Honing in on housewares

Innovation and changing consumer habits are providing grocers with renewed life in the housewares category.   

“Do or do not, there is no try.”

Yoda spoke these words to Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back. However, mass retailers, drugstores, dollar stores and the like may not be as difficult a foe as the entire Empire, so for grocers, trying may be all they need to do to succeed in the housewares category.

There are signs that the category will grow in grocery. According to the International Housewares Association’s (IHA) 2014 State of the Industry report, supermarkets accounted for 9.3% of sales of housewares in 2013, up from 8.5% in 2012. “We believe that housewares is still underleveraged in the grocery world generally and that there is still room for growth,” says Perry Reynolds, vice president, global trade development for the International Housewares Association, based in Rosemont, Ill.

Some grocery stores are performing better than others in this space. “We believe that the story here is a mixed one,” says Reynolds. “Clearly some retailers understand the value of offering their customers complete solutions that include the tools to prepare foods, to clean and organize the home and solve other issues.”

Reynolds says that innovation has helped the category. “A significant amount of the growth in the housewares business over the last decade has come from the growing influence of design,” says Reynolds. “Housewares makers have discovered that they can help solve consumers’ problems with clever new designs and tools that fit more unique usages.”

Contigo offers beverageware products that answer some of these consumer demands. Grocery retailers are beginning to realize the sales potential of the company’s water bottles and other products, says Todd Starr, vice president of marketing and product development for Chicago-based Ignite USA, maker of the Contigo brand. “Grocery has typically not been as developed as mass retail in this on-the-go reusable beverage space,” he says. “The level of assortment typically skewed low-end.”

Now, says Starr, grocery is catching up to mass, and devoting more shelf space to travel mugs and beverage bottles made from a wider range of materials, with more features, in several price points. He adds that consumers also have personal preferences about stainless steel versus plastic, sipping versus gulping and drinking water versus mixed beverages.

The company’s newest product is the spill-proof Cortland water bottle with AUTOSEAL technology. Designed for people who do not like to drink plain water, Contigo’s Shake & Go bottles and tumblers allow users to add a drink mix. “People don’t drink enough water,” says Starr. “It’s a way to help them drink more water by making it more enjoyable.”

Observers say protein mix powders are also becoming popular, but the drinks can be messy. “We studied the consumer hassles of mixing up protein powder and cleaning the bottle,” says Starr. “It becomes like cement.” Contigo developed the Shake & Go Fit Mixer, which features a rounded bottom and a shaker ball to make mixing the powder easier.

Also new are bottles for kids designed, in part, because children want to imitate adults who drink out of water bottles. “We see kids getting more attention in mass retail,” says Starr. “In grocery there was little interest, but that is changing.”

Starr says that some retailers merchandise Contigo bottles in 10 to 12 areas within the store—and that is too many. Instead, he says they should display the items in the containers section and in housewares. It also helps to cross-merchandise the bottles in off-shelf displays near drink mixes.

Cross-merchandising can indeed help boost sales in housewares, says Ronald J. Boger, president and COO of Idea Village. He says the best seller among the Wayne, N.J.-based company’s As Seen on TV products in 2014 was the Snackeez 2 in 1 Snack & Drink Cup. The product features a 16-ounce beverage container with an embedded 8-ounce food tray.

“In grocery stores the product performs well because it can be merchandised in many areas, says Boger. “It can be stacked out with cups, cereal, chips and pretzels, cookies and crackers. It can also be stacked out with all the beverage promotions.”

Idea Village has also seen success with its Stufz burger maker, which can be merchandised in the meat department. The off-shelf promotions and cross-merchandising work well in grocery, which has limited space. “Many supermarkets are either not willing to allocate space or do not have the space to create a destination for housewares,” says Boger. “Often in supermarkets it is a convenience shop rather than a destination shop.”

Boger adds that grocery retailers are more flexible with off-shelf displays and with short lead times, meaning the future potential is bright for the channel. “Grocers are starting to realize how impulsive our product is,” he says. “We provide quick incremental revenues. Stores are starting to discover when they do it right they can succeed.”

Some retailers are succeeding by expanding their assortment to include higher-priced housewares. That includes items such as gloves. “People are trading up for better quality,” says Tim Stapleton, president, U.S. sales, for Big Time Products, based in Rome, Ga. “The economy seems to be loosening up, and people are more confident.”

Big Time recently launched Caring Hands Elegant Fare disposable nitrile food grade gloves, which are latex-free. New products under the Soft Scrub label include Bathroom and Kitchen, which contains one blue pair and one yellow pair of gloves to optimize shelf space, and Premium Defense, a 15-inch purple household cleaning glove. In the hardware aisle True Grip high dexterity gloves that are touchscreen compatible are available. 

