales in drug stores last year; unit sales for the segment slipped nearly 9 percent. However the launches of Listerine toothpaste and Crest Gum Care added new excitement to the category.

The biggest increase in the oral care category was in the sleepy breath freshener segment. Huge increases in the segment are credited largely to Breath Asure and the competitive products and have since followed.

Breath freshener dollar sales increased 40 percent across three outlets. In drug stores, which command 56 percent of the dollar share market, dollar sales increased nearly 43 percent to $24.1 million.

Women's shaving is sharp

In shaving, the big news in the category came from products for women. Building on the success of Gillette's Sensor for Women and Schick's Silk Effects, the Women's shave segments is growing by leaps and bounds. In addition shave products for women added profit and incremental sales to the category. Gillette's Sensor Excel for Women, hitting retail shelves now, should give the women's shave segment the next big boost.

In razors, more and more consumers traded up from the disposables to higher ticket replaceables. That's why unit sales, which declined 6 percent in drug stores last year, were down more than dollar sales, which dipped 0.5 percent. Warner-Wellcome's new Schick Tracer FX should continue to trade men up from disposables this year.

In deodorant, drug stores lagged behind the other channels with a 24.7 percent share of the category. Clear gels continue to be popular.

Body washes drive bath

Bath/personal wash was an explosive category last year due to the advent of body washes. Manufacturers pumped huge advertising dollars into the body washes, and the 6.9 percent increase in soap sales was driven by that segment. Sales of body washes grew from $124 million to $301 million last year in all three classes of trade, according to Lever, and this year vendors expect it to grow to at least $400 million.