Orgill polishes a ‘must-win’ category
The global pandemic pushed the cleaning products category into a national obsession. And all that mopping, scrubbing, fighting germs and ‘cleaning house’ continues to light up cash registers.
According to statistics from Allied Market Research, the U.S. cleaning products market was valued at $1,957.9 million in 2020, and is projected to reach $2,898.5 million by 2030.
“The pandemic brought on a surge of demand for cleaning products, and the category remains in a position of growth today,” said Matthew McDowell, senior category manager of home products for Memphis, Tennessee-based Orgill. ”Increased social media interest, coupled with a heightened desire for home cleanliness, have left today’s consumers seeking more innovative options in cleaning products.”
With that background, Orgill recently took steps to refine its offering to take advantage of the category’s growth and to help its retail customers serve their markets with more focused planograms.
New vendors to the distributor’s cleaning products lineup are Libman, E-Cloth, O-Cedar and Swiffer. Introduced in mid December, the new assortment has everything from eco-conscious, microfiber solutions to industrial strength push brooms.
“Post-pandemic consumer behavior makes this a must-win category at Orgill,” McDowell said.
These recently onboarded vendors have shown strength in the online marketplace, earning shelf-space throughout the industry in recent years, he said. And the revitalized assortment marks a move away from the choice-overload that was prevalent during the pandemic.
Power play
"Due to Orgill’s increasing presence in the Pro segment, we also see major growth potential in commercial cleaning in the coming years. Libman’s High Power assortment will be a key contributor to that growth, and we anticipate early customer adoption to that line," McDowell said.
“Orgill’s dealers found that brand diversity was a necessity during the pandemic years, but we have heard desire from the field to repair mixed, unproductive planograms to create more uniformity in the assortment,” he said.
Orgill’s home products strategy also is informed by consumer trends.
“Today’s shoppers are willing to trade price for functionality, durability, and time savings,” he said. “That behavior rewards local retailers with lower price sensitivity and enhanced margin opportunities on brands that are recognized on a national level. By expanding our footprint to include price point variation, our dealers can also cater to the more cost-conscious shopper.”
He pointed to the example of the Libman options—all the top SKUs that are available at the big box are in the mix. But they’ll also “carry some key opening price point alternatives” helping independent dealers “win sales on core items like angle brooms and roller mops.”
Orgill is building supply chain stability, too. McDowell described that consideration a top priority during the recent line review.
“In 2023, we placed an emphasis on rebuilding the category’s foundation, which was rocked by vendor discontinuations, SKU consolidations, and supply constraints,” McDowell said. “We will focus that same attention on being at the forefront of industry innovation for 2024 and beyond.”
