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Personal Care
September/October 2003Up close and personal
You already know that the two must-haves of health and beauty are shaving products and deodorants. Here, we get up close and personal with the market leaders and find out what you need to know this year about these key grooming categories.
When Australian Convenience Store News looked at the health and beauty category last year, the core message was clear - stock premium brands and market leaders.The sharp end - razors & blades
Grocery channel data shows that Gillette is the clear market leader in both system blades and disposables. Overall, Gillette has 67.5% and Schick 17.6% of the blade market. These shares are likely to be higher in the convenience and route channels where the product range is smaller.
Share of system blades Share of disposable blades MAT to 23/06/2002 MAT to 22/06/2003 MAT to 23/06/2002 MAT to 22/06/2003 Gillette 78.3% 81.6% 42.1% 43.9% Schick 17.3% 15.0% 23.0% 23.7% Wilkinson 2.2% 1.7% 6.8% 6.3% Bic 0.0% 0.0% 24.6% 22.9% Private Label & Homebrand 2.2% 1.7% 3.4% 3.3% Source: AC NielsenIn your store you want the right range in the right place at the right price - to maximize the return from the space and effort allocated to the category. Of these three rights, range is the most important. Let's start with the core range for everybody.
Cameron Bruce, Senior Product Manager, Male Grooming with Gillette Australia, recommends a balance between different levels of technology, different price points and the popular SKUs.
"The core range should include handles and blades for the latest products for men and women, plus male and female disposables," says Cameron Bruce. "That would mean the Mach 3 Turbo and Venus in systems. Some customers always want the latest technology and try whatever is new, so we use high technology products to increase the size of the category."
The Turbo was launched with heavy advertising, so it has gained market share quickly. However, the previous Mach 3 still retains its market leader position.
National Grocery Market Shares for the Mach 3 Range
In grocery, disposables account for about 60% of volume and 40% of value. According to Virginia Black, Category Manager with Schick, disposables would account for a much higher share of the category in convenience stores - about 75% of volume and 55% of value.
"Systems and system blades are more a planned purchase, disposable blades are an unplanned purchase, and convenience retailers need a full range of disposables," says Virginia Black.
"Disposables are following the trends in system blades and the triple blade, Schick Extreme 3, is becoming industry standard. You also need to stock a range of twin blades, such as Schick Extra 2 and Gillette Blue 2. To cover all price points, include a lower-priced disposable such as Bic, although price is not as strong a driver in convenience."
Men and women are different
Men and women are different in more ways than you might expect. Firstly, research shows that more males shop for razors than women and 50% of the women who buy razors are buying for men. Of total grocery sales, 37% is female blades and 63% male. Men prefer to buy in the evening or on weekends. So, if your store is near a supermarket with restricted hours or in an area without a supermarket, why not consider a moveable display. It can sit next to the health and beauty shelves during the day, and come out at night and on weekends.Women's expectations from shaving products are quite different. Women tend to shave a large area in the shower, but not every day. They want smooth, silky skin but are not impressed with technology. Until Gillette launched its Venus range in 2001, women were offered a men's razor in a different colour. The new product doubled Gillette systems' share of female blades in one year. It generated a rapid trade-up from Sensor Excel and attracted customers from disposable blades and other shaving methods.
"In 2001, Gillette systems had 20% share of female blades," says Ellie Vince, Product Manager Female Grooming with Gillette Australia, "and by 2002 this had grown to over 40% with Sensor Excel down to 11% and Venus over 30%."
National Grocery Market Shares for Female Blades by Type & Brand Gillette Schick Other All Brands Disposable blades 14.9% 13.4% 16.4% 44.7% System blades
45.5%9.8% 0.0% 55.3% All types 60.4% 23.2% 16.4% 100.0% According to Gillette, the overall trend is away from disposables towards systems, falling from over 53% in 2001 to under 45% now. However, disposables are still the majority of the female blade market by volume, and sales of disposables increase significantly in summer.
For the summer season, Gillette has introduced Venus Passion which is pink - to tie in with this year's fashion colours. Although the main aim is to increase handle sales, the new variant should also lead to increased blade sales. Venus Passion uses the same blades as the original Venus system. The launch in August was aligned with the national breast cancer promotion, featuring a pink ribbon on the pack and making a contribution to research funding.
Last month, Schick launched its new female system, targeting the special skin care and shaving needs of women. Schick expect to attract customers away from other shaving methods as well as other blades.
