Healthy OTC sales growth
May 15, 2012
AUSTRALIAN pharmacy front of
shop value and unit sales saw
strong growth for the 12 months to
18 March 2012, according to the
latest Your Pharmacy Matters data,
produced by Nielsen.
According to the results, this rise
was spurred on by growth from
leading categories, whilst overall
trade performance continues to be
buoyed by the bigger categories
particularly vitamins, supplements
and cosmetics.
As such, the data found that
Vitamins and Supplements was the
leading category in value, with
14.9% of over-the-counter
pharmacy value sales.
Vitamins and Supplements also
recorded 14.3% value growth
compared to last year.
Meanwhile the other major
player, cosmetics, took a 10.3%
share of total OTC pharmacy value,
and analgesics was found to be the
largest category in terms of units,
growing its unit sales by 11.5% over
the 52 weeks leading to 18 March
2012, compared to the previous year.
Smaller categories, according to
the data, also experienced solid
sales increases over the past 12
months, including antiinflammatories
and rheumatics;
toilet soaps; and urinary,
household, suncare and wound
care.
“On an annual basis, performance
of the trade appears healthy – the
shorter-term picture has seen a
considerable increase, with sales
growth over the latest quarter to
18 March 2012 accelerating to 6.1
percent compared to the same
time frame a year ago, although it
dropped against last quarter
(6.8%),” Nielsen said.
“The slide in OTC value sales
growth over the past three months
is a comeback from prolonged and
consistent deep-discounting during
quarter one.
“In addition, we have seen that
most of the top OTC categories
have shown a slight increase in
price per unit,” Nielsen added.
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