New hair care makes waves: two-in-ones add volume to shampoo sales

Discount Store News, Jan 7, 1991 by Richard C. Halverson

New Hair Care Makes Waves

Two-In-Ones Add Volume to Shampoo Sales

A wave of new, two-in-one shampoo and conditioner preparations is breaking over the health and beauty aids market, and planogrammers who fail to make room for them will be left foaming at the mouth.

Already contending with as many as 16 sku's for a single brand of shampoo and its companion conditioner, planogrammers now must figure out how to squeeze in yet more sku's of the same brand, offering a combination shampoo and conditioner.

Retailers that fail to make room for the new hair care products will lose sales to competitors that do, warned Boston Distributors, a discount trade supplier.

Procter & Gamble has seen its Pert Plus two-in-one shampoo and conditioner edge out its Head and Shoulders brand as the top-selling shampoo in the country.

After five years on the market, Pert Plus accounts for an 8% case share of shampoo sales, said Jim O'Connell, a P&G spokesman, while Head and Shoulders has declined to a 6.5% to 7% case share.

By including the flood of two-in-one formulations starting to ship, they could capture 20% to 25% of the shampoo and conditioner market in 1991, O'Connell predicted.

When P&G introduced Pert Plus five years ago, it dropped Pert, which already had a hint of conditioner, said O'Connell. But most are adding to sku proliferation with their new two-in-ones.

As an example of the sku clutter in the category, the Kmart in West Long Branch, N.J., carries six sku's of Pert Plus: Oily hair, Normal, Dry or Damaged, Extra Body (for fine hair) plus two dandruff control formulations, Normal and Extra Body. At $3.78 for a 15 ounce bottle (11 ounce for dandruff control), Pert Plus occupies the second highest price point for that Kmart.

Head & Shoulders now the No. 2 brand in the nation, occupies the highest price point at Kmart, $3.88 for 15 ounces and $3.37 for 11 ounces.

Spurred by the success of Pert Plus, other major vendors have jumped into the two-in-one fray.

Revlon, for instance, started shipping its Flex & Go Shampoo/Conditioner in One several months ago, said Alida Curcio, vice president, marketing, and Flex & Go product manager.

Two-in-one products represent "the most dramatic change in hair care" for 1991, Curcio said, and reflect "changes in lifestyle."

"Consumers are more active," she explained, "using the gym for workouts more, and also shampooing their hair more frequently.

"They like the convenience and timesaving of two-in-ones," she said. Revlon is promoting Flex & Go from the convenience angle.

Kmart is stocking two to three sku's of Flex & Go, plus six of the conventional Flex shampoo and Flex conditioner, for a total of eight. Kmart prices Flex & Go at $2.97 for an odd-sized 14.8 ounce bottle. It charges $2.17 for a 15 ounce bottle of conventional Flex shampoo or conditioner.

Two-in-ones are "a hot trend," said Carla Ferrero, an H&BA spokeswoman for Kmart. "All the vendors are jumping on it."

Helene Curtis is shipping its Suave Shampoo/Conditioner in One this month. Kmart already carries 11 of more than 16 sku's of Suave shampoo and conditioner, such as Golden Wheat and Honey, Strawberry Essence, Full Body and Extra Gentle. Kmart prices each at $1.68 for 24 ounces. Conventional Suave also comes in a 16-ounce size.

Helene Curtis is keeping the price constant for its two-in-one, but cutting bottle sizes to 12 ounces and 18 ounces from 18 ounces and 24 ounces.

Chesebrough-Ponds joined the two-in-one fray last month when it began shipping its new Rave All-In-One Shampoo with Conditioner, offering six more sku's in the category.

Last year, P&G began shipping its premium priced Vidal Sassoon Ultra Care, two-in-one shampoo and conditioner in a 9-ounce size. Kmart carries it at $3.58, the same price as an 11-ounce size of conventional Vidal Sassoon. Gillette will offer its White Rain Plus two-in-one in an 11-ounce size, down from 15 ounces for conventional White Rain shampoo.

Alberto is keeping the size of its VO5 two-in-one product constant at 15 ounces but is raising the price, compared to conventional VO5.

Clairol is "actively pursuing" a two-in-one version of its Condition by Clairol hair line, which it recently reformulated with new fragrances, bottles and graphics.

Playtex, which also has reformulated its Jhirmak line, is "looking into" two-in-ones.

For its Style Plus, two-in-one, Dow also is raising the price, said John Martin, senior vice president, merchandising, Boston Distributors, Maple Heights, Ohio.

With all the new products, reformulations of conventional shampoos, as well as two-in-ones, coming on stream, discounters that don't have a new hair care planogram on the calendar "are going to miss out on a lot of opportunities," he said.

Two-in-one represents the best prospects for growth in hair care, Martin said, followed by gel-type hair style preparations, spritzes and finally mist conditioners, like Perma Soft Mist Conditioner.

"Their competitors who are undergoing planogramming now are going to garner sales at their expense. Time is of the essence," he warned.