Reinventing the well-care segment

Drug Store News,  August 6, 2001  by Michael Johnsen

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Manufacturers and retailers alike are looking into innovative ways to merchandise wellness products in an effort to drive sales.

Well-care products in the past year have been somewhat of a mixed bag for drug, with fewer consumers attracted to magnetic therapy lines and sales of relaxation fountains only trickling into drug store coffers. However, balancing these depressed areas in typical yin-yang fashion, both paraffin baths and spa-related massagers have been uplifting this past year.

The buyer for this category, at least in body massagers and appliances, skews very much toward the drug store's premier shopper: female heads of household ages 35 to 54 years old, with a few extra dollars to spend. According to figures from AGNielsen's Homescan data, working moms bought into this category far more than homemakers and households without an adult female presence.

Although body massagers have penetrated only 4.8 percent of all U.S. households, these consumers are buying relaxation devices slightly more than once per year and are spending $35.94 on average. Shoppers in search of pain relief apparently don't have to have their wallets massaged to drive them to that sale. Zero percent of body-massage consumers were prompted into their purchase by a manufacturer's coupon, according to the AC Nielsen data.

Martin Cohen, vice president of marketing at Conair, suggested that people stressed for time may be buying heaviest into this category, and that certainly coincides with ACNielsen's statistical landscape. "[Consumers] will look for products to relieve stress, to pamper themselves in the few minutes they have-that's the essence behind the growth in this category," he said.

In addition, 90 percent of shoppers in this category are first-time buyers, which may parlay into future trade-up buys. On an interesting note, sales in body massagers were strongest on the West Coast and in the Central states vs. the Eastern regions.

Not just the fourth quarter

The lift in sales may be partly a result of the category's ability to emerge from certain preconceptions, suggested HoMedics vice president of sales and marketing Michael Matthews.

"There are a couple of stereotypes that have been overcome in the last three or four years," Matthews said. "One was that [well-care] was a fourth-quarter business, and now it's an all four quarters business. Second, [it was thought that] the only way [mass retailers] could sell wellness items was with low-cost merchandise. We've disproved that theory [as well]," Matthews remarked, pointing to the success of items with a sales ring of more than $50.

Of course, the category does still pose a few challenges for drug store operators, with bigger items competing for retail space against stock that is definitively smaller and turns more nimbly. With this in mind, mass retailers and supercenters may be better positioned to serve this segment, as space management becomes less of an issue for big-box operators.

Certainly, the ACNielsen data bear this out, placing drug's dollar share in body massagers and appliances at 8.1 percent, compared with 34.3 percent in mass and 15.5 percent in supercenters.

However, with a "the-past-is-past-and-the-future-is-now" kind of certainty, Cohen predicted next year may be the break-out year for wellness in the drug channel.

"If you want to be a leader in the health and wellness category, [retailers] have got to make a statement in a number of ways," Matthews added. "One is certainly advertising--high-profile, impactful ads spread throughout the year," he suggested, such as in free-standing inserts. In terms of merchandising, creating a destination location within the store and utilizing secondary displays are sound, category-building strategies, Matthews said.

Acknowledging the space constraints facing drug chain managers, Cohen remarked that the higher dollar ring generated by well-care offerings might actually be a more efficient use of retail space than smaller-sized items that may not move as fast and certainly don't drive as high margins. "That's part of the education process when we conduct category reviews with our drug store customers," Cohen stated. "There are opportunities to take space [from other categories]. Maybe it's time to re-evaluate the [well-care] section and adjacent sections."

Carving out a destination

This raises a second challenge for pharmacy retailers with a dedicated well-care set: Where in the store do you put these items to take the greatest strategic advantage of the adjacent departments?

Placing the set where women are more likely to look for it, even if it is in only four feet of space, could help transform the category into more of a destination, as opposed to a chance impulse. Cohen suggested an adjacency with personal appliances, because that best matches the mindset of the customer in search of well-care items. However, that's not the only solution. Placing the set alongside candles might be another good fit, according to Cohen. "These are [all] feel-good products," he commented.