Pain relievers awash with growth brands

External analgesics is a category replete with growth brands with a base of $497.8 million across total U.S. multi-outlets, and more than 8.1% in growth for the 52 weeks ended Sept. 7, according to IRI data.

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Five of the top 10 external analgesic brands are growing at a greater than 20% clip. “They’re all up double digits, and they’re all holding their sales over an extended period of time,” noted Kurt Jetta, CEO TABS Group. “It’s not as if they got a big surge in distribution, and they’re now ready to anniversary their numbers.”



This is one mainstream category where branded players outperform their private-label equivalents. In fact, store brand sales are down 2.3% to $53.3 million in the 52 weeks ended Sept. 7. “[It’s a category] that’s very fragmented as far as the brands go,” Jetta said. “[But] it’s not as if there are a lot of weak links that you can get rid of.”

 

Even with brand proliferation, this is not a category ripe for SKU rationalization because the margins built into external analgesic products are significant — as high as 41.5% across the drug channel on average, according to Competitive Promotion Report. “As far as a profit per-square-foot dynamic, [external analgesics] is a blockbuster,” Jetta said, because of the high pricepoints and small-pack sizes.



And yet external analgesics is a category with a low-opening pricepoint — the average list price in external rubs is $6.40, noted Glen Davis, president and CEO CPR. That bodes well for seniors on a fixed income, who often purchase external pain relievers.