SCHAUMBURG, Ill. -- Supermarkets committed to general-merchandise offerings are finding the effort is paying off, according to statistics published in a new report by ACNielsen U.S. here.
f drug retailers, who, with a 7.7% rise in general-merchandise dollar sales, took a 14.6% share for the same period, according to ACNielsen.
Coming as no surprise, mass merchandisers took the biggest chunk of the $31.2 billion category for the period. They registered 70.3% of general-merchandise dollar volume, riding an increase of 10.3%. The report was presented at the ACNielsen Category Masters Conference in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., last week.
Although their dollar-volume increase was rather flat, supermarkets held their own in sales in the $50 billion mass-retail health and beauty care business, according to the report. With a marginal increase of 2.6%, food retailers captured 28.3% of sales.
Notably, "drug stores are losing their one-time stranglehold on health and beauty aid products to mass merchandisers," the report stated. Mass merchandisers saw the largest percentage point increase in HBC sales. A 9.3% increase gave them a 36.2% share. Drug stores, with a 6.1% increase, held a 35.5% share.
Overall, general-merchandise dollar volume was up almost 10% and HBC dollars were up 6.2%. The report was in accord with the priorities of today's consumer -- convenience and one-stop shopping, according to ACNielsen.
The report also brought to light what many have already observed, the entry of drug stores into convenience grocery offerings. Drug chains, along with mass merchants, noted considerable gains in the deli and dairy categories.
