Waukesha, Wisconsin — February 19, 2019 — Hamacher Resource Group, Inc.’s (HRG’s) New Item Review team, in its ongoing evaluation of products suitable for the independent pharmacy channel, evaluated 2,587 new health, beauty, and wellness items in 2018. This number is an increase of roughly 4.1% from the 2,485 new items reviewed in 2017. The three-year average of new items assessed by HRG is 2,585.
Using the company’s Star Rating System, the team of analysts awarded Stars to 208 of those products believed to have the highest potential for success in independent pharmacies. Beauty products entering the market had a slight lead of the highest number of new item entries — which has been true the last four years running — with 1,144 products reviewed, and only 17.3% awarded Stars. While items classified as OTC had the lowest quantity of new products introduced at 338, they earned 34.1% of the coveted Star Ratings. And finally, in the wellness segment there were 1,105 products reviewed and 48.6% received HRG Stars.
Of the top five categories in independent pharmacy (Diabetes, Cold & Allergy, Vitamins & Dietary Supplements, Digestive Health, and Pain Relief), 648 new items were reviewed, and from those items, 17.8% received a HRG Star Rating. These are the products within these categories that offer great growth opportunities for retailers, distributors, and manufacturers in 2019 and beyond. HRG recommends these products are added to appropriate size departments without delay to capture sales and profits as they gain momentum at retail.
Colleen Volheim, category research and analysis manager, said, “Among the 2018 new items trending are Eye Care products that relieve redness or dryness. We are seeing these items already performing well, and expect that to continue.”
Volheim continued, “We’ll be digging into the data further in the next month to find more of those products that are experiencing success, and look forward to sharing that list in the spring.”
HRG analysts take a completely objective approach to reviewing new items. Whether a product receives one or more Stars is based on an analysis against five criteria: product innovation, promotional support, category growth, product orientation, and earning potential. For an item to receive at least one HRG Star, the product must be well-rounded and achieve high scores in most of the five areas.
