Adult Briefs Disappearing From Store Shelves

[iCrinkle2]

So I'm not sure if it's just me or has anyone else noticed

this in stores. But when you walk down the incontinence isle

Shelves seem be filled with adult protective underwear then

adult diapers these days. With baby boomers getting older and

With todays world I kinda understand why, but for me I just can't seem

to trust Adult Pull Ups and would rather see adult diapers

still on the shelves then filled with these protective underwear.

Target I've noticed has a whole entire Isle dedicated to incontinence

Products which is great but I had a hard time finding diapers.

Guess this is why I shop online anyways, But if I had ran out and needed

some diapers at a moments notice then I feel I might be out of luck at

most retail stores these days. Anyone else notice this.

-Thanks

iCrinkle2

[DailyDi]

My store is almost all pull-ups now except for store brand diapers, and usually just in medium

[aleyxsis]

I have noticed this big time !! you have to order online or go to a medical store to find anything like a diaper which i would rather wear than a pull up

[beallucanb]

Those store diapers are junk, most of them are for the folks that have small accidents and change right away I do not think they are intended for all day use.

[Rockies Fan in Diapers]

icrinkle,

Very good observation that you made, & no you aren't imaging things. Adult briefs do seem to be disappearing off of store shelves. Kind of off topic, but not totally, but I was wondering if xpmedical.com accepts money orders as payment for their products?

[Baby Brian]

Yup, I've seen it too. Even the low end Depends Diapers (oops I mean "briefs") are disappearing from most shelves too. If I ran out I'd be in real doo-doo. I've started keeping an extra bag of diapers on hand that I try not to touch. This way if I forget to order more on time or have shipping delays I won't be in trouble.

[timmyc]

adult briefs were too good for their own good. with crappy pull ups, people change sooner and they end up selling a whole lot more of them. They take the choice away, and people not smart enough to search online end up buying a lot more of an inferior product.

[Kreefun]

If I ran out I'd be in real doo-doo.

*cough*

[Bettypooh]

adult briefs were too good for their own good. with crappy pull ups, people change sooner and they end up selling a whole lot more of them. They take the choice away, and people not smart enough to search online end up buying a lot more of an inferior product.

Entirely possible And considering how "marketing" has become as much psychology as actually working the numbers such a thing could well be by intent I have noticed that websites aimed for the newly incontinent usually cover the topic of how weak cheap disposable diapers of all kinds are early on, usually listing cheaper sources for the good ones Those with a regular need will quickly learn that regular retailers are for emergencies only- the good stuff is only at Medical Supply houses and online most of the time, and a lot cheaper there at all times Which makes me wonder just how much of the normal retail market we are, as many of us do buy at local retailers on a regular basis

Bettypooh

[stork]

Seems quite the opposite here. The walgreens down the street from where I lived used to sell nothing but the pull on kind. Then I randomly checked something like 8 months later and now they carry 2 different types of the tape-on diaper kind.

[dl_ashlee]

I can't even find the regular depends plastic backed on store shelves these days. At most I will find the crappy store brand "tape" on cloth backed briefs. Which actually might be worse than some of the pullups. So nope you are certainly not imagining things.

[rusty pins]

It's all about marketing and what a manufacturer can sell more of. The diapers or "Briefs" were actually marketed more towards elderly or those who are incontinent. You used to just see a few Depends commercials with June Alyison talking about her mother and holding up a package of Depends! Even back then I'm sure no one thought about making pull on disposable underwear for every day people even if the technology had been there.

I'm sure people realize the market for actual old people or incontinent people is somewhat small in the overall population. Even then, those with incontinence have already been buying their products for years, probably mail order with the exception once in a while of "running out" and needing to pick up a package at the local store.

Over the past 8 or 10 years these adult disposable diaper companies have been working very hard to create a new market for their products, a market aimed at normal people, young and middle aged, not just the old people. More people they can get to use their company's product leads to more sales and ultimatly more profits for that company! First they had to change the perception about people who wet themselves and the reasons why they do it. To do that, they created a whole new bunch of reasons that make sense why a person might wet their pants. Now it's not because of age or the inability to control their bladder or bowels. That would make people thing they are old, decrepit and have no choice but to wear diapers because they no longer have any control of themselves! The new reason is because sometimes you may stress your body by excersizing and you may leak a little. Just the fact that excersize is a reason is a good ploy in itself! Rather than people (potential customers) feeling like they are old and infirm with no control of their bladder, it makes them feel that they are young and strong enough to excersize and do some strenuous things! See where they are going?

Another marketing ploy is to make people feel that, "It's not your fault! It happens to everyone!" They show someone laughing really hard and having an accident (or the look on their face implys an accident), yet the person just goes on with their conversation as if nothing happened and it's just a normal thing to wet their pants! Now that they have people contitioned to understand that it's OK to sometimes have an accident when you excersize or laugh really hard and wet your pants, they have taken it to the next step!

