In this Issue

“The formula for growth is simple. There’s really only three levers you can pull — find new buyers, get your buyers to spend more and/or raise prices,” said Chris Morley, president of fast-moving consumer goods, or FMCG, and retail at Nielsen. “But talk to most retailers and FMCG companies today, and they’ll tell you that growth is increasingly hard to find.”

Generic medications made up 89% of dispensed U.S. prescriptions in 2016, but only 26% of total drug costs. The use of generics brought savings of $253 billion in 2016, bringing the 10-year savings from generics to $1.67 trillion, according to the ninth annual “Generic Access and Savings in the U.S.” report compiled by the QuintilesIMS Institute for the Association for Accessible Medicines (formerly the Generic Pharmaceutical Association).

Aging baby boomers have been a prime market for OTC analgesics, but the oldest members of society don’t have a monopoly on aches and pains. A new marketing campaign for Prestige Brands’ Anacin seeks to address this fact by aiming squarely at the millennial generation.

Boiron, long known for its Oscillococcinum flu relief and Arnicare pain relief solutions, is planning to capitalize on new opportunities in the baby care aisle this fall. Drug Store News recently discussed the new products the manufacturer of homeopathic remedies will be introducing at NACDS Total Store Expo with Boiron’s Gary Wittenberg, VP of national accounts.

One OTC category expected to emerge in the coming year is hearing aids, which, when paired with in-store hearing aid service centers, will become a powerful solution set. Earlier this year, CVS Pharmacy opened seven hearing stores-within-stores in the Baltimore-Washington, D.C., area, with plans to expand significantly by year’s end.

YouTube beauty came on the scene and gave women a free-and-easy education for their beauty routines. But, with Instagramming and tutorials, it became too much for the average woman balancing a hectic schedule. According to Mintel’s new report, “2017: Back to Basics,” the industry is starting to see a backlash to heavy Instagram-style makeup. Sixty-nine percent of women spend 20 minutes or less on makeup each day, and consumers are looking for achievable beauty. Enter non-touring.

There’s been a shift in the way Western women approach makeup. They’ve come to understand that their makeup routine starts when they wash their face, and they want more from their cosmetic products than coverage and concealing.

Vaccinations represent an emerging category within retail pharmacy for one simple reason: The majority of Americans prefer visiting their local pharmacy to get their inoculations, as opposed to visiting the doctor’s office, according to the PrescribeWellness 2017 Vaccination and Preventive Care Survey.

Already, retail pharmacy is the No. 2 destination for adults in search of their annual flu shot, with 24.3% of adults asking their pharmacists for a flu shot, compared with 37.4% who still ask their doctors, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.