Stapleton says during the holidays, some of the gloves were cross-merchandised near food-prep items, for impulse purchases. To further drive sales, the products are also available in clip strips.

Men’s grooming is another area where consumers are starting to spend more money. According to Chicago-based IRI, for the 52 weeks ended November 2, U.S. multi-outlet sales of what IRI categorizes as “other grooming supplies” accounted for nearly $325 million.

Many of those sales are coming directly from men says Steven Yde, director of marketing for Sterling, Ill.-based Wahl Clipper Corp. “If you go back five years the stores would talk about ‘her,’” says Yde. “It is not about her anymore. Retailers have to look at that. They have to make the place comfortable for him and her.” 

Among the newest products from Wahl is the Stainless Steel Li , which has a suggested retail price of about $60. That might seem like a high price point in grocery, says Yde, but it is not out of reach for men who care about their appearance and want the right tool. He says that there is a changing demographic in men’s grooming. A few years ago, a popular term was metrosexual, a portmanteau of metropolitan and heterosexual. The term implied some primping, and many men did not embrace the word. The new word is lumbersexual, which refers to men who want to look somewhat outdoorsy and rugged, with neatly trimmed facial hair.

“Guys are expressing themselves with beards and mustaches, beyond the standard goatee,” says Yde. “They define themselves as very masculine, and they care about the way they look.”

Consumers also care about their pets, and Wahl’s pet division is launching a line of ergonomic grooming tools for pets. Yde says the products are higher quality and have higher price points than private label products, and are performing well in grocery. “Some people will buy them because their pets are the most important thing in their life,” he says.

However, making changes to the pet aisle can become risky for grocers. Not so says Yde. He says grocery retailers would profit more from adding grooming tools and high-quality shampoos than by adding another treat or food in the pet department. “It is difficult for them because they say, ‘If I take that treat out I am going to lose a quarter million dollars in sales,’” he says. “But this twelve inches with one grooming tool, clipper and shampoo gets two million dollars in sales.”

The pet section is not the only area where retailers have the opportunity for new products. Cleaning tools are also gaining favor. “What we are seeing now are retailers looking to add back space or maintain space, as opposed to shrinking the category,” says Michael Silverman, senior vice president of marketing for Butler Home Products, based in Marlborough, Mass. “I think they are finding it is a destination category. Everyone cooks, and everyone cleans.”

While people buy cleaning tools less often than cleaning chemicals, the sponges, gloves and other items offer higher margins—and Butler is adding products and refreshing its brands. Under the Clorox brand, there are new bathroom bowl brushes and holders and new scrubbers. Under the Mr. Clean brand, there are new hand-held sponges that contain Mr. Clean Liquid Muscle cleaner. Under the Dawn brand, there are new scour sponges and household gloves.

There are also new Gain scented sponges and new Gain laundry accessories. Silverman says the challenge for laundry products is that some are bulky, and grocery stores might hesitate to give them space. However the stores can benefit from the seasonality of the purchases, and the fact that shoppers are in grocery stores buying detergent.

Butler is also relaunching the Evercare line of lint rollers with new handles and new packaging. These are also seasonal, says Silverman. “In winter you are wearing black and heavier knits and pet hair sticks to them. You don’t want to go to work or go to dinner with pet hair.” 

Observers say grocers still trail home centers, hardware stores and mass merchants in many categories, yet opportunities still exist. That is why the stores should expand their selections to appeal to different demographics.

“Selection is what people want,” says Steve Throssel, president and CEO of Eldora, Iowa-based Whink Products Co. “They want a high, a low and a middle.”

Consumers also want products that clean specific stains. In that area Whink is seeing success with two of its newest products, Uniform Pre-Wash and Game Stain Remover. Uniform Pre-Wash contains borax and is intended for the healthcare and sports audience. Game Stain Remover comes in camouflage packaging and is for hunters. “It was a niche we noticed was not being addressed,” says Throssel.

Another area being addressed is cookware, as cooking continues to be a favorite activity for many consumers. “The category specific growth is better than the whole store sales increase,” says Mike Rodrigue, CEO of Bradshaw International, based in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.  “From the consumers’ point of view these are products they need and use with food. Most consumers are time starved and appreciate the convenience of kitchenware available to them.”

Rodrigue adds that some stores offer “piece of the week” promotions that encourage sales of certain cookware products. Two trends are helping the category. “We see significant interest in products that carry food to a social event. The second thing we see is color. Interesting colors on product attract consumers.” The company’s newest product is the Sweet Creations Cake Pop & Cupcake Carrier that holds 40 Cake Pops or 24 cupcakes.