Before and after Ö shave
In female pre-shave, Gillette's Satin Care has over 95% of the market and a new variant, Floral Passion, in pink of course, will be available for summer. The leading SKU is the sensitive skin variant. With the female market pretty much all to itself, Gillette turned its attention to its range of male toiletries. Its recent survey showed that rather than positioning the range based on fragrance, men (in particular, younger men) now place greater value on skin benefits for pre-shave products and post-shave gels and balms. Fragrance is still the main characteristic for splashes."Men want products that are moisturizing and suitable for sensitive skin," says Cameron Bruce. "Therefore, we launched a new range called Clean Skin that contains tea tree oil."
With over 50% market share in male pre-shave products, the sensitive skin variant is now the best seller in both foam and gel. This is also true for post-shave gels and balms.
MAT TO 23/06/2002 MAT TO 22/06/2003 Rexona 38.5% 31.7% Biersdorf/Nivea 20.2%
26.6%Gillette 18.8% 20.7% Cussons 12.7% 9.7% Other 9.9% 11.3% Nivea's share is growing, leveraging the high brand awareness already built in female skin care. Rexona's share will continue to fall now that its range of after-shaves has been discontinued. Palmolive's Mennem range has the lion's share of splashes with 66.5%.
Fresh is best
The experts agree. When it comes to deodorants, performance matters and other qualities such as fragrance are secondary."The number one criterion for a deodorant is efficacy - that is, protection against wetness and odour," says Nicole Stanners, Senior Brand Manager with Rexona.
National grocery market share data indicates very strong consumer preferences in this category. Convenience stores cannot carry the same range as supermarkets, but you can use the information from that channel to fine-tune the range to suit your store.
MAT 13 July 2003 Same period 2002 Rexona 28.0 27.8% Lynx 13.9 11.1% Impulse 7.0 7.4% Norsca 2.1 2.3% Total Unilever 57.5 56.3% Spray Fresh 4.6 5.0 Gillette 5.9% 6.5% Fa 4.3% 4.6% Other 27.7% 27.7% MEN'S
The top ten units this year are:
1 Rexona Men Aerosol 150g 2 Rexona Forces Aerosol 150g (up from no. 18 last year) 3 Lynx Africa Body Spray 100g 4 Rexona Sport Aerosol 150g* 5 Lynx Dimension Body Spray 100g (new this year) 6 Lynx Accelerate Body Spray 100g 7 Lynx Phoenix Body Spray100g 8 Lynx Java Body Spray 100g 9 Lynx Voodoo Body Spray 100g 10 Rexona Essentials for Men Aerosol 150g WOMEN'S
1 Rexona Sport Aerosol 150g* 2 Rexona Oxygen Aerosol 150g* 3 Rexona Classic Silk Aerosol 150g 4 Rexona Musk Aerosol 150g 5 Rexona Family Fresh Aerosol 150g 6 Rexona Hypo-Allergenic Low Fragrance Aerosol 150g 7 Dove Antiperspirant Roll-on 50ml 8 Impulse Illusions Body Spray 75g 9 Impulse Incense Body Spray 75g 10 Dove Antiperspirant Aerosol 100g *Rexona Sport and Oxygen are unisex SKUs.
Nearly 90% of total deodorant sales are aerosols, including body sprays.
MAT 13 July 2003Aerosol 38.1 Roll-on 22.6 Female Body Spray 9.7 Male Body Spray
19.2 Other 10.4 Source: AZTEC
However, some women prefer roll-ons and if you only have aerosol, these buyers will go elsewhere. You need to include a choice of applicator and carry male, female and unisex fragrances. From the Rexona range, Nicole Stanners recommends at least three aerosols - Rexona for Men (male), Rexona Classic Silk (female) or the new Cool White, and Rexona for Men Sport (unisex) - and two roll-ons - male and female.
The big excitement in this category this year is the expansion of the sweat protection range with two new products, body refreshers and foot deodorants.
Convenience is an important channel for the body refreshers. They are designed for people on the go who don't have time to shower but want to freshen up.
"We have had good feedback from sampling through driver-reviver and at bus and train stations," says Nicole Stanners.
"They are seen as ideal when you are hot and sticky on a car journey or between work and going out in the evening. The convenient place to display is the counter. The inner of 6-packs with information about the product sits well beside other counter products."
This is in keeping with a change in thinking about what the counter is for. Fresh breath strips have moved from the personal care to alongside chewing gum and other breath fresheners. Now, body refreshers next to the breath fresheners should generate impulse purchases. Unilever will be marketing its body refreshers with a high awareness campaign leading in to summer. Still in their infancy, Rexona Body Refreshers reached a share of total deodorants of 1% in 2002 and Unilever expect this to be around 2.5% in 2003.
The recently-launched Rexona for Feet is more suited to the deodorant section. With one in two people experiencing odour and wetness of the feet, this product is positioned and priced as an everyday deodorant -rather then medicinal - product.
Now you have the information you need to keep your customers feeling smooth and smelling sweet from head to toe.