Battery makers upgrade power sources, get more shelf space

LOS ANGELES and ST. LOUIS, Mo. As new products keep rolling in from major battery brand manufacturers, retailers are updating their marketing to maximize the potential of increasingly specific product functions.

On Aug. 18, Energizer announced the launch of its new Advanced Lithium battery, one designed to reliably power wireless gaming accessories, digital cameras, hand-held games or MP3 players.

Five weeks earlier, Panasonic introduced the EVOLTA battery, which it characterized as the world’s longest lasting AA alkaline battery cell in more devices. EVOLTA represents a certain resistance to battery specialization. “We see the trend in batteries going toward more ‘middle-drain’ applications as the reduction in power consumption needs of appliances has resulted in less high-drain devices needing primary battery power. EVOLTA eliminates the confusion for consumers and gives them confidence that our battery will perform well across many applications,” said Matt Sora, vice president of sales and marketing.

While others keyed on batteries, Duracell focused on the kind of line extensions. Among the new products debuted was Duracell Daylite, the cornerstone of new flashlight line designed to take LED lighting to the next level, the company stated, by capturing and using 100 of the light generated versus 70 percent in more typical instances. The flashlight introduction came hard on the heels of the debut of Duracell’s My Pocket Charger and the PowerSource Mini, which were developed to complement cell phones, BlackBerrys and MP3 players.

Ultimately, said Duracell spokesman Kurt Iverson, battery producers are bringing technology to bear in developing more effective, longer lasting products that use innovation to provide power more efficiently. “In the case of the Daylite flashlight, it’s getting a product to work using less battery power and still produce a brighter beam of light,” he said.

The involvement of major battery brands in a range of portable energy dependent items certainly is stretching traditional brand boundaries and merchandising concepts as well.

Jacqueline Burwitz, spokeswoman for Energizer said that, while the brand remains the one that keeps on going and going, the company’s merchandising support has evolved with its product line. “It has changed. Now it’s a matter of pairing the right battery with the right device,” she said.

Battery makers have encouraged many retailers to create ancillary product display spaces that complement the products they power, but drug chains haven’t necessarily bitten, as many prefer to depend on a battery center merchandising program. “We have those sections,” said Stacy Rinehart, a USA Drug spokeswoman. “We have our batteries in those displays.”

That doesn’t necessarily mean, however, that drug chains aren’t changing to the existing market.

Rather than develop secondary displays, Walgreens focuses on appropriately expanding its battery centers to make it easier to shop for specific applications, said Robert Elfinger, a company spokesman. 

“The battery section has grown significantly,” he said. “Customers are starting to understand that high-draining devices such as digital cameras are getting specific batteries, and they are looking for some of the new high-tech batteries. We’re expanding the battery sections to accommodate them.”

Thus, drug chains, for the most part, feel as if a battery center, usually conspicuously positioned, makes sense in terms of both attracting customers and return from floor space, as it can keep pace with developments in the category if properly configured to changes in the market.