Even though many cutting-edge marketers have for years successfully infused a Hispanic flavor into their overall marketing mix, the overall marketplace has yet to maximize the reach into this community relative to the overall buying power they wield.
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The potential return on investment in engaging the Latino consumer still yields greater dividends than that of the crowded general market. “Whomever comes into these categories from a marketing standpoint has an opportunity to establish first-mover advantage,” Jorge Daboub, VP of business development at Univision, told Drug Store News. “If it’s not first-mover advantage, there are fewer players, less clutter. [Marketers] have an opportunity to develop a franchise against a consumer segment that can drive some significant growth.”
As a group, the Hispanic demographic represents $5.9 billion in the sale of nonprescription medicines alone (12% of the total U.S. spend), and sales of OTC products among Hispanic consumers is up more than 8% versus more than 5% among non-Hispanic companies.
Hispanic consumers are brand loyal — branded products capture 79% of Hispanic OTC sales versus only 75% of non-Hispanics. “They also tend to buy less on promotion than non-Hispanics,” Daboub said. “So they’re not gravitating to the private-label brands.”
They also represent more frequent shoppers who carry larger marketbaskets to the checkstand. Hispanic consumers buy 2.8 items per health and beauty trip versus 2.5 for non-Hispanics; they make 29 trips per buyer per year versus 27.8 trips per non-Hispanic buyer per year; and they spend $14.60 per trip versus $14 for non-Hispanic shoppers.
Some of the bigger growth opportunities within OTC include cough-cold and flu, a category that saw a 14% lift in sales among Hispanic consumers for the 52 weeks ended Aug. 8, 2015, according to Nielsen, versus a 9% lift in sales among non-Hispanic consumers. Similarly, allergy remedies saw a 13% lift in sales among Hispanics versus 9% among non-Hispanics, and family planning realized 9% growth among Hispanics versus 3% among non-Hispanics.