Lubricants, Plan B boost sales
Overall, the intimacy health category generated more than $870 million in sales, trending up in the low single-digits. Sales of condoms, the largest piece of the business, totaled $380.7 million across total U.S. multi-outlets for the 52 weeks ended April 20, and was down slightly by 1.8%. The growth is coming out of the personal lubricant ($213.4 million, up 2.9%) and emergency contraceptive ($253.2 million, up 12.3%) sectors.
(For the complete category review, including data, click here.)
Church & Dwight last year introduced the Trojan brand name to the personal lubricant space with Crazy Sexy Feel. Overall, C&D lubricants generated $18.5 million in sales, ranking the relative newcomer the third-largest personal lubricant brand manufacturer with a dollar share of 8.7%. And though overall sales of Johnson & Johnson lubricants were down 26.4% to $82 million, that lubricant franchise is about to get a fresh makeover as Reckitt Benckiser incorporates its newly bought KY brand into its Durex portfolio.
Niche marketer Lil’ Drug Store Products has carved out profitability in the personal lubricant space by targeting couples trying to conceive. Sales of its PreSeed lubricant were up 26.8% to $3.6 million. And the company is currently launching Replens Silky Smooth — targeting baby boomer women — to meet a demand for post-menopausal intimacy. “Research showed that 78% of Replens Moisturizer users also were using a lubricant, but many water-based lubricants tend to dry out and need to be reapplied during intimacy,” said Doug Marquardt, director of marketing for Replens. “To better enhance intimacy, Replens Silky Smooth was developed to last longer than most leading lubricants. Since Replens Silky Smooth is a premium silicone lubricant, it only needs to be applied once.”
Within the emergency contraceptive sector, the Food and Drug Administration recently ruled that generic equivalents to Teva Pharmaceutical’s Plan B emergency contraceptive can be sold alongside Plan B without any behind-the-counter merchandising restrictions or a requirement to verify the age of the purchaser. In the past year, Gavis Pharmaceuticals launched its My Way emergency contraceptive, and has thus far generated $8.1 million in sales. That has yet to make a dent into Plan B, however. Overall Plan B sales totaled $138 million, up 44.5%.