Old and new tricks in washing

Anna Siba, brand manager of Henkel Hungary’s detergents and household cleaners division is of the view that some consumers still wash their clothes driven by their old habits, but at the same time some kind of consumer consciousness seems to be developing.

Certain groups of consumers have returned to forgotten practices such as using laundry soap, washing soda and sodium percarbonate. Eszter Tőrös-Végh, brand manager of Spotless Hungary Kft. reckons that for women the number one goal is to get maximum results at minimum cost, they want efficient products with a good price/value ratio. In many households the size of the packaging unit is an important factor in shopping decisions. According to Zsolt Karancsi, corporate relations manager with P&G the majority of their buyers prefer larger packaging units, especially in the case of detergents where products bigger than 7kg are really popular. He added that they also see that the bigger part of the market is constituted by smaller sized products, which are easier to store and cost less per occasion. Consumers find it increasingly difficult to compare detergents based on packaging unit and price, therefore Henkel tries to educate people and urges them to look for information on the product about the number of portions it contains instead of using a kilogram-based comparison. Henkel’s experience is that the appearance of various detergent formats is characteristic of the market. A couple of years ago the powder format dominated but now gels are the most dynamically developing segment. Despite economic hardships consumers are looking for premium quality and convenience too. With its Tomi, Biopon Takarékos, Persil and Perwoll brands Henkel offers detergents in each segment of the market. Persil detergent tablets and Duo-caps gel capsules are both in line with the latest trends. P&G’s expectation for 2013 is that liquid detergents and capsule products will take over the bigger share of the market. They say that shoppers are motivated to choose these products by the facts that they dissolve at lower temperatures – so they reduce burden on the environment -, they are convenient and they offer excellent cleaning performance. The fabric softener market is also characterised by diverse scents and packaging units. Henkel’s Silan is available in 900 ml/1l, 1.8/2l and 2.8/3l versions. Silan Perfect Comfort and Silan Sensitive products are a superb choice in the basic category, while Aromatherapy, Perfume Essence and Royal belong to the premium category. Research by P&G revealed that women are looking for products that make clothes really soft and they like to choose from many scents. In the Lenor product range there are three scent families: in the basic there are five scents, in dual-aroma there are four, and the new dual PCM (perfume microcapsule) technology guarantees that scents last long. The market of laundry additives contracted drastically in the last couple of years. Still, Spotless Hungary’s market leading Dylon Colour Catcher® was able to increase sales. It is an innovative product that absorbs and traps loose dyes in the wash water, protecting clothes against colour bleeds. This way clothes of different colour can be washed together, saving time, water, energy and detergent. Spotless Hungary expects further sales growth in 2013 as more and more women understand that the value of clothes washed at the same time could be as much as HUF 100,000-150,000 and it is worth using a HUF 60-70 Colour Catcher to protect them. Dylon’s latest product on the market is Colour Expert Stain Remover spray.