More and more new OTC products

According to Boglárka Dezse, marketing leader of Béres Gyógyszergyár Zrt., the market of OTC drugs (products that can be bought without a prescription) and dietary supplements transformed considerably in recent years. Much more products have become available than before, especially in the dietary supplement category (there are more than 5,000), and consumers have turned more price-sensitive than before. More shoppers tend to make their buying decision themselves, but their product choices are greatly influenced by the recommendations of doctors or pharmacists.

Boglárka Dezse
marketing leader
Béres Gyógyszergyár

We learned from Áron Hidvégi, shopper marketing manager of GSK Consumer Healthcare that his company is an important driving force of the OTC market’s growth, producing a two-digit sales growth in the first six months of 2017. His experience is that in the biggest OTC categories shoppers are less and less price sensitive. Nelli Kadlok PR manager of Rossmann Magyarország Kft. told our magazine that value sales of their OTC products grew by two-digit numbers this year. Customers buy more products or try new ones when they are offered in promotion, but a growing proportion of consumers look at products’ price-value ratio too, and they also pay special attention to product components.

Áron Hidvégi
marketing manager
GSK

Nelli Kadlok
PR manager
Rossmann

Roland Kanyó, marketing and PR manager of dm informed us that every year more consumers decide to buy their dietary supplements in dm stores. Product quality and well-known brand names are also important product choice factors, besides the price. Mária Krämer, brand manager of Target Sales Group opines that Hungarian buyers are price-sensitive when it comes to purchasing dietary supplements, but price-value ratio matters more to them now than before. She called attention to the fact that tetesept products have the great advantage of having high active ingredient content for maximum efficiency.

Roland Kanyó
marketing and PR manager
dm

Mária Krämer
brand manager
Target Sales Group

Ms Krämer added that the most popular products are general immune system strengthening vitamins, magnesium and omega fatty acid products. Ms Kadlok talked to us about considerable sales results in the category of skin, hair and nail products, and the dynamic sales growth in the category of natural ‘sedatives’. Mr Kanyó called our attention to the strong seasonality of various OTC product sales. In the winter months vitamins and immune system strengthening products sell well, while in the spring demand increases for weight loss products. Mr Hidvégi revealed that the biggest OTC category is still general pain relief products for adults – it is twice as big as the second biggest segment, cold remedies; nasal congestion remedies are third in the ranking.

Ms Dezse’s experience is that consumers make the majority of their OTC purchases in pharmacies. She believes that trusted brands such as Béres pay special attention to product quality and consumers know this. Shoppers want and reward complex products with more components. For instance the company’s Actival multivitamin product has come out with increased magnesium content and it is very successful. The company has introduced Béres Vitamin C dietary supplement for drugstores, hyper- and supermarkets – these products contain 1000mg of vitamin C, hibiscus extract and 100 NE vitamin D.The company’s flagship product is Béres Drops: last year pharmacies started selling the product’s Béres Drops With Extra Vitamin C version with great success.

Ms Krämer spoke to Trade magazin about the new tetesept product, which appeared on the shelves of dm stores in July: Acute Heartburn chewable tablets work fast and give relief to consumers suffering from hyperacidity. Pregnant women can also take the tablet. The company’s new cold remedies will hit the shops in the autumn. Mr Hidvégi explained to our magazine that in the case of OTC products education primarily means communication towards pharmacists: if they have a positive opinion about an OTC product, consumers will believe in its efficiency. GSK Consumer Healthcare conducted a comprehensive survey in the last six months, and the results of this will be used in the company’s new visibility strategy.

Dm’s new product portfolio, Das gesunde plus keeps expanding; shoppers like these products because of their excellent price-value ratio. The drugstore chain makes great efforts to educate both shoppers and workers about what various OTC products can do: the more dm staff know about a product, the bigger the help they can give to shoppers in-store – reckons Mr Kanyó. Ms Kadlok informed that pregnancy vitamin Elevit is now available in other retail channels too, not just in pharmacies. Vitamin D containing 4000 NE is also available, and the combination of vitamins C and D are also popular. In Rossmann’s Kentuar magazine educative articles are published about OTC products. //