Black is Back
CVS pantiliners compare to U by Kotex. The design compares as well with bold colors, both inside the pack and out.
It’s autumn and black is back–but not where you’d expect. CVS’s tampons to compare to U by Kotex bring the national brand a black-clad store brand competitor.
The global market for feminine hygiene products is set to reach $14.3 billion by 2015, according to a report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. (GIA).
Private labeled products have emerged triumphant during the recession, GIA writes in a press release, and are becoming increasingly attractive given their low price points and competitive quality levels. Value brands and private label brands are therefore offering stiff competition to premium brands.
In one recent attempt to cork the competition and refresh the category, national brand Kotex introduced its new U by Kotex line accompanied by a strong marketing campaign including a Ban the Bland design contest where women can go online and design their own carrying tin or pad.
CVS/Pharmacy, Woonsocket, RI, is the first drugstore Private Label has seen offer store brand competition with new products on shelf to compare to U by Kotex. The national brand’s package is black with bright colors for the design both on and inside the box. The CVS brand follows suit with a dark package base with bright swirls of color on the box. CVS doesn’t stop there; the retailer has packaged its liners in different neon colored wrappers with a swirl design. The liners themselves then carry the same swirl art. A package of regular Ultra Thin with wings liners costs $2.99 compared to $4.79 for U by Kotex. While the front of package is all in English the back copy describing the liners is also in Spanish.
CVS also offers the Ultra Thin with wings in an overnight or super variety, but at time of press Private Label had not seen tampons to compare to the national brand in the store or online. There are however, new CVS brand Pantiliners to compare to Always Dri-liners Pantiliners, at $5.89 for 64 to $8.39 for the same size national brand choice. The CVS brand liners are unscented and come in Extra Long and advertise a “super absorbent core” in a call out on the package. CVS also offers Protective Pantiliners with a very light absorbency for opposite needs.
At Target, Minneapolis, MN, the retailer promoted its Up & Up brand pantiliners to compare to Kotex Lightdays with a 25-cent coupon attached directly on pack of the regular unscented pantiliners. The Target brand cost $2.24 for a box of 64 liners after peeling off the coupon, while the national brand was priced at $2.89 for the same size. Target also offers the pantiliners in long and Up and Up brand maxi pads to compare to Always.
At one Pathmark, owned by The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co. Inc., Montvale, NJ, Private Label saw Pathmark use “compare and save” shelf tags to let shoppers know they save $1.24 with the Live Better store brand over the Always brand in the box and $1.14 over Always brand individually wrapped liners, though the Live Better package itself doesn’t make the comparison. Live Better unscented Pantiliners come in a package of 56 individually wrapped liners, which can be conveniently tossed into purses.
A Supervalu, Eden Prairie, MN, Acme store also offers pantiliners “to go” as mentioned in a call out on the package of its Equaline Personal Confidence scented pantiliners to compare to Carefree. The newer packaging for the Personal Confidence brand is updated with flower designs and a strip on the package to tell the strength of the product.
Walgreens Miconazole 1 claims to be a one-day treatment for any time of the day and compares to Monistat 1.
At Walmart, Bentonville, AK, the retailer offers up value as usual. Walmart Equate brand liners also compare to Carefree, which cost 99-cents more than the store brand. At a Walmart-owned Sam’s Club under the retailer’s new Simply Right brand for non-food products, shoppers can find ultra plus pads in a box of 168 for $23.48.
Tampons
There are several national brands store brand tampons compare to, although the choices vary from store to store.
At one Walgreens-owned Duane Reade, New York, NY, non-applicator tampons under the DR brand are shelved next to national brand O.B. and will appeal to shoppers concerned about waste and the environment. A pack of 40 tampons come in a such a tiny box its hard to believe there are so many inside. They are available in regular, super, and super plus absorbency and retail for two dollars less than the O.B. option. For shoppers not yet willing to give up the applicator, DR purse-friendly compact tampons come in a slightly larger box, and in half the count, but still offer a dollar of savings over the Tampax Pearl Compak tampons they are shelved next to. These offer an ultra-smooth plastic applicator, according to the front of the box, while the back of the box explains the absorbency range of the tampons in grams.
At Shoprite, Wakefern Food Corporation, Elizabeth, NJ, the tampons are pretty standard, but the retailer does use bright red shelf tags that read “buy Shoprite brand & save” to call attention to them. The Shoprite brand Tampons with a pearlescent plastic applicator compare to Tampax Pearl and retail for $2.49, while the same size Tampax Pearl box costs $4.29. The Tampax multipack was recently priced at $5.99 on sale, while Shoprite’s tampon multipack retails at $4.29.
At Foodtown Inc., Woodbridge, NJ, shoppers will find Topcare brand Tampons from Topco Associates, Skokie, IL. Topcare Tampons compare to Playtex brand and a box of 18 super plus absorbency deodorant tampons costs shoppers $3.29 compared to a box of Playtex fresh scent tampons on sale for $5.39. Topcare tampons also compare to national brands Tampax and Tampax Pearl.
Walgreens Treaments
Walgreens, Deerfiled, IL, allows shoppers to discreetly browse and shop for feminine care products on its website. Shoppers can even select to just see Walgreens store brands, which will then narrow the search down to 64 products available. Products recently were buy-one-get-one-50%-off and additionally the website was having a “Celebrate our anniversary sale!” with a coupon code for $10 off $40 in September.
Women browsing the website or the stores have the option of purchasing Walgreens Regular Absorbency Tampons with a biodegradable applicator or Perfection Tampons with a plastic applicator. Walgreens Feminine Wipes and Walgreens Certainty Bladder Protection Pads were also found.
Private label vaginal treatments are up almost 18% to over $74 million, with a 10% share in the category, for the latest 52 Weeks Ending Sept 4, 2011, according to SymphonyIRI Group, Chicago, IL, according to data from Supermarkets, Drugstores, and Mass Merchandise Outlets (excluding Walmart). Walgreens offers not only a discreet way to purchase them and save money at the same time, but a multitude of options in one, three, and seven-day treatments. There’s a Walgreens brand Miconazole 1 Vaginal Antifungal Combination Pack or Tioconazole 1 Vaginal Antifungal 1-Dose Treatment. The Miconazole 1 is a one-day treatment for “daytime-or-nighttime” and compares to Monistat 1 active ingredients. The combo pack to fight yeast infections includes a softgel insert with applicator and a tube of external cream and was on sale for $14.99 compared to the Monistat brand on sale for three dollars more.
There’s also a Walgreens Clotrimazole 3 Vaginal Cream 3-Day Antifungal Treatment, Walgreens Miconazole 7 Vaginal Antifungal 7-Day Vaginal Cream, and many more options to choose from, all from the privacy of shoppers’ homes.
