No longer will the SymphonyIRI Group crunch data for the betterment of CPG companies everywhere, the company's president and CEO Andrew Appel told a packed conference room at the data aggregator's 2013 Summit. At least not as SymphonyIRI Group.

Sales of glucose meters were slightly up over the holidays, reaching $67.7 million for the 12 weeks ended Dec. 30 across U.S. multi-outlets, according to SymphonyIRI Group data.

A sick child leads to one certainty: parents in search of safe and effective symptom relievers that will allow their child — and subsequently, themselves — to get some rest.

With the path to purchase evolving, merchandising has increased across just more than half of CPG categories and declined in 47% of categories, SymphonyIRI Group reported.

One-in-5 consumers between the ages of 35 years and 54 years are choosing products due to a loyalty card discount, SymphonyIRI Group reported Wednesday as part of its fourth quarter 2012 MarketPulse survey.

This year is turning out to be a strong cough and cold season even though there are more flu shots being administered at retail, and those flu shots are a pretty good match to the popular strains this year — 99.4% of the H3N2 influenza viruses tested matched one of the three components of the 2012-2013 Northern Hemisphere influenza vaccine.

GlaxoSmithKline’s Alli is back. And while the brand is still slightly down versus year-ago sales — Alli posted a sales decline of 8.9% to $13.9 million across all channels for the 12 weeks ended Nov. 4, according to SymphonyIRI Group — overall, the category is trending up 15% in quarterly sales increases.

Boehringer Ingelheim recently expanded its popular laxative brand with Dulcolax Laxative Tablets for Women, specifically formulated with a “comfort-coating” to protect a woman’s stomach. 


As more Americans join the ranks of diabetics, the opportunity to target these consumers at the shelf becomes more crucial. 


Sales of facial anti-aging products continued to slip — perhaps as consumers continue to watch their spending or try to navigate the inundated anti-aging market — while sales of facial moisturizers experienced an uptick, according to data from SymphonyIRI Group.


Fall 2012 makeup was confident and sultry as lipstick made a comeback, at the expense of lip gloss, and eyes shouted sex appeal with dramatic eyeliner and bold brows. That’s the look that graced fashion runways, and judging by the numbers, consumers followed suit in the mass market.