OTC Hot Products
According to DSN OTC expert Michael Johnsen, there is a great opportunity for all vendors to sell more by engaging with retailer education programs. Below are MJ's picks for hot products in health and wellness.
Is it any wonder that one of the hottest products on the NACDS Marketplace show floor — Tums Freshers — headlined DSN’s inaugural Innov-ies awards as best new product? It’s a brand that first hit store shelves in 1930 and that still is going strong. That’s how line extensions are done.
Only last week Miami Heat superstar LeBron James was sidelined with leg cramps. How much more dominant would he have been with Hyland’s latest line extension Leg Cramps ointment? It’s an external rub addition to Hyland’s already-popular Leg Cramps tablets, touting a strong safety/efficacy profile without the smell.
Bayer may be expanding its probiotic footprint with the launch of TruBiotics, but this will go well beyond its Philips Colon Health proposition and will appeal to the mainstream consumer with a “from the makers of One-A-Day” plug on the packaging. Expect probiotics to pop over the next year.
Not only is PharmaCare launching a new probiotic for kids — Kids Smart Probiotic Choco Balls — but the entire Kids Smart line will be promoted by Soleil Moon Frye — who’s now a mom — perhaps best known for her role in the ’80s sitcom “Punky Brewster.” The Kids Smart probiotic is indicated for “healthy tummies and immunity.”
Homeostasis Labs launched a sleep product that could be a good addition to the hot-and-getting-hotter sleep category. It’s a homeopathic solution that could prove to be a decent point of differentiation to the popular melatonin ingredient that, in addition to promoting sleep, helps relax the mind.
St. Joseph Consumer Health will be fielding a familiar brand name in the cough-cold space that will appeal just as well to consumers who gave their toddlers St. Joseph’s baby aspirin as it will to the senior population familiar with the St. Joseph’s heart-health proposition. For that latter consumer, having a high-blood-pressure-friendly cold remedy can’t hurt either. 
With Pharmavite placing its marketing muscle behind its newly acquired Voots! brand, getting finicky kids to eat their vegetables may never be a challenge again. Voots! is a children’s supplement made with 11 fruits and vegetables with the anti-oxidant power of three servings of fruits and vegetables — all in one chewable tart.
With the growth of Type 2 diabetes, the number of diabetics who now require regular insulin shots also will continue to rise. And until pharmacist interventions become a permanent part of the treatment protocol, that’ll continue to be a growth market. That makes the on-the-go solution provided by Apothecary’s Frío insulin cooling case a good addition to the diabetes set. 
Akorn’s TheraTears Eye Itch Relief may become the point of entry to the entire TheraTears lineup addressing eye allergies, including TheraTears Lubricant Drops and SteriLid Eyelid Cleanser. With approximately 4% of allergy sufferers suffering from eye allergies as their primary allergy, that could become a significant entry point for allergy sufferers into the category.
Perform On-the-Go single-use wipes represent a new delivery mechanism for external analgesics that may be an incremental purchase opportunity within the category. The on-the-go wipes provide muscle pain relief — in a package small enough to fit in a pocket — that can even be used mid-activity, such as during a run or a bike ride.
With pharmacies looking to expand their business in pet prescriptions, pet supplements — like those from True-Dose — may no longer be such a dog of a category for retail pharmacy operators. At the very least, a significant position in pet supplements along with shelf talkers can raise awareness that pharmacies aren’t just for the two-legged anymore.
You might not be able to undo that face tattoo from the night before, but at least you can alleviate the malaise from the accompanying hangover with the Hangover Recovery Shot. Fact is, with the estimated 30 million hangovers per week (not including the Marketplace client dinners), hangover shots are one of the fastest-growing segments within shot solutions.
Click here for hot products in Beauty and Consumables/General Merchandise.