Table of Contents
Overview
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- What you need to know
- Products covered in this Report
Executive Summary
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- A market under threat
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- Figure 1: Best- and worst-case forecast of UK value sales of laundry detergents, 2011-21
- Liquid formulas dominate NPD
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- Figure 2: New product launches in the automatic detergents sub-category, % share by format type, January 2013-August 2016
- Leading companies could be stifling innovation
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- Figure 3: New product launches in the UK laundry detergents category, % by ultimate company (top seven and other), 2015
- Women have more laundry responsibilities than men
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- Figure 4: Any responsibility for buying laundry detergents or doing the laundry, by gender, August 2016
- Powder and liquid fight it out for category dominance
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- Figure 5: Frequency of using laundry detergents, August 2016
- Overall understanding of the laundry sector is high…
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- Figure 6: Behaviours towards doing the laundry, August 2016
- …but there is confusion between bio vs non-bio
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- Figure 7: Attitudes towards laundry detergents, August 2016
- Liquids and gels enjoy positive associations
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- Figure 8: Correspondence analysis – Laundry detergents, August 2016
- Innovations that add value are most likely to be of interest
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- Figure 9: Interest in innovation for laundry detergents, August 2016
- What we think
Issues and Insights
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- A category in need of disruption
- The facts
- The implications
- Raising ethical interests
- The facts
- The implications
- Building a USP can translate into sales
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
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- A market in decline
- The biological battle
- Amazon initiatives boost online sales
- Growth in population and households unlikely to be beneficial for sales
Market Size and Forecast
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- Discounting and competitive pricing erode value sales
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- Figure 10: UK retail value sales and forecast of laundry detergents, at current and constant prices, 2011-21
- Value sales look likely to fall further
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- Figure 11: Best- and worst-case forecast of UK value sales of laundry detergents, 2011-21
- The impact of the EU referendum vote
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- Figure 12: Alternative market scenarios for the post-Brexit laundry detergents market, at current prices, 2016-21
- Figure 13: Detailed Post-Brexit scenarios for the laundry detergents market, at current prices, 2016-21
- A market already defined by savvy shopping
Segment Performance
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- Biological detergents struggle
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- Figure 14: UK retail value sales of laundry detergents, by formulation, years ending June, 2015 and 2016
- Higher cost of liquid-based formulas insulates sales
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- Figure 15: UK retail value sales of laundry detergents, by format, years ending June, 2015 and 2016
Channels to Market
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- Heavy discounting and special offers send market into decline
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- Figure 16: UK retail value sales of laundry detergents, by outlet type, 2014-16
- Amazon initiatives boost online sales
Market Drivers
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- Declining birth rate detrimental to future sales
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- Figure 17: Trends in the age structure of the UK population, 2011-21
- Figure 18: Attitudes towards babies’ and children’s BPC products, by age of child, December 2015
- Raising the safety profile of capsule detergents
- Average household spend decreases
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- Figure 19: UK households, by size, 2011-21
- Discounters continue to prove popular
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- Figure 20: Frequency of shopping at discounters, June 2016
- The impact of home working
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- Figure 21: UK workers, by main place of work, January to March 2015
- Washing machine ownership almost universal
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- Figure 22: Ownership of laundry appliances, January 2015 and February 2016
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- Figure 23: Interest in innovation for washers and dryers, February 2016
- The LOHAS effect
Key Players – What You Need to Know
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- Leading brands sit pretty
- Health and environmental positioning can boost sales
- Capsule NPD on the decline
- Unilever overhauls advertising approach
Market Share
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- Persil and Ariel retain market dominance
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- Figure 24: Brands’ value shares in laundry detergents, years ending August 2015 and 2016
- A focus on health and the environment can buck downward trends
- Own-label threatened by growth of discount grocers
Launch Activity and Innovation
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- Capsules fall from favour
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- Figure 25: New product launches in the automatic detergents sub-category, % share by format type, January 2013-August 2016
- Figure 26: Examples of NPD for super-concentrated automatic liquid detergents, 2015-16
- Updates outperform true innovation…
