Put Some Sparkle in Sales
We all want to live in a clean house, and so household cleaners are something almost all of us choose to buy. In fact, data from Chicago-based Information Resource Inc.’s (IRI) National Consumer Panel indicate that 99.6 percent of households buy home cleaning products, with the average consumer spending $231 a year on them. Yet, perhaps not surprisingly, it’s a category that doesn’t elicit much excitement from shoppers.
Steve Johnson, executive vice president and client insights leader at IRI, in a blog post about the $23.3 billion category, describes it as outright “flat.” But even with zero market growth, there is still room for optimism.
“Despite stagnant sales, the home cleaning products industry contains numerous significant pockets for growth, particularly within private label and branded innovation,” Johnson writes, adding that macro-trends capable of driving growth are “simplicity, wellness and excitement.” And luckily for retailers, those are all trends rife with opportunity for store brands.
Make it easy
Will household cleaning ever be fun? Probably not. But it can be easier, and for today’s time-strapped consumers, easy is what counts.
“It’s more about quick, on-the-spot ad hoc cleaning versus the all day, top-to-bottom cleaning,” says John Owen, senior household analyst for global market research firm Mintel and author of Mintel’s recently published “Household Surface Cleaners — US” and “Household Care Packaging Trends — US” reports.
“Everyone is pressed for time, and consumers want the product they choose to work quickly and effectively,” says Sarah Capucini, channel marketing and communications manager at Barberton, Ohio-based Malco Products Inc., which manufactures a range of consumer cleaning products that are available for private labeling.
So how could store brands offer more convenience in this category? By offering the right formats and packaging.
Disposable wipes, arguably the epitome of cleaning convenience, are experiencing strong sales within private label, with Johnson pointing to them as a private label growth driver (along with bleach, potpourri and fabric softener sheets) in his “Making ‘Cents’ of the Cleaning Products Shopper” presentation at the 2014 Cleaning Products Conference. “Drop and go” products that make laundry easy are also doing well.
But some name brands are going beyond those innovations to provide convenience and simplicity. For example, Windex Touch-Up Cleaner and Lysol Power & Free TapTop Multi-Purpose Cleaner are designed to sit on the countertop and dispense with a quick tap of a towel. Such packaging that emphasizes ease of use can potentially even gets kids interested in cleaning, or otherwise inspire users to make a point of cleaning a spot they may have ignored.
“In a category where there is no growth, creating a cleaning occasion is an interesting opportunity that in its own realm might increase consumption of products,” Owen says, adding that “there are opportunities” for retailers to introduce innovations that don’t just copy national brands.
Besides convenient product formats, the right store brand messaging and images make a difference too.
“Have more pronounced key claims and less clutter claims,” says a spokesperson for Brentwood, N.Y.-based U.S. Nonwovens Corp., a manufacturer of a variety of cleaning products, adding that retailers also should choose “bolder, cleaner graphics.”
Highlight anti-germ, safety attributes
Consumers aren’t interested only in cleaning products that are easier to use; they also want products that help protect their households from disease-causing germs. Disinfectant cleaners — the ones that usually feature the claim of killing 99.9 percent of viruses and bacteria — remain popular among consumers. According to Owen, sales for them tend to spike during a heavy flu season or events such as last year’s Ebola scare. The current measles outbreak could have consumers continuing to reach for such cleaning products.
Shoppers also are increasingly interested in cleaners with ingredients they can feel good about.
“People are concerned about germs, but they are also concerned about the chemicals that kill germs,” Owen says, citing Lysol Power & Free, which contains hydrogen peroxide instead of harsher bleach, as an example of a mainstream brand that has effectively tapped into the niche market for safer cleaners.
The interest in safer ingredients doesn’t just apply to chemical-based liquid cleaner products, but to cleaning aids such as gloves, too. According to Portland, Ore.-based Clean Ones, a household glove manufacturer, more retailers are looking to offer gloves that are free from BPA and also phthalates, a group of chemicals used to soften plastic that some experts believe can cause health issues.
Offer value
One reason for the household cleaning products sales slump is that many consumers are still trying economically to recover from the recession. Consumers want value, but value isn’t determined by price alone. One way retailers could provide value is through store brand cleaner products that offer multiple uses or benefits. In his blog post, Johnson notes that sales of all-purpose cleaners have grown, reaching $1.1 billion in 2014.
In addition to product versatility or price, quality is a key way for retailers to demonstrate store brand value, meaning that retailers need to make sure they are selling cleaners that really work.
“Consumers want their cleaners to clean as suggested on the label,” Capucini says. “They want assurance the cleaner safely works on the surface or area they are cleaning, and removes or cleans the dirt or stains they wish to remove.”
In addition to ensuring that store brand cleaners meet the quality of the top brands, retailers might want to do more to make their store brand cleaners stand out from the competition. Besides including more innovation in product packaging or format, Owen says many retailers could do a better job of differentiating their store brand cleaning products from store brand products in other categories.
“It’s been a little bit curious to me that private label doesn’t have as big a presence in the household cleaner market,” he says, “especially compared to categories such as food, where retailers have gone beyond creating just a close equivalent to the top national brands and have done things that become equity builders for the retailer itself.”
Another means to capture more store brand sales would be to simply reduce some of the national competition in the household cleaner category.
“Some products do not need a [name] brand,” says the U.S. Nonwovens spokesperson. “The private label is a category solution on its own.”
Do highlight specific germ-killing capabilities, as well as safer product formulations.
Don’t put the store brand cleaner in “me-too” packaging — make it stand out.
Do consider new cleaner formats that enhance convenience.
Don’t skimp on quality; cleaning effectiveness is critical to consumers.