Of Lice and Men: Lice treatments still sell amid social distancing

“If we’ve learned anything about lice, it is that they are resilient,” said Joseph Juliano, vice president of marketing at Tarrytown, N.Y.-based Prestige Consumer Healthcare, which makes Nix Lice Removal Products. “Just as lice have begun to adapt to traditional pesticides, they will survive the pandemic.” 

Lice, which cannot jump or fly, crawl from head to head, and the closure of schools and summer camps slowed the spread. There still were lice infestations, and that drove consumers to shift some of these purchases online, but that will change. “We expect incidence to rise with the reopening of in-person schools and other programs for children in 2021,” Juliano said. “Consumers will seek treatments where they’ve shopped in the past.” That means a return to brick-and-mortar retailers, as consumers seeking same-day solutions rush to stores.

Sales figures indicate the pandemic slowed, but did not stop, purchases of lice treatments, shampoos, combs and other products. According to Chicago-based IRI, for the 52 weeks ended Nov. 1, U.S. multi-outlet sales of parasite treatments totaled more than $124.8 million, down 16.7%. There were more than 9.3 million units sold, which, although is a decrease of 16.4%, indicated there was still a need for products.

That task involves using a comb with rigid teeth that are close enough to remove lice and nits, or eggs that would otherwise hatch later. MacGill, which has offered lice treatment products and other school nurse supplies for decades, recently began offering its WelComb lice removing comb in its Lice and Nit Removal Kit available at Dollar General stores. The WelComb is a natural, inexpensive, 100% effective solution, Smith said, if the user takes 45 minutes to an hour to (literally) nitpick. 

One challenge is that parents visit the store in a panic and buy a chemical solution, not realizing that pesticide-based products often do not kill the nits. MacGill is working with nurses to tell parents about the Dollar General kit because school nurses are a great source of information. “No one goes on social media and posts, ‘My kid has lice,’” Smith said. “It’s a clandestine purchase.”

In-store Decision
Parents do go online when they get a letter from a school nurse or when they see an insect on their child’s head. “The first thing they do is Google,” said Carol Lewis, marketing campaign manager at Vamousse, a brand from Cary, N.C.-based Alliance Pharma. 

In fact, Lewis said, consumers don’t even want to order lice treatment products online because they don’t want to wait 24 hours for delivery. Instead, they visit retailers and sometimes call the Vamousse customer support line while they are standing in the aisle. “They have questions about it, and are so freaked out and worried,” she said.

Education is crucial, so Vamousse, which makes Pesticide-Free Lice Treatment Foaming Mousse, Pesticide-Free Lice Defense Shampoo and other products, puts information on the packaging, on its website, in ads and other communications. “A lot of decisions are made at the shelf,” said Alethea Taylor, U.S. brand manager at Vamousse. “When they are shopping for products, they will do research at the shelf or in the car. They are reading reviews, so we make sure we are in those channels.” 

Even though sales of lice treatment products decreased during the pandemic, lice aren’t going away. “We know the category is soft, but over the last few months, the category appears to be picking up,” Taylor said. “There are kids returning to school, and we are seeing numbers come up a little bit.” Also, another pandemic-related trend, a new focus on prevention, will prompt people to buy such products as preventive shampoos and sprays.

School’s Out 
Except for this year, fall typically sees a sales increase in lice treatment products. “A big factor in the industry are schools, and not necessarily for the transfer of head lice,” said Scott Wilson, president of Murray, Utah-based Larada Sciences, which does business as Lice Clinics of America. “Schools are really big for identifying when someone has a case of lice. Some schools have a no nit policy, which has a big impact on business.

Lice Clinics of America has professional salons that treat head lice and eggs with heated air and offers at-home devices and treatment kits, as well as new prevention products including shampoo, conditioner spray and hair bands. The new products answer consumer demands for proactive products. “Everything always seemed to be reactive,” Wilson said. 

When the pandemic started, the clinics closed temporarily and consumers shifted to at-home methods. Retailers that offered online ordering and curbside pickup had the advantage, Wilson said, because consumers wanted e-commerce and the ability to get the product immediately. Most clinics have since reopened, and consumers have a choice of professional treatment or DIY options. Many try it at home first, then go to a clinic. “It’s difficult to get right the first time,” Wilson said. “For efficacy, you have to be diligent and comb everything out.”

The difficulty is intensified if the child cannot sit still for 45 minutes. “The major problem the parents have is the time it takes to take lice and nits out from the kid’s hair,” said Yoav Gaon, CEO and co-founder of Concept Trade Solutions. The Israeli company designed and manufactures Lice Combot, a self-cleaning lice comb system that removes lice and nits in wet hair, then opens up and empties so the user doesn’t have to touch the bugs.