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- Figure 27: New product launches in the laundry detergents category, % by launch type, January 2013-August 2016
- Figure 28: Examples of repackaged laundry detergents, 2016
- …as leading companies dominate launch activity
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- Figure 29: New product launches in the UK laundry detergents category, % by ultimate company (based on top 10 for 2015) and other, January 2013-August 2016
- Figure 30: New product launches in the UK laundry detergents category, branded vs own-label, January 2013-August 2016
- Environmental claims almost universal
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- Figure 31: Leading claims in the laundry detergents category, based on top claims for 2015, January 2015-August 2016
- A touch of fragrance
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- Figure 32: New liquid detergent launches under the Surf (Unilever) brand, 2015-16
Advertising and Marketing Activity
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- Adspend falls
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- Figure 33: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on laundry detergents*, January 2013-August 2016
- Procter & Gamble tops advertising spend
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- Figure 34: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on laundry detergents*, by top advertisers for 2015, January 2014-August 2016
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- Figure 35: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on laundry detergents*, by media type, January 2013-August 2016
- Unilever ups the advertising ante
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- Figure 36: ZipJet app featuring Persil service, 2016
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
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- Women show greater engagement
- Bringing more men into the category
- Liquid increasingly challenges powder formats
- Biological/non-biological understanding is low
- Brand loyalty could be a double-edged sword
- Added value propositions most popular
Responsibility for Buying and Using Laundry Detergents
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- Women take on the main responsibility for buying laundry detergents…
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- Figure 37: Responsibility for buying laundry detergents, by gender, August 2016
- …and also take on the main responsibility for doing the laundry
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- Figure 38: Responsibility for doing the laundry, by gender, August 2016
Frequency of Using Laundry Detergents
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- Powder and liquid are the two most frequently used formats
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- Figure 39: Frequency of using laundry detergents, August 2016
- Men stick to powder
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- Figure 40: Frequency of using powder and liquid/gel detergents, by gender, August 2016
- Young people are less experimental
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- Figure 41: Frequency of using powder and liquid/gel detergents, by age, August 2016
- Three quarters use multiple detergent formats
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- Figure 42: Repertoire of any detergents used, August 2016
Behaviours towards Doing the Laundry
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- Overall understanding of the laundry sector is high
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- Figure 43: Behaviours towards doing the laundry, August 2016
- Boosting men’s engagement
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- Figure 44: Behaviours towards doing the laundry (‘yes’ responses only), by gender, August 2016
- Innovation opportunities for young men
- Young adults tend to have set washing routines…
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- Figure 45: Behaviours towards doing the laundry (‘yes’ responses only), by age, August 2016
- …as well as washing new clothes before using them
Attitudes towards Laundry Detergents
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- To bio or not to bio?
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- Figure 46: Attitudes towards laundry detergents, August 2016
- Brand loyalty a double-edged sword
- Environmentally-friendly products not trusted to perform
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- Figure 47: Attitudes towards laundry detergents (‘agree’ responses only), by age, August 2016
Perceptions of Laundry Detergent Formats
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- Liquids and gels enjoy positive associations
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- Figure 48: Correspondence analysis – laundry detergents, August 2016
- Powder benefits from cheaper profile
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- Figure 49: Perceptions of laundry detergent formats, August 2016
Interest in Innovation
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- Added value innovations garner most interest
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- Figure 50: Interest in innovation for laundry detergents, August 2016
- A focus on scent
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
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- Abbreviations
- Consumer research methodology
- Forecast methodology
- Correspondence analysis methodology
Appendix – Key Players
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- Figure 51: New product launches in the laundry detergents category, by sub-category, January 2013-August 2016
- Figure 52: NPD index for super/ultra-concentrated automatic liquid detergents, January 2013-August 2016
- Figure 53: Reformulated, repackaged or relaunched laundry detergent launches, by top 6 ultimate companies and other, 2015
- Figure 54: Total above-the line, online display and direct mail advertising expenditure on laundry detergents*, with NPD index, January 2013-August 2016
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