Now that people feel somewhat comfortable that "It's ok to sometimes wet your pants and everyone does it now and then", they (manufacturers) are convincing you to wear their product all the time just in case you might need to. After all, it's just pull on underwear, similar to what most people already wear! Before, they implyed wearing their product was strictly because you might have accidental leakage when you excercized or laughed really hard, but it was still just an accident, not something you purpously did! Now they have taken it to the next level by wanting you to wear their product daily in case you are stuck in a traffic jam and have to pee, or you don't make it home in time for one reason or another! This implies without them comming out and actually saying it that if you are in one of those situations, just go ahead and wet your pants because you are covered! It's not really an accident anymore, it's you taking advantage of having an absorbent underpant on and just purposly peeing yourself! They imply that there is nothing wrong at all with doing it!

Naturally, all these people are being conditioned in all these situations to believe that there is nothing wrong with what they are doing. These "friendly" manufacturers are "helping you out" by providing you with regular underpants to wear every day that have just been improved to absorbe leakage and help when you may wet yourself. The furthest thing from the minds of marketing people are to associate these absorbent disposable pull on underwear with anything resembling a diaper! Underpants are fine! Almost everyone wears them no matter if they are washable or dispoable! Diapers are still taboo! Adults don't wear diapers unless they are incontinent or just old! Everyone wears pull on underpants!

That brings us to the reason why adult diapers are vanishing from store shelves! Aside from AB/DL, they have a much much more limited market as opposed to the much newer market that has been "manufacturerd and created" specifically for everyday people, not just the old and incontinent! Just like man made pearls are called "cultured perls", you might actually call the market for the pull on disposable underwear "Cultured". Yes, there will probably come a time with all the online shopping and specialty stores that the only place you can still get actual adult tape on diapers is through mail order or a specialty store! Your local grocery and drug store will probably only stock the disposable underpants!

[d_drew12]

Yep, it's true. They're a disappearing act! I don't understand it either as to why anyone would want a pull-up but go to a nursing home and you may understand why. Easy to pull on and off, no adjusting, and cheap. Seniors, such as those in nursing homes, typically aren't drinking a 44oz big gulp or slamming 32oz of coffee during a meal. They don't really drink too much which means, not peeing too much either. My grandparents share a hamburger at a restaurant and are satisfied because they're not very active and don't need to consume much to keep there body functioning. They also may not finish one glass of water at the table where as the waiter has already brought me 3 refills. That's why those crappy briefs to us, are probably just enough for them. Also, a lot of the pull-ups are advertised as LIGHT protection, for those small accidents and such. They're not for the guy unloading his big gulp he just drank an hour earlier into. A lot of these pull-ups are marketed to women in place of pads it seems as if these are better than a bulky pad. Now it's a pad and underwear in one so no more underwear. Also, they seem to not really be "diapers" in peoples minds anymore either the way they're marketed. Tape tab briefs are "diapers" and always will be. The markets trend towards what sells and obviously people keep buying the pull-ups so they get the spot on the shelf.

[iCrinkle2]

Cool thats what I thought, so it isn't just me

[WallaWalla]

It makes sense really. There is going to be a bigger retail market for things like pull-ups because the majority of people don't have incontinence problems severe enough to warrant the use of briefs. Usually those who opt for briefs are either much older or dealing with a serious medical condition, so they are going to go through more specialized venues when selecting products.

[wetatnight]

I have noticed the adult diapers disapearing from the store shelves in favor of the adult pull ups too.

but the adult pull up's don't work well enough for my needs.

so I order my diapers online.

[AbriForm]

Like I've said in other threads, it's also an insurance thing. Medical supply stores stock adult diapers more because they're more likely to deal with institutional patients. Medicare only covers diapers if you are hospitalized or in a nursing home. That's why you see X-Plus diapers cost so much and are so niche. The taxpayer is usually the one paying 50% markup for 25% more thickness.

In Europe, adult diapers are largely covered under health care insurance, whereas in the United States they are not. Medicare doesn't cover diapers, and tries to sell people on catheters instead.

As such, stores here don't get to sell top-shelf stuff as insurance payable. So they don't sell as much.

Solution: Get Medicare to cover diapers for people at home, and then you'll see Euro-style Attends and many more options that are off-limits to us right now.

P.S. This is slowly changing, as many Medicare Part C insurance add-ons are starting to cover diapers. Slowly.

[KittenAB]

Bettypooh summed up most of it nicely. I would add that in my area even the wannabe diapers are fading, people here buy almost everything online now and if you can get something in bulk at a cheaper price that's just smart. The odd thing is that almost everyone who needs (incontinent) that I have talked to hate the clothlike backing, and despise the pull up (undwearlike) ones so much that they only buy them when needed. Many stores here have taken to donating a lot of them to the shelters because they simply cannot sell them. Mine would be covered by insurance, but due to my being extremely picky about the look (they HAVE to be cute), fit, and quality I buy them myself anyway. Strangely the ABUniverse brand is the best all around and it's in my state to. There is one store that sells the plastic backed Attends still, in my area, and they are always selling out because they are a small pharmacy in the International District (China town).