Drugstores showing dynamism in face, body and hand care

Retail sales of face lotions were up by 4 percent in the September 2007-August 2008 period, compared to the preceding year. The size of the market has exceeded HUF 9 billion. Retail sales of hand and body lotions were up by 2 percent, exceeding HUF 8 billion. Drugstores accounted for 58 percent of total sales in the face care segment, whereas hyper markets and pharmacies held market shares of 27 and 12 percent respectively. Cremes accounted for two-thirds of total sales in the face care segment. The market share of private labels was 12 percent. Average price shows stagnation in spite of fluctuations. Sales of body lotions were up by 3 percent, while sales of hand care products stagnated in the above period. Average price was up by 7 percent for hand care products, while the price of body lotions rose by 2 percent. The market share of private labels was also up, reaching 15 percent in terms of quantity. Drugstores boosted their market share by 3 percent, to 39 percent, while that of hyper markets dropped by 2 percent to 34.