It was a case of give and take as the three main retail channels vied for dollar share of 15 large-volume health and beauty care and general merchandise categories tracked by SymphonyIRI Group, Chicago, for the 52 weeks ending June 13, 2010.
The food channel scored approximately $9.3 billion in sales with seven categories showing minimal to substantial sales gains. Vitamins turned in the highest increase with a 9.9% gain in sales.
Drug stores surpassed food's sales volume in the categories by over a billion dollars totaling $10.5 billion in volume of which 11 showed positive sales increases from the prior year. The gastrointestinal category did particularly well in drug stores with sales up nearly 10%.
Looking at the combined food, drug and mass market channels of which Wal-Mart Stores sales figures are not included, sales volume totaled $24.3 billion with 10 of the 15 categories up in sales. The best-performing sales category in the combined channels again was vitamins with just over a 10% increase in sales.
Such wellness categories as vitamins benefited from all the attention on health care reform and the need to practice preventive health measures especially when health care costs were rising and the economy remained stagnate.
NONFOOD KEY CATEGORIES
| SUPERMARKET DOLLAR SALES | % CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR | PAGE | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Soap | $1.0B | 4.4 | 48 |
| Vitamins | $1.0B | 9.9 | 48 |
| Internal Analgesics | $919.9M | -2.4 | 48 |
| Cold/Allergy/Sinus Tablets | $739.2M | 0.7 | 49 |
| Gastrointestinal — Tablets | $649.1M | 2.4 | 49 |
| Sanitary Napkins/Tampons | $646.2M | -2.3 | 50 |
| Weight Control/Nutrition Liq/Pow | $639.3M | 4.8 | 50 |
| Batteries | $562.0M | -5.5 | 50 |
| Deodorant | $543.3M | -0.1 | 51 |
| Skincare | $508.4M | -0.6 | 51 |
| Blades | $504.8M | -2.6 | 52 |
| Cleaning Tools/Mops/Brooms | $469.6M | -0.1 | 52 |
| Toothbrush/Dental Accessories | $424.0M | -0.3 | 52 |
| Charcoal | $407.2M | 0.4 | 53 |
| Kitchen Storage | $301.4M | 0.7 | 53 |
