THE toilet tissue market is one of the UK’s largest grocery categories, worth over £1bn, and Andrex is the largest brand with a 36% market share in Scotland, says brand owner Kimberly Clark, quoting Nielsen research findings.
And branded toilet tissue sales are especially strong in convenience stores, with branded products accounting for more than 90% of sales and Andrex, toilet tissue brand leader in convenience outlets, accounting for 48% of sales in the channel.
The firm says the brand’s strategy has been to work to change consumer thoughts on toilet tissue – away from thinking of it as a household essential and towards considering it as a product used in a person’s “intimate care” regime.
The brand has been encouraging consumers to think about what feeling clean means to them.
That change, the company argues, will also encourage the adoption of new products, which will help achieve overall category sales growth.
For example, Andrex Washlets sales have been growing at a rate of 7.3% a year in Scotland and the firm expects such growth to continue throughout 2016, as more consumers choose to use both dry and moist toilet tissue.
This year Andrex has added a moisture lock closing across its Washlets refill range.
In its dry portfolio, Puppies on a Roll has been renamed Gentle Clean and aligned with Gentle Clean Washlets. Andrex Gentle Clean is fragrance-free and dermatologically tested. The brand packaging features the British Skin Foundation logo.
The firm sees price-marked packs as gaining popularity with independent retailers for some time. It now regards PMPs as integral to the toilet tissue product category. In independent stores PMPs account for 64% of all dry toilet tissue sales.
Andrex offers price-marked four-roll packs across its full range, including Classic White, Natural Pebble, Quilts, Gentle Clean, Skin Kind and Shea Butter.
Andrex’s best performing SKU is the Andrex Classic White four-roll PMP. Worth £12.6m to convenience outlets, it represents 16% of the overall toilet tissue category in the UK convenience channel, the firm says.
