Tim Barrett, U.S. Analyst, Euromonitor01.20.15
For much of the past, bar soaps have reigned supreme within the bath and shower category. Subsequently, their dominance has driven packaging sales within the U.S. for years. And while bar soaps still account for 60% of all packages sold as of 2013 according to Euromonitor’s own data, this is a far cry from their 69% share in just 2008.
This drop in sales represents a consolidated annual growth rate (CAGR) of -4% throughout that period. This has translated directly into worse sales for flexible paper packaging, the primary pack type for the category.
While much of this shift is due to changing consumer preferences, it is often the packaging that at least helps to convince consumers to change their habits in the first place. The two products that have directly benefited from these changing preferences have been body washes and liquid hand soaps, both of which largely come in rigid plastics, PET in particular.
Before the characteristics of either liquid varieties of soap are discussed, it is important to examine why bar soap itself has struggled. Unit volumes fell by 18% from 2008-2013, reflective of the product’s lack of perceived value. Bar soap may be cheap, but as is the case in much of health and beauty, you need to bring more than that to the table if you want to gain or even maintain share these days. Being cheap and smelling good doesn’t cut it in the bathroom for the average consumer who wants products that moisturize, disinfect, or look nice on their counters. Even worse for bar soaps is that even if they could provide all of these features and more, they would have a hard time advertising them on store shelves given their small size and minimal paper packaging.
Body washes on the other hand have seen the largest gains in terms of packaging share, amounting to 20% of all units sold in 2013, an increase of a little less than 6% since 2008. Their relatively dominant grab has been the result of size versatility and aesthetics. Larger packages bring the product in bulk to consumers who want to cut costs by sharing. Smaller packages make the product easier to travel with and sample.
The use of PET as a primary pack type (PET bottles account for 57% of all body wash units sold in 2013) gives manufacturers a lot of leeway with product design, helping it to pop out on the shelves and hopefully into consumers’ carts. A bright green and informative label with pictures of leaves all over The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Body Wash for instance, gives way to an entire bottle of green liquid which people associate with the soothing power of nature. See-through packaging is in these days, as it insinuates openness with your customers.
It would seem odd to the average person to use body wash to wash their hands, and for good reason. As it turns out, consumers look for different things when it comes to their shower and their sink. While moisture is often a touted feature with body washes, hand soaps instead focus on anti-bacterial properties. The pump-based closures allow the product to be used without ever having to touch the soap itself, something that makes some people a bit squeamish when they consider bar soaps as an alternative. Lysol even entered the market by catering to even bigger germaphobes, removing the pump, which must be touched when they introduced the Lysol No-Touch. The look of the product also matters, as these products are left on counters and frequently used by guests. One of Softsoap’s perennially best-selling brands offers little in terms of functionality, instead relying on its appearance as a 3D aquarium.
The outlook for bar soap remains dim, and thus packaging will continue to shift to rigid plastic, with PET being the most important of those plastics. If all goes as predicted, bar soaps will only represent 55% of all bath and shower units sold in 2018, while body washes will have risen to nearly 24% and liquid hand soaps to over 12%. Liquid varieties of soap tend to look better, feel cleaner, and bring more moisturizing capability to consumers, all in a package can more easily convey these traits. Ultimately, bar soaps lack the punch that moisturizing shower gels and anti-bacterial liquid hand soaps bring to the table, making them a boring bunch, something that is reflected in the ho-hum nature of their packaging.
This drop in sales represents a consolidated annual growth rate (CAGR) of -4% throughout that period. This has translated directly into worse sales for flexible paper packaging, the primary pack type for the category.
While much of this shift is due to changing consumer preferences, it is often the packaging that at least helps to convince consumers to change their habits in the first place. The two products that have directly benefited from these changing preferences have been body washes and liquid hand soaps, both of which largely come in rigid plastics, PET in particular.
Before the characteristics of either liquid varieties of soap are discussed, it is important to examine why bar soap itself has struggled. Unit volumes fell by 18% from 2008-2013, reflective of the product’s lack of perceived value. Bar soap may be cheap, but as is the case in much of health and beauty, you need to bring more than that to the table if you want to gain or even maintain share these days. Being cheap and smelling good doesn’t cut it in the bathroom for the average consumer who wants products that moisturize, disinfect, or look nice on their counters. Even worse for bar soaps is that even if they could provide all of these features and more, they would have a hard time advertising them on store shelves given their small size and minimal paper packaging.
Body washes on the other hand have seen the largest gains in terms of packaging share, amounting to 20% of all units sold in 2013, an increase of a little less than 6% since 2008. Their relatively dominant grab has been the result of size versatility and aesthetics. Larger packages bring the product in bulk to consumers who want to cut costs by sharing. Smaller packages make the product easier to travel with and sample.
The use of PET as a primary pack type (PET bottles account for 57% of all body wash units sold in 2013) gives manufacturers a lot of leeway with product design, helping it to pop out on the shelves and hopefully into consumers’ carts. A bright green and informative label with pictures of leaves all over The Body Shop’s Tea Tree Body Wash for instance, gives way to an entire bottle of green liquid which people associate with the soothing power of nature. See-through packaging is in these days, as it insinuates openness with your customers.
It would seem odd to the average person to use body wash to wash their hands, and for good reason. As it turns out, consumers look for different things when it comes to their shower and their sink. While moisture is often a touted feature with body washes, hand soaps instead focus on anti-bacterial properties. The pump-based closures allow the product to be used without ever having to touch the soap itself, something that makes some people a bit squeamish when they consider bar soaps as an alternative. Lysol even entered the market by catering to even bigger germaphobes, removing the pump, which must be touched when they introduced the Lysol No-Touch. The look of the product also matters, as these products are left on counters and frequently used by guests. One of Softsoap’s perennially best-selling brands offers little in terms of functionality, instead relying on its appearance as a 3D aquarium.
The outlook for bar soap remains dim, and thus packaging will continue to shift to rigid plastic, with PET being the most important of those plastics. If all goes as predicted, bar soaps will only represent 55% of all bath and shower units sold in 2018, while body washes will have risen to nearly 24% and liquid hand soaps to over 12%. Liquid varieties of soap tend to look better, feel cleaner, and bring more moisturizing capability to consumers, all in a package can more easily convey these traits. Ultimately, bar soaps lack the punch that moisturizing shower gels and anti-bacterial liquid hand soaps bring to the table, making them a boring bunch, something that is reflected in the ho-hum nature of their packaging.