Indians in search of wonder wash push up detergent, machine sales

Holi, celebrated earlier this week, reminds one of Surf Excel’s “Daag Acche Hain” ad campaign created for the festival of colours. The tag line, delivering a deeper message that it is okay to get dirty if you are doing good, has built a strong emotional resonance for the detergent brand with consumers. Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL), the maker of Surf Excel, have said that Surf Excel crossed $1 billion dollar in annual sales in 2022. Announcing the milestone achieved by the brand, Deepak Subramanian, executive director, home care at HUL, said that other than its superior bars, the brand has launched special products for washing machines, detergent liquids, liquid capsules and stain removing sprays, “thereby reshaping the market through premiumisation.”

Premiumisation in the fabric care category is not limited to washing powders. It extends to appliances with Indians buying

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superior and costlier washing machines and steam irons instead of dry irons to take care of their clothes.

HUL says it has built a nearly Rs 2,000 crore business on laundry liquids (including detergents and fabric conditioners) between 2015 and 2022. P&G India that makes Tide and Ariel also admits that the premium or the more expensive laundry products are seeing robust growth. Sharat Verma, chief marketing officer and vice president, fabric care, at P&G India, talks of the growth potential in premium laundry products. “The penetration of liquid detergents in India is still in high single digits, while in the developed markets we see this closer to 70%. We expect this number to grow exponentially as machine penetration grows,” he says.

Though people started buying more expensive laundry products a few years ago, covid-led lockdowns fast-tracked the trend. For starters, most consumers were stuck at home without any house help, managing daily chores on their own. Secondly, the fear of infection made them alert to higher standards of hygiene and cleanliness.

Covid accelerated the need for convenience driving increased adoption of washing machines. Fumiyasu Fujimori, managing director, Panasonic Marketing India, says there has been a drastic change in consumer behaviour in the past couple of years. Other than comfort, convenience, and a connected experience, in washing machines more than 70% of consumers are looking for enhanced hygiene-specific features. Post pandemic, the demand for fully automatic, premium machines has gone up and that for semi-automatic machines has declined, he says. The demand seems also to be driven by increased spending on clothes and the need to take good care of them.

P&G’s Verma believes that as more men and women enter the workforce, consumers’ laundry baskets and wardrobes are evolving across garment types, fabrics, colours and so on. “As people step out to work and as household incomes rise, it creates conditions for up-tiering (moving to premium products). More variation of clothes in the wash basket, combined with less time for laundry, creates a preference for more efficient detergents,” Verma says.

There is also an evolution in the washing habits and standards of what is clean. Little surprise that six months ago, Whirlpool launched a range of front-load machines which use ozone technology to make lightly worn clothes feel fresh without the need to wash them. Ozone sanitizes and removes odour from clothes without the use of detergent and water, ensuring that cherished clothes last longer, says Kumar Gaurav Singh, vice president marketing, Whirlpool India Ltd.

Purchase of better washing machines is influenced by multiple factors: the changing lifestyles of consumers, higher disposable incomes and greater focus on grooming and style. Also, the increasing number of women in the workforce has contributed significantly to the demand for efficient devices that can ensure the safety of clothes. HUL agrees that women participation in the workforce is making new vectors in fabric care more important. “Hence, we are finding both the number of products and spends on fabric care going up,” its spokesperson says.

P&G’s Verma explains that in the context of the Indian laundry category, it is important to look at premiumization through the lens of available data. The laundry category has 99% penetration in over 320 million households. However, nearly 65% consumers continue to use more mass-market laundry solutions. This presents a significant opportunity for growth in the category and for consumers to move up to more premium products.

POST PANDEMIC, THE DEMAND FOR FULLY AUTOMATIC, PREMIUM MACHINES HAS GONE UP AND THAT FOR SEMIAUTOMATIC MACHINES HAS DECLINED