Some years ago, Unilever learned a lesson about selling cleaning products to Italians. The company knew that Italian women wash their kitchen and bathroom floors about four times as often as American women do and so, not surprisingly, buy more cleaning supplies. Unilever launched Cif spray cleaner in Italy as a one-swab solution, suitable for all sorts of cleaning tasks.
Unilever failed to clean up. When they asked why sales of Cif were so bad among Italians, Unilever learned that Italian women found it hard to believe a spray cleaner could truly handle, say, kitchen grease. Unilever had failed to note that 72% of Italians own at least eight different cleaning products. Based on what they learned, Unilever changed direction, introducing a set of products, each designed to solve a particular cleaning problem in the home.
That was then and in Italy. But what about now and in other parts of the world? A March 2009 study by Information Resources, Inc. (IRI) found that American consumers are currently looking for multi-solution products. One customer motivation for multi-solution purchases is so whatever is purchased will be used to full advantage. About 55% of the 1,067 respondents to the IRI survey said they want their cleaning products and personal care products to last longer. Another motivation is to cut down on the expenses of going from store to store. Shoppers now are placing a high importance on price. They are willing to travel a bit more for savings. But once they get to a store, they prefer to do lots of their shopping right there. For the retailer who wants to control inventory costs by limiting the number of different products carried, it makes sense to have products that can be advertised as meeting a range of customer needs and desires.
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