Sun care market heats up; warm weather saves category dampened by early rain on coasts

Sunny weather in midsummer delivered favorable sun care product sales to drug chains this season. But frequent rain on the East and West Coasts early in the summer hurt total sales, and now several manufacturers are predicting year-end sales in drug stores to be flat.

Consumers continue to be concerned about the damage the sun has on their skin, and products with SPFs of 15 or higher are delivering the most growth, according to retailers. Consequently several are scaling back or minimizing products with SPFs lower than 15.

Products designed for sports and kids are also hot, and those segments continue to grow with new product introductions.

For the 24 weeks ending June 18, 1995, total sun care sales in drug stores dropped 6.1 percent to $95.5 million, according to Information Resources Inc. Unit sales fell 6.4 percent to 16.1 million.

Volume replaces variety

Several manufacturers said the unpredictability of sun care makes it a perfect category for category management. "Retailers don't have to carry the top 10 [brands] to garnish sales," said Rosanna McCollough, director of marketing for facial care, Neutrogena. "If they devote space to the fastest selling ones, they can make it up in volume. A lot of retailers are getting a lot smarter and doing this."

With lower-priced lines showing strong sales growth, manufacturers of these brands believe drug stores should consider increasing their SKUs in the segment. "The one class [of trade] that has jumped on that concept is mass," said Don Kastning, national sales director for L.A. Tan. "Food and drug have been slow to follow," and that's why mass merchandisers are growing sun care sales at a faster rate, he said.

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Private label gains share

Adding sun care products to private label lines is paying off for many chains. In several segments of the category, including sunless and SPF over 4, private label brands are gaining share at the expense of national brands, according to Towne-Oller & Associates.

Some manufacturers question retailers who heavy up on the number of national brands but don't carry enough volume in a line to support them. "They want to get as much business as possible instead of focusing on three or four brands and their own [private label] brand," said Ken Meeker, vice president of marketing, Banana Boat. In the end they end up constantly running out of products, he said.

Several manufacturers praised Eckerd for taking a very aggressive approach with sun care this year. To call attention to the department, Dave Peterson, category manager, added brightly colored banners and experimented with new brands and various rack formations. "They are doing terrific in a dismal year," said Meeker.

Others praised Wal-Mart, which devotes 16 feet to the category, offers sweepstakes and giveaways, and promotes it with bold SPF signage, endcaps, power wings and racks.

"Seventy percent of sun care is purchased on impulse, so while you set a basic planogram, the real key in building the business is to have off-shelf promotions to support the category," said Karen Jessee, director of trade relations for Hawaiian Tropic.

One player dominates

In general, Schering-Plough continues to dominate most segments of the category. The biggest news in the category is Procter & Gamble's decision to sell Bain De Soleil, which dominates the $28.8 million self-tanning segment. (Three of its products are among the top 10 self-tanning SKUs in drug stores, according to Towne-Oller & Associates.)

The company is selling the brand in an attempt to focus sun care efforts on year-round skin care products, such as its Oil of Olay Daily UV Protectant, said Greg Rossiter, a company spokesman. "When we acquired Bain de Soleil in 1987, we believed it would be a good fit and keep pace with our other skin care businesses," said Rossiter. "In the end we didn't see the same kind of progress on Bain de Soleil as in other brands." Nevertheless, P & G will fully support the line until it is sold, he said.

The move does not reflect negatively on the category, said competitors, but demonstrates that most large companies are not willing to handle the unpredictability of the category.

Sun setting on business

"Bain De Soleil's business has been declining at 10 percent a year, and that's why they are getting out of the business," said L.A. Tan's Kastning. "They don't have the mentality it takes to grow that business. You have to be really creative." With the exception of Schering-Plough, "the big guys don't have the stomach for it," added Banana Boat's Meeker.

Women care a great deal about preventing sun damage, and Procter & Gamble is one of many manufacturers eyeing growth from skin care products that offer sun protection.

Four out of five women are concerned about the effects of the sun on their skin and consider sun protection the most important factor influencing their skin care purchases, according to a Physcians Formula survey of 500 women.

Playtex Products is also trying to capitalize on this perception by rolling out facial sun care products for different skin types. In March it will launch two new Banana Boat Faces products for oily to normal skin and normal to dry skin. It will continue to sell its facial product for normal skin.

"Women understand skin care by skin type," said Meeker. "We have married protection levels with skin type."

Though previous efforts by manufacturers to grow the facial segment didn't fare well, Meeker thinks Banana Boat's consumer education will spell success. The company plans to educate cosmeticians about the products and distribute educational booklets at retail. "Most women don't fully understand that their facial skin is extra sensitive and use the same product for the body and the face," Meeker said.

With the huge growth in the sunless segment, some retailers think consumers need more education in this segment as well.

Kids products are hot

Kids and sports products continue to fly off shelves. Of the top 10 brands with an SPF of 5 or more, half are targeted to kids and sports enthusiasts, according to Towne-Oller & Associates.

Interest in these segments has prompted some retailers to cluster kids and sport products together rather than stick with a brand setup. But, warn some manufacturers, consumers shop this category by brand, so this may not be an effective strategy. "It doesn't work," said Meeker. "The brand identity is lost."

Solar Gear, a new supplier to the drug channel, is focusing heavily on the sports segment with a 5-SKU line of oil-free products with SPFs of 15 and 30. President Scott Stevenson, an avid golfer, surfer and skier, developed the line to provide benefits not available in existing products.

Each bottle contains an applicator pad on a nozzle, which is used to directly apply the lotion or gel on the skin, eliminating the need to first apply the products on one's hands. The bottle also contains a rope, which can be attached to a golf or sports bag.

The line includes Sports Lotion for Faces, Frog Skin Formula Sunblock (an alcohol-based gel for endurance water sports enthusiasts), Dry Formula Sun Block and Bug Block, a sunblock and bug repellant.

Market may still grow

The children's area is ripe for additional growth, said Susan Knight, assistant category manager for toiletries for Longs Drug Stores. "Kids that are 9 and 10 don't want to be using Water Babies."

Tying into both the sports and kids segments, Panama Jack has just re-packaged its kids sun block with a sports theme. Earlier this year, it added two more sports SKUS as well as Baby Sunblock 30 to its line. Hawaiian Tropic also added kids and sports lines this year.

Eighty percent of sun exposure occurs before the age of 18, according to skin care experts. But teenagers apparently haven't gotten the message. While 81 percent of teenagers spend most weekends in the sun, only 9 percent always use a sunscreen and one third never use a sunscreen, according to a study done by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

After the fact...

The after-sun segment continued to see a great deal of new products this year. Schering-Plough entered the segment for the first time this year, with Coppertone Aloe After Sun Moisturizing Lotion and Aloe After Sun Gel. Line extensions from other companies are coming next year.

Panama Jack is rolling out new several after-sun products in the first quarter of 1996: a 12-ounce cucumber-scented After Sun Body Wash, a Vitamin E Skin Replenishing Gel and a 20-ounce Green Ice and Aloe. The company has also reformulated Blue Ice Burn Relief. Playtex plans to add Banana Boat Vitamin E gel and Aloe Spray next Spring.

Sunless products continue to grow in number as companies add more shades.

In general, most manufacturers feel there is plenty of room for the sun care category to grow. "There is nowhere to go but up," said Kastning. "Fifty percent of the population does not use a sunscreen."

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