Men's primping and preening products took a hit this year, but retailers are hopeful for a turnaround in 2008.

Body sprays are carrying the category right now, thanks to young adult males. But men's skin care lines haven't fared well. Neither have razors and cartridge refills, which are usually the biggest sellers in men's grooming.

With the percentage of male shoppers quickly approaching 50% in supermarkets, retailers need to step up their game in health and beauty care, said Anthea Jones, group vice president, center store, Bi-Lo, Mauldin, S.C.

“As retailers, we need to take the opportunity to step out of the box and do a better job of marketing to our male consumers,” he said. “For so long our focus and our target have been on mom and what mom is buying vs. the male consumer that shops there too, and they are not as budget-minded as mom would be.”

Plus, the male shopper who may not have the confidence to buy food for the family is likely to feel very comfortable buying men's grooming products for himself, Jones added.

Charles Yahn, vice president of sales, retail development, customer service and pharmacy, Associated Wholesalers Inc., Robesonia, Pa., believes men's grooming should be approached market by market.

“It's a matter of the consumer you have shopping in the store,” he told SN. “There are more men shopping in supermarkets than there used to be, but if you are looking at a demographic that is [mostly] women, you probably don't want to address it.” Yahn and other retailer and wholesaler executives were interviewed during a recent conference of the Global Market Development Center, Colorado Springs.

Despite lackluster sales throughout most of the category, retailers are trying to focus on what is selling.

“Axe is the phenomenon that is driving [the category], with Gillette coming in behind that with Tag, and there will be a million knockoffs now because they have been doing so well,” said Al Jones, senior vice president, procurement and merchandising, Imperial Distributors, Auburn, Mass.

Nearly half of the top 10 deodorant unit sellers at Imperial are Unilever Axe items, according to Jones. Axe body sprays are the most popular. Axe stick deodorants follow closely behind, and lately shoppers have shown an increased interest in Axe body wash.

The company's manly scented products, touting virile-sounding names like Vice, Kilo and Phoenix have been marketed heavily on the Internet and youth-oriented channels like MTV.

Body sprays have also fared well at Associated Grocers stores in recent years, according to Gerry Buckles, director of center store for the Baton Rouge, La.-based company. “We carry three brands, and we are currently in the process of private-labeling a body spray of our own,” he said.

Axe is so popular at stores of Bashas', Chandler, Ariz., that Sue Vodika, HBC buyer/category manager, sees the potential for extensive line expansions. “If Axe was to get involved in the shaving [market], with shaving creams and related products, it may spark something,” she said.

While such items are faring well, men's skin care products are not, Jones said. As a result, Imperial has discontinued nearly every line it carried in recent years.

Robert Passikoff, president, Brand Keys, New York, believes that some skin care items could thrive, but he warns marketers not to go too far out of the box in this segment.

“You won't be successful with men's products that move too far away from the kind of grooming rituals that men are used to,” he said.

Related Articles

Respite in the Razor Wars Razors have long kept men's health and beauty care afloat, but a lack of new product introductions during 2007 has led to lackluster sales compared to...