RETAIL NEWS

ATLANTA — A new study published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month in Pediatrics is the first of its kind to show that flu vaccination significantly reduced a child’s risk of dying from influenza. The study, which looked at data from four flu seasons between 2010 and 2014, found that flu vaccination reduced the risk of flu-associated death by half (51%) among children with underlying high-risk medical conditions and by nearly two-thirds (65%) among healthy children.

One of the biggest trends in food and beverage in the past several years has been in better-for-you offerings — something that’s expected to continue to influence new products as consumers remain focused on what’s in their favorite snacks and beverages. When IRI published its 2017 New Product Pacesetters report in early April, the firm noted that one of the drivers of category growth has been healthier innovation. Of IRI’s 100 New Product Pacesetters in the food and beverage category, 47 of them featured healthier-for-you-attributes.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Dosing, labeling and a seemingly endless range of allergy medication options can make picking the right medicine a complicated task for some parents, according to the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health at the University of Michigan, released Monday.

Despite privacy concerns, consumer will share data with companies if it saves them money or resolves customer service issues faster.

This was according to a recent study conducted by YouGov on behalf of customer experience company [24]|7, which tapped 1,145 U.S. consumers.

Nearly half (43%) of consumers agreed that they would exchange personal data with companies to save money through personalized promotions, discounts or deals, followed by 39% looking for speedier issue resolution.

CINCINNATI — This April, in honor of Earth Month, Kroger will promote a program involving events and customer engagement to help highlight easy, earth-friendly and sustainable living practices, the grocer announced Friday.  

Editor’s Note: The Drug Store News Industry Issues Summit gathered a record crowd in December at the New York Athletic Club in Manhattan to discuss the most important issues facing the industry today. Three roundtable discussions took place at the event, one regarding chronic care (which appeared in the February issue of DSN), the front-end panel (which appeared in the March issue of DSN), and this health, wellness and technology panel.