Boomers, caregivers aid steady growth

With the youngest of the baby boomers having turned 50 this year, adult incontinence is proving to be a high-traffic, high-frequency category with a decent amount of margin, at least in the drug channel. According to Competitive Promotion Report, the drug channel enjoys a 35% margin in this category on average.

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And it’s not just boomers who are buying the category. “There are a lot of caregivers out there,” Kurt Jetta, CEO TABS Group, told Drug Store News. “Some research we did showed that 40% of the people buying [the category] are under the age of 45.”



However, while adult incontinence products represent a lot of steady movement off the shelves, it is also a category that is responsive to heavy promotional activity. “To the extent you have a lot of seniors [buying this category], many of them are on fixed incomes,” Jetta said.



The promise of the adult incontinence category has attracted the likes of CPG giant Procter & Gamble, who is returning to the category with 27 SKUs on shelf after a 16-year hiatus. “Entering the adult incontinence category is a strategic source of business growth because there is significant growth potential in the AI category due to the aging population,” said Chris Keith, brand director Always Discreet at P&G. “The global incontinence market size is big — about $7 billion, and growing about 7% per year globally [and] about 4% in North America.”



As for product innovation, thin is in. “People dealing with bladder leakage want products that enable them to live active lives and feel normal,” said Liz Metz, Depend brand director of Kimberly-Clark. “Kimberly-Clark’s Depend brand in 2012 launched Depend Real Fit for Men and Silhouette for Women briefs, which look, fit and feel like real underwear and feature a cloth like fabric for a sleek, ultra smooth fit.”