IRI explores how hard the flu is hitting retail
Everyone's been talking about how hard hit the nation is from the current flu season, but not many have been dishing about what's happening at the checkstand.
Until now.
IRI on Wednesday released a comprehensive report outlining the initial impact of this year's virulent flu season, as well as a size-up on how much out-of-stocks are hurting retailers who are running out of cough-cold supplies.
“We all know what it feels like to shop for medicine when you’re sick, only to find an empty peg or shelf,” Bob Sanders, executive vice president of IRI’s Health Care Practice, said. “When this happens, one-third of consumers will make their purchase at a different store, and fewer than half will make a substitute purchase. Manufacturers and retailers must be prepared when the flu sweeps through town. Since market nuances are very important, we leveraged the IRI Illness Tracking to uncover flu trends market by market and store by store, so consumers from Little Rock to Houston don’t have to face that dreaded empty shelf.”
The flu is now widespread nationwide, and it will take weeks before the epidemic begins to subside. The Houston market has been hit hard, with 11.8% of its population battling the flu, and New Orleans (11.7%), Mobile, Ala. (11.7%), San Diego (11.7%), Dallas (11.1%) and St. Louis(9.9%) are following closely behind.
IRI's new report, “Flu Fury: IRI Pinpoints How Flu Is Impacting U.S. Markets” examines how specific regional markets are being impacted by the flu and correlates how purchase behaviors vary at the market level. The research helps retailers anticipate inventory needs and avoid the typical 4% sales loss caused by out-of-stock products.
The spread of the flu virus is creating strong sales growth across many over-the-counter health care categories that treat and manage symptoms. For the four weeks ended Jan. 14, sales of cough syrups were up 39.9% nationwide; sales of cough-cold liquid formulations were up 35.1%; and sales of cough-cold tablets were up 26.8%
Like many things in life, though, one size does not fit all. Comparing trends for the entire United States versus specific regional markets provides a clear illustration of the pronounced variations. For example, sales increases for those categories in Houston climbed 46.1%, 40.6% and 33.2%, respectively. In San Diego, dollar sales of those categories were up 99.3%, 83.8% and 61.9%, respectively.
“With health officials reporting that this year’s flu season is now more intense than any since the 2009 swine flu pandemic, retailers must invest to understand the impact this type of event has on their sales and shopper interactions,” said Susan Viamari, vice president of Thought Leadership for IRI. “They simply can’t paint a broad brush stroke across their stores and end up with an accurate picture. You really need to look at stores by specific markets, because stock-outs will have a major negative impact on sales, and that can hit the bottom line very hard, translating to $40 million per year for a billion-dollar retailer.”
Other categories benefiting from the rush on cough-cold supplies include spray disinfectant (nationwide, sales were up 39.5% for the four weeks ended Jan. 14), RTD baby electrolytes (29.2%), single-cup teas (21.1%) and ready-to-serve soups (19%).
Until now.
IRI on Wednesday released a comprehensive report outlining the initial impact of this year's virulent flu season, as well as a size-up on how much out-of-stocks are hurting retailers who are running out of cough-cold supplies.
“We all know what it feels like to shop for medicine when you’re sick, only to find an empty peg or shelf,” Bob Sanders, executive vice president of IRI’s Health Care Practice, said. “When this happens, one-third of consumers will make their purchase at a different store, and fewer than half will make a substitute purchase. Manufacturers and retailers must be prepared when the flu sweeps through town. Since market nuances are very important, we leveraged the IRI Illness Tracking to uncover flu trends market by market and store by store, so consumers from Little Rock to Houston don’t have to face that dreaded empty shelf.”
The flu is now widespread nationwide, and it will take weeks before the epidemic begins to subside. The Houston market has been hit hard, with 11.8% of its population battling the flu, and New Orleans (11.7%), Mobile, Ala. (11.7%), San Diego (11.7%), Dallas (11.1%) and St. Louis(9.9%) are following closely behind.
IRI's new report, “Flu Fury: IRI Pinpoints How Flu Is Impacting U.S. Markets” examines how specific regional markets are being impacted by the flu and correlates how purchase behaviors vary at the market level. The research helps retailers anticipate inventory needs and avoid the typical 4% sales loss caused by out-of-stock products.
The spread of the flu virus is creating strong sales growth across many over-the-counter health care categories that treat and manage symptoms. For the four weeks ended Jan. 14, sales of cough syrups were up 39.9% nationwide; sales of cough-cold liquid formulations were up 35.1%; and sales of cough-cold tablets were up 26.8%
Like many things in life, though, one size does not fit all. Comparing trends for the entire United States versus specific regional markets provides a clear illustration of the pronounced variations. For example, sales increases for those categories in Houston climbed 46.1%, 40.6% and 33.2%, respectively. In San Diego, dollar sales of those categories were up 99.3%, 83.8% and 61.9%, respectively.
“With health officials reporting that this year’s flu season is now more intense than any since the 2009 swine flu pandemic, retailers must invest to understand the impact this type of event has on their sales and shopper interactions,” said Susan Viamari, vice president of Thought Leadership for IRI. “They simply can’t paint a broad brush stroke across their stores and end up with an accurate picture. You really need to look at stores by specific markets, because stock-outs will have a major negative impact on sales, and that can hit the bottom line very hard, translating to $40 million per year for a billion-dollar retailer.”
Other categories benefiting from the rush on cough-cold supplies include spray disinfectant (nationwide, sales were up 39.5% for the four weeks ended Jan. 14), RTD baby electrolytes (29.2%), single-cup teas (21.1%) and ready-to-serve soups (19%).