Ulster Grocer

To find out about the household cleaning, laundry and paper products categories in Northern Ireland, Ulster Grocer talked to Michelle Dineen, Trading Manager for Household, Paperware and Non-food with Henderson Wholesale. As a buyer for 392 company-owned and independently owned stores, ranging in size from small convenience outlets to full-blown supermarkets, Michelle has to keep her finger on the pulse of the market trends and can provide an excellent insight into the product ranges that perform best in the independent retail sector.

“Within the independent retail sector, we are not witnessing some of the trends that the multiples are, especially for some of the more specialist products and eco-friendly brands,” said Michelle. “As their stores tend to be larger than even the biggest of our independent supermarkets, they are able to carry many more product types and variants within types that people pick up as part of their planned main shop, even if some of these purchases are on impulse when the products are seen on-shelf.

“However, in independent stores, purchases of household cleaning and laundry products are less planned. In our sector, these are very heavily promoted categories and people tend to buy products they see on offer. But, despite the level of promotional activity, household cleaning and laundry are very valuable categories for independents, offering much better margins than many other ambient products, even when on offer.”

LESS IS MORE

Asked about trends in laundry, Michelle said: ”We have noticed significant growth in larger pack sizes for powders, which consumers feel offer better value for money. Over the years, the manufacturers have been decreasing the size of the packs – you still get the same number of washes per pack, if you measure the dose, but the actual packs look a lot smaller and many consumers perceive they won’t get as much out of them as it says they should.

“Previously, the larger packs were not hugely in demand in the independent sector because consumers found them hard to store. However, as the current economic conditions have started to bite, demand for the large pack sizes has really grown, as they shout value. When they’re on offer, they provide a lot of washing for a good price,” explained Michelle.

“As with the UK market as a whole, there is also a distinct move towards gels and liqui-tabs, which provide a measured dose and usually work at lower temperatures. If it says ten washes on the pack, that’s what you get if you use one sachet per wash, whereas with powders, there is a tendency to over-dose. The move towards these new concentrated formats has been largely driven by the manufacturers for environmental reasons, as there is less packaging and less waste.

“When it comes to pre-wash products and stain removers, there is a healthy and stable market for them, especially from mums with kids who have a tendency to pick up hard-to-shift grass stains on their clothes. As for fabric conditioners, again the trend is towards concentrates. That’s good for independents, as the pack sizes are smaller, so they take up less shelf space and retailers can therefore offer a wider range to accommodate individual consumer preferences for different product attributes and fragrances.”

DIVERSITY OF CHOICE

Asked about the household cleaning products category and the huge diversity of different products for different job/parts of the house, Michelle continued: “As mentioned above, limitations on household storage can be a problem for some people, so they may tend towards multi-surface cleaners. However, a lot of houses also contain surfaces which require specialist cleaning products, such as granite worktops, wooden floors, enamel baths, and, of course, the manufacturers continue to develop new products for specific uses, like stainless steel cleaners. For some consumers, these products are a must if they want to protect certain surfaces, but many others buy them simply because they are swayed by the huge amount of marketing behind them.

“Indeed, marketing and advertising is fuelling consumer demand, so retailers need to stock as many product types and variants as they can, but independents don’t have elastic shelves and simply can’t carry as big a selection as, say, the multiples. Instead, they have to be selective. They will always carry a core range of top sellers, but for some of the specialised products or new product launches, these really only tend to be stocked when they’re on promotion.

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