Safe And Effective Sell

To keep our homes looking and smelling clean, many of us rely on a small arsenal of products. And store brand household cleaning products have earned their place under the kitchen sink thanks to their effective and value-minded formulas.

However, dollar and unit sales have been on the decline — in both the total category level and on the store brand side (see the table, p. 76). Getting consumers excited again about cleaning and cleaning products will take a bit of elbow grease: Retailers will have to make sure they are keeping up with current trends in eco-mindedness, convenience and upgraded packaging.

Mean and green

Today, many consumers are making do with less, as in buying fewer household cleaning products and using less of them. Another small but resourceful group is getting creative and making their own products not only to save money, but also to clean like grandma did, with simple everyday ingredients.

According to "Green Cleaning Products in the U.S.," an August 2012 report from Packaged Facts, part of Rockville, Md.-based MarketResearch.com, the enthusiasm for "green" or eco-minded cleaning products has wound down. However, safe and effective products will remain sought after.

"The shift seems to be to natural ingredients," says Steve Berry, founder of Greenblendz, Auburn Hills, Mich., "and more specifically, the elimination of toxic ingredients."

And now green is making an even bigger impact on product packaging, he adds, noting the increase in packaging boasting post-consumer recycled content.

Another trend worth noting includes the all-important fragrance that is associated with cleaning products.

"The biggest trend we see occurring in the household cleaning market centers around the introduction of new and exciting fragrances such as Hawaiian, Polynesian and flowery scents," says Leslie Haston, national sales manager for Hauppauge, N.Y.-based US Nonwovens Corp."

Do

consider eliminating any toxic ingredients from store brand household cleaning products.

Don't

just go with stock packaging — invest in packaging that makes the store brand stand out.

Big compaction

Perhaps the most significant trend, however, is that small is getting big in certain household cleaning segments, particularly in laundry and automatic dishwashing detergent. The new crop of single-dose tablets or water-soluble packs is drawing customers in with their convenience and ease of use.

Proctor & Gamble's Cascade has cornered the market with various versions of its highly successful single-dose automatic dishwashing offerings. But many private label versions are not really on par yet.

"[Proctor & Gamble has] a locked patent on putting a liquid in with powder dishwashing detergent," says Matthew Henry, vice president of national sales for New York-based Eurotab United States. "Nobody can get around it, and everybody's bringing in the same thing from the same manufacturer and it's really a bad knock-off."

Coming up short on quality and performance can be extremely detrimental to the store brand program.

"Like most of the private label categories, meeting or exceeding national brand experience is the key to success," says David Deising, business director of retail wipes for Sheboygan, Wis.-based Rockline Industries. "This is particularly true where the performance, or lack of it, is obvious."

The laundry aisle, on the other hand, appears to be a more level playing field. National-brand-equivalent or better water-soluble laundry packs are becoming more prevalent. And compaction is showing up in other ways too. For example, bleach tablets are just beginning to appear on U.S. retail shelves — and smaller bottles of bleach are popping up, Henry notes.

Do

provide incentives for shoppers to compare the quality of store brand cleaning products to their national brand counterparts.

Wrap it up

Product and packaging format might be getting the bulk of the attention lately. But retailers should not lose sight of the importance of the overall packaging design and appeal of their household cleaning products.

"We are strong proponents of custom packaging to stand out on the shelf," Berry says. "Ninety percent of all private brands are in stock packaging that does nothing to differentiate on the shelf."

Jim Jordan, US Nonwovens' regional sales manager, notes that creative packaging is a must.

"Some retailers do it much better than others," he says. "What pops on the shelf? My opinion is color, packaging, fragrance, etc. Private label cannot be stagnant if it wants to survive in the household cleaning arena."

Bright color labeling has taken off, Haston notes, because of its ability to grab a shopper's attention.

"We recognized this trend several years ago and, as a result, implemented a strategy to enhance our packaging options to incorporate shrink sleeve technology," she explains.

Drive the quality message

Overall, the quality of today's store brand household cleaning products is very good, and retailers know it. But they need to make sure that their customers know it too.

"The biggest mistake we see is a lack of promotional support being put forward in key private label categories," Jordan says. "Today, many retailers are caught up in looking strictly at penny profit, not looking at overall margin dollars."

Harry Boutros, an owner of Medley, Fla.-based Cosmetics & Cleaners International, feels that retailers have a bevy of merchandising and promotion options at their disposal.

"[Retailers can] offer similar-priced store brand products in the same category with a buy-one/ get-one special," he says. "[For example,] buy a window cleaner and have the opportunity to get a countertop cleaner for free."

Even accepting national brand coupons for store brands or offering a free store brand product with the purchase of the national brand equivalent could sway consumers to compare the quality — and make the switch to private label in the future, he adds.

And thoughtful product placement throughout the store will get shoppers to think about cleaning more often.

Side-wing displays, end cap displays and cross-couponing across key household categories, Haston says, would help retailers get the word out to even the casual shopper.

Don't

miss the opportunity to partner with key suppliers for true product and packaging innovation.