In this Issue

Parents and school nurses alike have expressed plenty of concern about super lice and how to treat these pesticide-resistant hair vermin safely, and most importantly, effectively. A number of OTC manufacturers have responded with product launches and offerings that effectively address ridding households of lice infestations.

With more than 12 million outbreaks estimated to occur annually among preschool and school-aged children in the United States, lice infestations are a big deal. And pharmacists play a key role in helping parents select safe and successful treatments.

According to a whitepaper published earlier this year by TyraTech, makers of Vamousse, lice resistance to permethrin and synergized pyrethrins has limited the efficacy of OTC products containing these pesticides and engendered their misuse and overuse.

Feminine hygiene products, once relegated to back aisles near diapers, are hidden no longer. In fact, the entire category is being treated more like a beauty business than a commodity. Some chains even cross-merchandise feminine wipes or cleansers near beauty aisles.

Once again, millennial shoppers are driving the change. They aren’t afraid to talk about periods or other feminine issues that were once unmentionable. There are blogs about waxing and menstruation, and Refinery 29 Snapchatted about how to empty a menstrual cup.

Adult bath products offering a Zen-like experience are bubbling to the surface in mass stores and helping to perk up sales, along with Epsom salt soaks. Consumers are favoring products with a purpose over simply fragrant bath additives. That explains the 26% climb in volume of Dr. Teal’s, which offers a Pure Epsom Salt Soak, along with body wash and foaming bath. It is the No.1 selling SKU in the bath category.

A slew of at-home spa devices offer drug store retailers the opportunity to build incremental sales — while giving shoppers the chance to pamper themselves privately. Although visits to medical spas are up, not all women can spare the time or money for frequent visits. That’s fueled growth of the do-it-yourself gadget business. Today, chains can sell LED lights to fight acne or wrinkles, or to spur follicle growth — and they can do so even at price tags approaching $100.

It appears oral care brands are borrowing a page from the skin care playbook. To brush up on sales, more oral care brands are mirroring trends that have boosted mass market skin care sales — double-duty toothpastes, a trend toward “premiumization” and building momentum for more naturally positioned offerings.

There is a potential white space opportunity for retail clinics in advancing point-of-care diagnostic offerings on site. In 2015, combined sales of POC tests, clinical chemistry and immunoassay laboratory tests and vaccines to retail clinics reached $240 million, with vaccines accounting for a greater share than POC tests or laboratory tests. This reflects total annual growth of more than 26% per year since 2010, when retail clinics accounted for about $75 million in purchases of these products.

The retail clinic space represents a fast-growing industry that hasn’t even scratched the surface in terms of its full potential given constant market pressures to make health care more affordable, more accessible and more efficient. In 2016, more than 2,200 locations in the United States generated sales of more than $1.4 billion, a 20.3% increase per year from $518 million in 2010, according to Kalorama Information’s “Retail Clinics 2017: The Game-Changer in Healthcare” report, published earlier this year.