Haleon Plc (NYSE: HLN) is increasing its presence in the U.S. consumer healthcare market by securing prime shelf placement at major retailers, according to a report by Reuters. The company, which spun off from GSK Plc (NYSE: GSK) in 2022, is utilizing a strategy focused on eye-level positioning to compete against rivals like Procter & Gamble (NYSE: P&G) and Colgate-Palmolive.
To secure this placement, Haleon negotiates enhanced commercial terms and provides sales forecasts to retail partners. The company’s U.S. Chief Customer Officer, Joe Sta-Romana, stated that consumer research guided the strategy, indicating shoppers search for brand names first and expect premium offerings directly above current product lineups. Haleon’s U.S. sales data helped convince retail managers to adopt these shelf resets.
The strategy targets Haleon’s portfolio of oral care products, including Sensodyne, Aquafresh, and Polident, as well as its Centrum vitamins. Haleon is leveraging this visibility to capture demand from value-focused shoppers. Citing data from NielsenIQ, Reuters reports that Haleon’s portion of the U.S. consumer healthcare market climbed from 11.4% in February to 12% in August. In contrast, rival P&G saw its healthcare market share drop to 10.8% in July, while Colgate-Palmolive remained flat at under 5%.
This approach comes as consumers face elevated grocery costs. Haleon reported that over 21% of its second-quarter U.S. sales came from discounted items. Major retailers, such as Walmart Inc. (NYSE: WMT), are relying on price rollbacks to drive traffic; Walmart reported its slowest same-store sales growth in six years despite implementing price cuts on 11,000 items.
Haleon shares were down 2.33% to $9.63 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
