In this Issue

There is a potential white space opportunity for retail clinics in advancing point-of-care diagnostic offerings on site. In 2015, combined sales of POC tests, clinical chemistry and immunoassay laboratory tests and vaccines to retail clinics reached $240 million, with vaccines accounting for a greater share than POC tests or laboratory tests. This reflects total annual growth of more than 26% per year since 2010, when retail clinics accounted for about $75 million in purchases of these products.

The retail clinic space represents a fast-growing industry that hasn’t even scratched the surface in terms of its full potential given constant market pressures to make health care more affordable, more accessible and more efficient. In 2016, more than 2,200 locations in the United States generated sales of more than $1.4 billion, a 20.3% increase per year from $518 million in 2010, according to Kalorama Information’s “Retail Clinics 2017: The Game-Changer in Healthcare” report, published earlier this year.

Having a baby changes everything — including shopping behavior, according to new insights from pregnancy and parenting resource BabyCenter, a Johnson & Johnson company. The company’s “2017 Skincare and Bathtime Study,” shared exclusively with Drug Store News, points to lasting changes that new parents undergo in terms of what they look for from their personal care products once they have children, as well as the top factors influencing their buying decisions.

The predominant factor impacting sales of the $158.1 million parasite treatment category is super lice. But how do you treat cases of head lice that can’t be eradicated through the use of traditional pediculicides? And more importantly, for parents it’s how do you eliminate that “super lice” infestation without injuring the host, which just happens to be their children?

Unintentional cuts and piercings account for 6.3% of all non-fatal injuries, according to the latest data from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with more than 2 million accidental cuts occurring each year. Among children ages 19 years and younger, 746-of-every-100,000 kids get an accidental cut or piercing each year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With cleansers and moisturizers firing on all cylinders, retailers and brands are fine-tuning other segments to keep the momentum going.

By bringing skin care innovations to mass doors more quickly, chains have been able to keep their customer base from straying to specialty stores and, in some cases, lure them back.

After years of ignoring warnings that sun exposure poses a health risk and hastens aging, consumers are starting to see the light. In fact, overall category sales rose 6.7% for the 52-week period ended May 14 across multi-outlets, according to IRI. Lotions and oils advanced almost 7%, and sunscreens and bug repellants jumped 3.5%.

But retailers and marketers said much more needs to be done. A recent Marist Institute for Public Opinion Poll said only 1-in-10 people apply sunscreen regularly.

Parents and school nurses alike have expressed plenty of concern about super lice and how to treat these pesticide-resistant hair vermin safely, and most importantly, effectively. A number of OTC manufacturers have responded with product launches and offerings that effectively address ridding households of lice infestations.