Do The Job Right

In the household cleaning products arena, think value, performance and innovation - then color it green.

You might call it a good news/bad news scenario within the household cleaners segment.

The bad news? The total household cleaners category is down, with data from The Nielsen Co., New York, showing 0.9 percent and 3.4 percent declines in dollar and unit sales, respectively, for the 52 weeks ending Aug. 7 (food, drug and mass merchandiser outlets, including Walmart).

The good news? Store brands fared much better, posting 11.2 percent and 2.0 percent respective dollar and unit gains during the same timeframe.

Rody Mehdizadeh, chief operating officer of Brentwood, N.Y.-based U.S. Nonwovens Corp. (USN), believes retailers could keep the store brand converts in the household cleaners segment (and win over new ones) by focusing on three critical areas: value, performance and innovation. Additionally, Mehdizadeh and others in the field agree that eco-friendly "green" products are here to stay.

Prioritize value

"Consumers are still looking for quality and value, (but) each retailer's shopper has different needs," says Rahul Mehrotra, vice president of marketing, retailer brands for Nice-Pak Products Inc., Orangeburg, N.Y. By understanding their customers' unique needs, retailers can create programs that deliver the right mix of value and price to create shopper loyalty, he adds. Mehdizadeh agrees.

"The economic climate continues to push value as the key driver," he says. "Retailers have successfully lowered costs on a cost-per-widget basis, (but) in order to bring further value to the consumer, retailers must look elsewhere. Some of our retail partners take advantage of USN's multi-matrix product assortment."

USN is seeing more cross-collaboration between buying departments to build truckloads with suppliers that offer a multi-matrix product assortment, Mehdizadeh notes. Building such truckloads reduces the number of transactions, yielding a 10 percent to 13 percent cost savings, as it requires fewer purchase orders and less administrative work and fuel consumption. It also eliminates the need for retailers to unload many partial truckloads and helps them add niche items to the mix at lower minimums.

Retailers "definitely need to show a price advantage to consumers, but price isn't everything," emphasizes Jennifer Fritz, product marketing manager for Clean Ones Corp., a Portland, Ore.-based supplier of private label and branded latex and latex-free household gloves. "High-value products will help (stores) gain brand equity. It's important that consumers are happy with the products they try."

But today's consumers are seeking out value more aggressively, notes Nice-Pak's Mehrotra.

"Retailer brand products are being seen as a good way to get high-quality product and good value," he says. "As the recession eases, we expect that, for retailers who invested in their programs, there will be a sustained business growth based on the incremental trial levels experienced during the recession."

But it's up to retailers to build on those incremental trial levels, he adds, to encourage a robust repeat business.

Fritz concurs.

"We all know that sales of private label items are up, and more people than ever are participating," she says. "This is a big opportunity for private label, so retailers need to have [store brand] products that will keep consumers re-purchasing and crossing over into additional products."

Performance seals a deal

Clean Ones has high standards when it comes to quality and consistency, Fritz says, two attributes important to consumers.

"Consumers can count on the product, and this helps them gain trust in the store brand," she says.

The consumer always notices performance and value, Mehdizadeh adds.

"We are working with some retailers where the focus is on being better-than-brand (BTB)," he notes. "The private label market today has a huge responsibility to [be] BTB. More consumers are beginning to flirt with private label, and it is our responsibility to give ' them something to come back for."

Fritz agrees. She describes one of Clean Ones' newer products, the Ultimate Latex-Free Household Glove, as "one step above premium — something the national brands don't have." It features an ultra-plush lining offering first-class comfort, feminine detailing and a posh-looking white coloration.

Innovate into opportunity

In addition to value and performance, today's consumers want innovation and intelligent design, Mehdizadeh says.

Speaking of innovation, USN was the first to market disinfecting store wipes that kill Athlete's Foot fungus and flu viruses. And Clean Ones' Cross Wave latex household gloves feature a widened gripping surface area and a distinctive look.

However, caution is vital when considering a new and different product launch, says Kevin Nicholas, contract manufacturing sales manager for Grand Rapids, Mich.-based contract manufacturer and blender Haviland Enterprises Inc.

"It's very important to do a category analysis of a new item you are considering before you jump in with both feet. Watch out for a product launch that might not take off," he warns.

Nicholas advises retailers to listen to their customers to get a sense of what they want. In the end, retailers might just want to take an already-great national brand item and make it better.

Green's staying power

In many consumers' eyes, eco-friendly household cleaners represent an important innovation area. In fact, Rockville, Md.-based Packaged Facts estimates the green cleaner market will grow at a compound annual rate of 27 percent, to top $1.6 billion, and more than double its share of the entire household and laundry cleaner market to reach 7 percent, by 2014. Growth will come from increased consumer adoption, mass-market brand extensions and overall average price increases, the market research firm says.

Private label household cleaners are competing successfully with national brands by offering elegant scent infusion, elegant packaging and high-end ingredients, Packaged Facts reports.

"In the last 10 to 15 years, there's been a lot of talk about green products, but they never really stuck until now because of price. Now it's here to stay," notes John Bereza, marketing manager for Haviland.

With more manufacturers and consumers making the switch, the formulations are becoming more affordable and available, he adds.

"More manufacturers are making earth-friendly chemicals. In California, for instance, it's mandatory, and that's happening in other states as well," Bereza adds. "Consumers are definitely more interested because the prices are there, and it's something they can do to help the environment as well."

Attention, please

Still, performance and innovation — offered at a value — might not be enough to attract the consumer's eye. Without on-target packaging, merchandising and promotion, consumers — who spend only three to five seconds making a buying decision at the shelf— are unlikely to even notice the product, Fritz declares. That's why Clean Ones displays the features and benefits in an easy-to-read format on product packaging.

Promotion via cross-merchandising is a great method in the household cleaning category, she adds, because so many products are used in conjunction with one another. Clean Ones offers a display program that has netted them great response from retailers, she says.

For its part, Nice-Pak invests in consumer research to create integrated marketing plans that build on the retailer's long-term strategy, Mehrotra says.

Innovation is important in marketing as well, Bereza adds. He believes in using social media to promote both retail establishments and their store brands.

It "is an easy and cheap way to announce things, but it means staying fresh and current," he says.

Do understand your customers' unique needs so you can create programs that deliver the right mix of value and price.

Don't pass up the chance to offer high-value products that will help your stores gain brand equity.

Do detail product features and benefits in an easy-to-read format on packaging and more.

Don't miss opportunities to cross-merchandise store brand household cleaners with each other, as well as with cleaning aids.