ACNielsen and Chain Drug Review Host Drug Retailer Forum Event Focuses On Food Retailing in the Drug Channel.

Business Editors

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--February 8, 2001

ACNielsen U.S., an operating unit of ACNielsen Corporation (NYSE: ART), today co-hosted a drug retailer forum with Chain Drug Review newspaper. Participants, who included leaders from a number of drug retailers and their suppliers, heard the latest news about consumer and category trends impacting the drug channel, and discussed the challenges and opportunities surrounding food sales in chain drug stores.

Todd Hale, ACNielsen senior vice president, consumer analytics, discussed ways in which chain drug retailers can utilize food categories to achieve their strategic goals. He highlighted the demographic groups that are most important to the drug channel and then showed how sales of different food categories vary by group. "Strategies for managing food categories within chain drug stores differ by retailer," he said. "Chain drug retailers need to choose food categories wisely, making sure that they are in synch with their overall strategy, whether that's to increase shopping frequency among current customers, attract new shoppers or increase average spending per trip."

David Pinto, editor of Chain Drug Review, who provided an overview of the chain drug industry at the start of the program, emphasized that, while food is one of the fastest-growing chain drug categories, it is nowhere near to realizing its full potential. "Chain drug retailers don't yet fully understand the power of food in a chain drug store setting," he said.

The balance of the day was spent in an open forum, with participants discussing their experiences and generating ideas on how to best utilize food categories in the drug channel.

ACNielsen president Tim Callahan, who kicked off the event, said that while food retailing in the drug trade class was the main theme of the day, there was an equally important sub-text. "Collaboration is the key to success in category management," he said. "Information tools can play a vital role in that process, but it is also crucial for retailers and manufacturers to spend time together putting their issues, questions and ideas on the table. Fostering that dialog and partnership is what this forum is all about. We plan to host similar forums for the players in other channels of trade as well."

ACNielsen, with 1999 revenue of $1.5 billion, is the world's leading market research firm, offering measurement and analysis of marketplace dynamics, consumer attitudes and behavior and new and traditional media in more than 100 countries. Clients include leading consumer product manufacturers, retailers and service firms, media and entertainment companies and the Internet community.

Note to Editors: Look for this press release and other ACNielsen news on the Internet at http://acnielsen.com/us.