Multifunction Grooming: Hybrid Products for Women

KELLY GATES

Many of the latest women's products to hit the market are hybrids, said Don Stuart, managing director, Cannondale Associates, Wilton, Conn.

“There has been a transition from class to mass,” he told SN. “Sun care and moisturizers are all-in-one items now, and others include ingredients that help fight the effects of aging.”

Other grooming products contain vitamins, nutraceuticals and even skin-tanning tonics, among other add-ins. Noxzema has a hair-minimizing shave gel and Nivea makes a leg lotion with “special ingredients” that not only moisturize, but reduce the appearance of cellulite.

Even razors serve dual purposes nowadays. Gillette's Venus Breeze 2-in-1 razors, for example, are outfitted with shave gel bars that continuously administer small amounts of gel with each stroke.

In the past, said Stuart, retailers viewed grooming products individually. Most divided them into one segment for shaving items, which included razors and shave gels, and another that included skin care such as traditional hand and body lotions, face cream and acne concoctions, with an adjacency to sun care. Now, they perform so many functions, it's hard to tell where they fit and, therefore, where to merchandise them, he said.

Despite the dilemma, Ted Taft, managing director, Meridian Consulting Group, Westport, Conn., discourages retailers from switching up their grooming sets to better accommodate the multipurpose products. Consumers like the new add-in ingredients, but they still buy multiple products for multiple purposes — the extra elements are perceived as a bonus, he said.

“Consumers who buy a skin product with [a sun protection factor], for example, are generally not using this as a replacement for buying two products,” explained Taft. “SPF is a nice additional benefit for use when they would not likely be using a sun care product at all.”

Jodi Nelson, general merchandising manager of health and beauty for Orchard Markets, agreed. Shoppers at the two-store operation based in Spring Lake, Mich., sometimes buy moisturizers and lotions with SPF for everyday prevention, but a good sunscreen with a high SPF level — 30 or greater — is always a separate purchase, she said.

“I'm not sure that our shoppers search for grooming products with extra ingredients in them, but they often choose them if they are on the shelf and priced right,” Nelson told SN.