PG Web Extra: Specialty Creams at Home in First Aid

Retailers are broadening their assortments of specialty skin care products formulated to treat eczema, rosacea and scarring. Scar treatment products such as Merz’s Mederma and Enaltus’ ScarAway, rosacea treatments such as Alva-Amco’s Prosecea, and eczema treatment products such as Bentlin Products’ Exederm and Chattem’s Gold Bond Intensive Healing are destination products that can serve as traffic builders and margin enhancers.

These products, found in the first-aid section rather than the beauty care aisle, are “high-involvement segments that ensure high margins for retailers,” asserts Mike Reisner, VP of marketing for Niles, Ill.-based Alva-Amco Pharmacal Cos. Margins for these products can approach 40 percent, he adds.

According to Reisner, placement of Prosacea in the first-aid section reinforces the product’s positioning as a medicine rather than a beauty item. “We make an effort through our ads and FSIs to tell consumers the products are in the first-aid section,” he says. This year, the company will launch a deep-moisturizing cream to complement Prosacea.

What’s more, under its Psoriasin line, Alva-Amco recently launched a cortisone product and an oatmeal cream, Psoriasin ATC.

Additionally, fade creams and bleaches, which often get placement in the first-aid and beauty aisles, have shown significant growth in the skin care category. A recent study revealed that silicone-based gels, sheets and creams for scar treatment are trending in a major way. In particular, silicone sheets have gained popularity of late because they help reduce the size and darkness of scars, and protect wounds from moisture and further infection.