Demand shifts towards general purpose cleaners

Consumer habits are changing in the product categories related to cleaning. Households buy less cleaners and cleaning utensils. Only innovative, environmentally friendly solutions and private labels achieved growth. – The economic crisis hit the market hard. Categories and segments with relevant innovations managed to performed better – says Tibor Veress, Unilever’s trade category manager. Private labels gained popularity and increased their market share. According to Nóra Szőcs, Unilever Magyarország Kft.’s category operations assistant manager, despite looking for cheaper solutions, consumers do not lose sight of product efficiency. They focus on a good price-value ratio and look for larger packaging units and “more at the same price” promotions (e.g. Cif scrubbing cream, 500 ml+250 ml for free). Cheap general-purpose cleaners are expanding, for instance washing up liquid sales surge because these products can be used to clean surfaces as well. Branded product manufacturers introduce new products in the weeks of big autumn and spring cleanings, using multipack and display promotions to generate attention. This autumn, Unilever launches the Domestos Baci-Stop toilet cleaner product group. One of its ingredients effectively kills E-coli and salmonella bacteria. Julianna Sárosi of Freudenberg Háztartási Cikkek Bt. (the distributor of Vileda) writes on Vileda’s website that people find better things to do than cleaning when they are at home. Therefore, companies try to make better cleaning utensils and cleaners to reduce time spent with housework. In the cleaning utensil segment, there was a decrease in value in the past year. Premium brands shrank, while cheaper products managed to improve volume sales. – Unfortunately, cleaning utensils are not the most important things in people’s lives. No wonder that consumers start saving on these – says Márta Buczkó, Vileda’s marketing manager. Vileda knows that “green” solutions attract an increasing number of consumers, who are willing to pay more for environmentally friendly solutions. They introduced their Naturals range that is made from recycled materials by using renewable energy sources. Another novelty from Vileda is the Spray Fresh toilet set, a unique product on the market: a toilet brush and hygienic odour neutralising spray that serves as air freshener and prevents incrustations.