by Megan Moyer, HRG corporate marketing manager
New items are the lifeblood of retail. Especially those that are innovative.
Innovation can take many forms. There are those products that are a new form, flavor/scent, or contain a new, highly effective ingredient. Innovative products could also be those that apply an established attribute in a different way. For instance, charcoal became a popular ingredient a few years back and we soon saw charcoal used in skin, oral, and foot care categories, as well as a few more.
Reviewing historical new item data can provide insight into trends that had staying power or those that were so called flashes in the pan. Of course, there can be a number of factors impacting new product success or failure, such as the ongoing supply chain challenges all industries are facing, but this blog series will be looking at new item trends from a wider angle for more general insights.
HRG’s category research and analysis manager, Colleen Volheim, dug into years of new item data to
find patterns or attributes of interest. What started as a series for Chain Drug Review will be continued here, featuring new graphs and categories that weren’t covered. Subscribe to receive HRG content to get the remaining blog posts right in your inbox. Colleen will be looking at trends in the following categories in this series:
• Vitamins & Dietary Supplements
• Skin Care
• Cold & Allergy
• Oral Care
The first blog post in the series will be published in the next few days. Until then, here are some articles with insights into successful product launches: