EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Industry and Competition Analysis Laundry Care is a growing industry with high perspectives for eco-friendly liquid detergents. The consumers are mostly individuals. Besides multinational corporations, Unicorn competes with such brands as Eucalan, Kookaburra Wash, Soak, Sweet Tea ‘N Biscuits, and Laundress. Unicorn has average characteristics and can increase sales performance by creating a strong marketing and pricing strategy. 2.
Market selection process and Market success criteria After looking at Historic CAGR, average revenue per capita, changing trends and lifestyles in different regions and various other factors, the most promising markets are in Europe and Asia. However, the highest potential with low level of risk is in French market.MARKET ANALYSIS1.1 Company OverviewUnicorn Editions, Ltd. is an American company producing and selling liquid cleaning products for deep scouring, cleaning, protecting, and soften fabrics. The products are divided into two lines:Unicorn Fibre line – specially designed for the natural fibres (wool, alpaca, etc.);Unicorn Baby line – particular for diapers, knit ware, and family apparel. The consumers use the product for the hand-washing, house machine and high-efficiency washing.
Unicorn Baby isn’t in the lowest price category, but in line with premium brands. Unicorn Baby’s products are eco-friendly, stronger than “plant based” washing products, more efficient at low temperatures.Unicorn operates both locally and internationally through wholesalers, distributors, mills, farms, and on-line shop. The company’s products are already on the market in Canada, UK, Australia, Germany, and Norway. 6Unicorn Baby’s sales are carried out by the distributors in USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, New Zealand, UK, and Norway. However, these distributors can’t meet the needs of the market. 1.
2 Industry Overview and Competition AnalysisThe global size of laundry detergent market was valued at US$133.3 billion in 2016. In accordance with the forecast of Grand View Research, Inc., the market will reach US$205.2 billion by 2025. The amount of disposable income of customers is establishing a new trend in the market . Indeed, people are inclined to purchase products based on the brand name and quality. It should be taken into account that it is common for developed markets of Europe, North America, and Australia.
Customers’ preferences in Asia and Africa are mainly based on the product price. Also, the popularity of liquid laundry detergents is dominated in North America. Nowadays, consumers are searching for a strong detergent formula which can be used in hot and cold water. 1 The global size of liquid laundry detergent market reached US$ 24.3 Billion in 2017.
2 The demand for the laundry baby detergent is increasing day by day. With the development of technologies, young families prefer to purchase baby care products and detergents through online stores. The perfect product should be suitable for baby skin and allergic-free. Products samples can give opportunity to the customers to try the laundry detergents. In case of positive feedback, Unicorn Baby will attract new loyal customers.The products of Unicorn Baby are in line with such brands as Eucalan, Kookaburra Wash, Sweet Tea ‘N Biscuits, and Laundress.
Unicorn Baby is not able to compete with the large corporation (“Tide”, “Ecco Scour”, “Dreft”, etc. )Each brand has three main product categories: 1) Initial deep scouring and cleaning products; 2) Everyday cleaning detergents; 3) Products to protect and soften fabrics.Laundry performance depends on the following factors: water, time, mechanical action, temperature, chemical action (detergent).According to the competitor analysis (Table 1), there is no leader in this segment.
All brands have advantages and disadvantages. Laundress has the lowest cost per fluid ounce $0.56.
Comparing the amount of detergent required for one hand-wash in one-gallon water, Kookaburra Wash and Eucalan are the cheapest. However, Unicorn Baby is in the average market price range.In contract to all competitors, Unicorn Baby has just fragrance-free detergent option and it doesn’t satisfy all consumer’s needs. People who are interested in scented options will make a choice not in a favor of Unicorn Baby. Mostly, customers are looking for a detergent that will easily clean their woolen, delicate fabrics, and hand knits without any damage.
PH level of detergents are in an average range, but Eucalan has the best indicator. Moreover, Rinse free option shows that the Kookaburra Wash, Euralan and Laundress have strong detergent formula. All brand are allergen-free and eco-friendly. Unlike Laundress, other brands and Unicorn Baby have a good performance in a cold water. To sum up, the formula of Unicorn Baby can be improved in the direction of the fragrance options, pH level (from 6.
5 to 6), and rinse free wash. The product has average characteristics; thus we can conclude that companies are able to increase sales performance by creating a strong marketing and pricing strategy. Regarding the SWOT-analysis (Table 2), Unicorn Baby has a huge opportunity in laundry detergent Market.Table 2 – SWOT-analysis1.
3 Market SelectionThe industry was analyzed by looking at the Historic CAGR, USD per capita, Changing trends and lifestyles in different regions, rise in disposal income and various other factors. The geography can be studied in terms of North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Considering that Unicorn Baby has the highest demand on the domestic market (North America), the remaining regions were studied for their performance in the laundry detergent industry (table 3).Source: www.statista.comThe Laundry Care industry is growing world-wide and shows high expected annual growth in all regions.
The highest revenue in the Laundry Care is in North America, Europe, and Asia. Despite the growth rate on Australian and South American market, the revenue of the industry is too low. European and Asian markets have a huge potential, but the average revenue per capita in Europe is in four times higher than in Asia. It indicates that Asian consumers are more focused on price rather than the quality characteristic of the products, which is not acceptable for the premium price product of Unicorn Baby.
Fortunately, the ingredients that were used by Unicorn Baby are approved in Europe. There are no laws preventing the product sales in these areas. In that case, the most promising region for Unicorn Baby’s expansion is EuropeIn Europe, the volume of sales in the Laundry Care market reached US$15,221M. United Kingdom (US$2,667M), Germany (US$2,418M), France (US$2,268M) has the leaders on the European market. Since Unicorn Baby is already present on the UK and German markets, the company should focus on France.
1.4 Market analysisRegarding the France’s National Competition Authority (Autoritè de la concurrence), Procter & Gamble and Henkel dominate in the French market. 7.4% of market share was taken by private brands. (figure 1). 7Figure 1 – Laundry Detergent market share in FranceFrance has one of the largest market in the world with about 500 million customers. In accordance with PEST analysis (table 4), it is a growing market with stable political and economical environment.
Table 4 – PEST analysis of Laundry detergent market in FranceBesides the higher VAT tax than in U.S., around 50% of all population is our potential customers. In addition, developed internet technologies are will give a chance to reach new clients. Environmental awareness creates a high demand on bio-products.
Government and the Ministry for Environment highly support green products and provide subsidy for companies.For all these reasons, we think that Unicorn Baby can reach the high result in French market with low level of risk. As we said before, the company already works with distributors in Germany and UK, so there won’t be a problem for shipping and selling the products in European Union.
