ONE-TIME WONDERS

MIKE STERNMAN

Single-use cameras continue to energize a mature photo-film business, especially at supermarkets.

New products, improved features, added value, aggressive promotional dollars, increased consumer awareness and more display space are some of the reasons retailers expect to experience robust performance from one-time-use cameras this year.

"It's a category that continues to expand," agreed Jeff Manning, director of general merchandise for Bashas' Markets, Chandler, Ariz. "We're up 34% ourselves. This year, I will exceed last year's numbers easily."

The official numbers from the Photo Marketing Association, Jackson, Mich., are strong: The outlook for 1997 is 76 million single-use camera sales, which compares with an estimated 65 million units last year, for a 16.9% increase.

While some in the trade observe that growth rates of the disposables have fallen from about 50% in the early 1990s to the mid-teens presently, manufacturers point to the fact that they are expanding production in the United States and internationally. They say the field is far from saturated, pointing out that consumer awareness isn't near what it should be. PMA and vendor surveys indicate consumer awareness of single-use cameras has doubled since 1993 from 20% to over 40% today.

"The single-use camera business continues to be huge. There is no real point where we think it's going to plateau," said one manufacturer.

Heavier media spending by manufacturers is helping to drive more consumer awareness of one-time products. According to Competitive Media Reporting, a New York ad monitoring service, $38.4 million was invested in advertising in the year through November 1996, compared with $17.7 million in the 1995 time frame.

Network-television outlays for Kodak Fun Saver Disposables represented a jump of 76% in the year to $12.7 million, according to the manufacturer.

At Eagle Food Centers, Milan, Ill., Sally Engels, general merchandise buyer, said volume rebates and ad allowances from Kodak had a hand in producing "really good sales" during recent photo opportunity occasions. "We're doing more business in single-use cameras today than in the past because they're advertised more. People like to take so many pictures with them that I can see a business swing in photo album purchases because of single-use," she added.

Supermarket trade activity has been equally intense. "I promote the single-use cameras a lot," said Steve Urgo, general merchandise buyer, Save Mart Supermarkets, Modesto, Calif. "Between Kodak and Fuji, I probably ran 26 ads last year using a variety of vehicles, including newspapers and our Smart Savers coupon books."

At Big Y Foods, Springfield, Mass., Jann Winn, director of health and beauty care and general merchandise, said the retailer successfully runs many "buy-one, get-one-free camera" ads from Agfa, which recently attained second-line status at the chain because of its "ability to partner with us on film."

Manning of Bashas' said heavy cross merchandising at stores has helped sell more single-use cameras. "We display them with our film and in secondary locations and displays. We clip-strip them in the greeting cards, clip-strip them at the checkstands. We have got them all over," he said.

Patti Price, category manager at Randalls Food Markets, Houston, said, "We're doing a lot more promoting of single-use cameras this year in our on-site film processing. One of the unique ways we've done that within the past year is with a dollar-off coupon on the camera package, which is available from our vendor."

Supermarkets have been favorably responsive, if not enthusiastic, toward the richer selection of enhanced one-time-use cameras that have hit the market over the last year.

There is the trend toward smaller, lighter cameras. Manning is ready to take on the Fuji QuickSnap compact and the Super G Plus. He also expects to authorize single-use versions, such as Kodak's Advantix and Fuji's QuickSnap Super Slim, of the even smaller-format Advanced Photo System.

"It's excellent product; we are just putting it out there, and selling it," said Sonny Ellis, director, health and beauty care/general merchandise for Associated Grocers, a 233-store co-op out of Baton Rouge, La.

Retailers report good consumer acceptance from cameras having generous 15- and 27-exposures, formerly offered as a promotional bonus, that are becoming standard on many models. Another crowd-pleaser has been faster 800-film that makes it harder to snap a bad picture when the light is low.

Flash models, which outsell daylights two-to-one, according to one manufacturer, have raised sales levels as a result of ongoing refinement of features, the latest of which include a longer flash range and a recharge that cuts waiting time between shots.