Prices steady, sales up in cold/allergy/sinus
In the cold/allergy/sinus category, private-label products led the market with $1.476 million in annual dollar sales, while the next largest brand by share was Zyrtec with $341 million. After Zyrtec were Claritin, Alka-Seltzer Plus and Allegra with $232 million, $211 million and $209 million, respectively. While the allergy OTC products were retail-priced between $16 and $20, Alka-Seltzer Plus came in with the third-highest revenue as a cold medicine priced at $6. In the drug and food channels, allergy brands Zyrtec, Claritin and Allegra were in the lead with $133 million, $94 million and $81 million revenue in the drug channel.
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List prices saw minimal changes across the cold/allergy/sinus category during the observed period, with the notable exception of Mucinex. Since the new year, Reckitt Benckiser has increased prices across the majority of their product range by an average of 2% to 2.2%. This was the first instance of a Mucinex price increase since Mucinex increased list prices for five products in October 2014.
According to CPR, as of December 2015, Alka-Seltzer Plus had the highest-weighted retail margins across mass, food and drug channels. Mucinex had similar margins — one percentage point behind Alka-Seltzer in each category — but may no longer command those margins following new year price increases.
According to Market Track, private label led circular ad activity in the cold/allergy/sinus category. The three national brands with the highest circular ad counts for the past three months ended December 2015 were Mucinex with 341, Alka-Seltzer Plus with 261 and Theraflu with 193.
Theraflu was reintroduced into the market in summer 2014 following a voluntary recall. Theraflu rose to the fifth-highest revenue for national brands in December 2014, concurrent with 113 ads running during a three-month period ended in December 2014. However, Theraflu’s increased utilization of ads to 193 in autumn of 2015 did not appear to significantly impact year-over-year market share.
Drug Store News has partnered with Competitive Promotion Report, IRI and Market Track to create a series of exclusive reports. The results of this study reflect the leading brands/manufacturers in category in terms of retail sales, list price changes, average weighted retailer margins and promotional ad activity.
CPR is a leading provider of competitive market intelligence and insights in the health, beauty and wellness industry. Learn more by visiting competitivepromotion.com.