Especial Household

Consumers on sight

Explore new niches and fulfill specific needs of consumers are the strong points for those willing to strengthen operations in the wax market

In Brazil, those who intend to invest in the wax segment can obtain results exploring new consumer niches. This factor is especially possible due to the number of consumers who still do not include this type of product in their home cleaning purchases.
Specialists believe the category’s potential, although the figures contradict this trend. According to ACNielsen, rubbing waxes registered last year a fall of 7.5% in sales, in comparison with 2003. In value, the variation was lower, around -1%. The segment had a turnover of R$ 329.5 million, a consumption that may be considered low if compared to other countries of the Southern Cone. Innovations and attention to regional preferences are factors that can contribute to increase consumption and revitalize this market.
For Ingleza, a leading company in the category, consumers accept new products and invest upon purchases. Evidence is the good performance of the premium segment. From 2003 to 2004, the company grew approximately 20% in wax turnover. According to data from ACNielsen and from Latin Panel, Ingleza has been the leader of this market in Brazil for eight years, with a current share of 30%.

Innovations – In 2005, Ingleza prepared itself to innovate. “As a leading company, we are responsible for moving this market. One of our biggest challenges is to increase the category penetration and discover new niches”, affirms Lara Melo, the company’s marketing manager. According to the executive, nowadays about 33% of Brazilian homes consume rubbing waxes, which confirms that there is still is plenty of room for the category.
“We carried out a study with persons who do not consume waxes and about their reasons not to consume this type of product yet”, affirms Melo. “We discovered innumerous demands and realities in which we can invest in order to incentive consumption increase in this category”, she added. Based on this survey, Ingleza launched products that promise to fulfill the wishes of those who are not currently purchasers of waxes, such as Par Perfeito.
In order to strengthen its brands in the cleaning segment, Ingleza bet in the union of different categories to make available complementary products for consumers. Named as Par Pefeito, the marriage between the recently launched Limpa Pisos UAU! Line and the Ingleza Max Especial products promises efficiency in the combined use.
The company developed special formulations of cleaners for three types of floorings: ceramic, parquet blocks (or wooden carpets) and laminated. These UAU! Brand variants follow the concepts applied to the waxes of the Ingleza Max Especial line. Each version contains a specific active principle to clean a given type of flooring, combined with a Max Especial wax, which is an extension of the Max Waxes line.

Effectiveness – To gain strength in this market, such as in almost all consumption areas, the path is to listen to what consumers want and need. For the Ingleza executive, it is always necessary to provide practical and effective solutions. Lara Melo displays as an example the case of laminated floorings, which promise eternal brightness, conferred by a special impermeabilizing layer applied in the factory. “This property disappears with time”, she said.
According to Melo, time wears that layer, leaving the flooring dim, lifeless, and many times prone to spots caused by liquids. “Until the moment, the rule was clear: ‘never use wax on this type of flooring, because waxes do not adhere and end up cleaning even further’”, said the manager. To break this taboo, Ingleza developed an exclusive technology that promises to treat and take care of this type of flooring. “The product forms a protective layer that redeems the flooring original characteristics, besides protecting it against liquids spots”, explains the manager. “This is an example of how we seek to innovate and serve new niches, to instigate the fight in this market and consolidate our leadership”.

Regional – Some regional companies are also preparing to strengthen their operation and heat the fight in the wax market. Japytto Indústria Química, of Uberlândia, State of Minas Gerais – whose DBA trade name is homonym of its main product, the Polylar was – operates extensively in the region of Mato Grosso and Minas Gerais, and intends to expand its distribution to other states of the Country. Japytto’s distribution reaches since small grocery stores until supermarkets, hypermarkets and big wholesalers. The company offers products directed towards social classes seeking lower prices.
According to Telma Urias Medeiros, production and quality control manager, although popular, the company waxes have high quality. “Our strategy has been to seek market updatings and increment our relationship with companies of the segment, such as raw material suppliers, for instance, which being novelties and opportunities for us to enrich our formulas”, she affirmed.

Supplies – Lúmen supplies ingredients for self-brightness wax manufacturers and for flooring treatments. “I believe that the higher consumption of waxes is in São Paulo, where the leading brands must employ higher efforts to face regional brands, due to the great demand for cheaper products”, affirms the commercial director, José Jorge.
For the executive, the raw materials area can display innovations for the manufacturers intending to develop in this segment. “There are special products that need specific resins, such as high-speed waxes for high rotations, specific waxes for hospitals, and those that need to resist high traffic”, he added.
According to data from Euromonitor, the flowing wax segment is promising, being a market still underexplored in Brazil. In this category, regionality is highlighted. Preferences vary according to the region. Consumers in the North, Northeast and Sul like paste waxes. Solvent-based liquid waxes are preferred in the large urban centers, such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In the interior of this State and in the Center-Western region, the best-selling are emulsified waxes, and in Minas Gerais Ardósia is the absolute leader. The attention to these characteristics, allied to new technologies, may generate growth and more positive results.