In this Issue

Total Store Expo 2.0
Low-calorie, waters keep fizzy segment afloat
Despite declining sales, three category trends — sparkling water, natural sodas and low-calorie sodas — are keeping some fizz in carbonated soft drinks. Mintel’s research shows that American consumption of carbonated soft drinks fell to the lowest level since 1996; increased prices kept the category level.

Collaborative sourcing: Leveraging massive generic discounts

Recent strategic business initiatives are granting wholesalers more generic drug purchasing power than ever before.

Over the last few years, some major deals in the world of drug wholesaling have taken shape. While the business arrangements among the three top wholesalers differ slightly in terms of ownership, benefits and risks, one thing is for certain: all of the agreements will translate into growth opportunities for the companies involved and will help them improve their generic drug sourcing practices.
Pharma slow to engage social media

To put it in Facebook terms, the pharmaceutical industry by and large has yet to friend American consumers.

A new report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics concludes that fewer than half of the top 50 global pharmaceutical manufacturers “have some level of healthcare social media engagement.” This, despite the fact that “increasingly, patients are turning to social media as an essential forum for obtaining and sharing information related to their health,” noted Murray Aitken, the institute’s executive director.
Study: Beauty brands turn to YouTube

YouTube is transforming the beauty space. Incorporating YouTube into Web and commerce initiatives and leveraging YouTube’s independent beauty personalities can unlock significant opportunities for brands, especially niche players, according to recent research by Pixability.
Q&A: Taking the pulse with Mitch Rothschild of Vitals

Selecting a doctor can be a frustrating process filled with too many unknowns, especially in today’s evolving landscape. Looking to help patients take the guesswork out of finding the ideal doctor, Vitals has developed online tools at Vitals.com to give patients visibility into quality, cost and availability.
Q&A: Genetic profiling with Dr. Anita Goel of Nanobiosym

A new and possibly transformative technology for rapidly diagnosing and evaluating patients based on their specific genetic profile may soon begin appearing at retail pharmacies and clinics, giving pharmacists and clinicians another tool for advancing patient health outcomes and their own practice capabilities.

Dr. Anita Goel, M.D., Ph.D.
Mixing it up: ‘Mixologiste’ to be stand-out trend

Expect 2014 to be an interesting year for beauty as the category continues to see increased innovation, blurring of the lines and cross-pollination.

(For the full category review, including sales data, click here.)

What does that mean? Perhaps research firm Mintel summed it up best by coining it a year of the “mixologiste.”
Skin oils slide into 2014

Whether it is rose hip seed oil, Argan oil, jojoba oil, olive oil or Kukui oil, incorporating oil into a skin care regimen is the buzz, and it is likely that the segment will gain even greater attention during 2014.

(For the full category review, including sales data, click here.)
The $5 fortune cookie challenge

We have an annual holiday tradition at DSN that helped inspire the image on our cover. As the event, a group lunch at a local Chinese restaurant, dovetails with the end of college football season, we call it the “Rice Bowl.”

The Rice Bowl concludes with each person throwing in $1, and we go around the table comparing fortune cookie messages; the one with the “best” fortune as voted by the group gets the pot.

This year I finally won. I walked away with a whopping $5.