Tháng: Tháng Ba 2018

Manufacturers, while optimistic, says the explosive growth that many predicted last year will not be realized unless the industry steps up consumer education.

“Last year there was a lot of enthusiasm over how fast this category would grow,” said Bennett Rubin, vice president, marketing and sales of Genie. “The category is not growing as fast as everybody anticipated, but there is enormous growth potential. We as an industry need to step up consumer education.”

While the VCMA (Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturers Association) does not track the category, industry sources place the deep cleaning market at approximately $180 million in sales with an excess of 1.4 million units annually.

Bissell, considered to be the industry leader, recently completed a promotion of its new, smaller CM machine with Kmart. Bissell markets five deep cleaning units ranging in price points from $99.95 to $299.

Dennis Dorn, senior buyer at Kmart, said the promotion met sales projections. “We did very well with it. These lower priced, smaller units are ideal for emergency clean ups, and that’s the appeal they hold for consumers.”

Introduced this year, the CM unit was promoted in Kmart at $99.95, considered to be a benchmark price point in floor care. Dave Merten, product manager at Bissell, is pleased with the unit’s initial outing, but “we’re expecting a much better second half as we step-up advertising and consumer education efforts.”

In department store accounts, deep cleaners perform well because salespeople can take more time to explain the products. In self-service mass merchant channels, sales are starting to pick up as consumers become more familiar with the units, but growth is still slow, said Merten.

Merten said catalog showrooms are also helping to educate consumers. Showrooms, he said, are “giving more exposure to the units in catalogs and are doing a better job of explaining what the units do.”

See more: Some say featured uprights in direct competition

Dorn said advertising and consumer education drive the category: “The key to this category is advertising that explains the cost-saving benefits of owning a machine over renting a machine.”

Rubin from Genie agreed. “We have to show the benefits of owning a machine over renting or having a professional service come in. Professional services are expensive, but consumers are using them, because they want someone to blame if anything gets damaged,” he said.

Genie markets two deep cleaning units and two conversion kits for wet dry vacuums. The two deep cleaning units include the SH600, a 6-gallon carpet shampooing machine and the SH859 and 8-gallon total floor care system. The SH859 can be used for carpet shampooing or as a wet dry vacuum.

Another obstacle to growth in the category, notes Dorn, is the lack of commitment by major floor care players. “Eureka is the only major player out there with any units,” he said.

Eureka’s four-way Home Cleaning System cleans both wet and dry spills, as well as upholstery and carpets. Shampoo attachments include a 50-foot water hose, faucet hardware adapter set, pistol grip handle and carpet shampooing and upholstery nozzles. The unit also has an eight-piece wet dry attachment set.

Dorn said he is pleased to see Regina recommitting to the category: “Regina’s new units and the heavy promotion behind them will create a lot of excitement.” Regina has redesigned its upright deep cleaning machines this year to address perceived quality problems. The units are expected to hit retail shelves this fall.

“Consumer research showed a number of perceived deficiencies with out former product,” said Mark Normyle, Regina’s director of marketing. “We’ve widened the wheel stance and struts as well as put on larger wheels. We also put a more ergonomic and stronger handle on the units.”

Regina’s redesigned deep carpet cleaning line includes three models, the Steemer, Steemer Plus and the Streemer Ultra. The units retail between $89.99, $119.99 and $169.99 respectuvely. In addition to upgrading its Steemer units, Regina has also improved its three cleaning formulas, said Normyle.

Although department stores command only about 10 percent of all vacuum sales, many see the chance to expand their vac business in 1991 as mainstream suppliers step up efforts to woo that channel.

Department-store buyers contacted by HFD say increased vendor competition has translated to more products and programs targeted toward their needs. This, in turn, has made it easier for department stores to compete with mass merchants, who are still the dominant channel for the category with about 26 percent of the business.

Bruce Frizen, buyer at Atlanta-based Rich’s, said his business is up significantly this year. “I see the floor-care category as strong and getting stronger,” Frizen said.

“We’re planning for a flat year with small increases,” said a buyer from another Southern department store chain. “From what I’ve heard about other channels, department stores have obviously benefited during the [recent economic] downswing.”

Buyers say four factors necessary for driving successful vacuum cleaner sales in department stores are: differentiated features, adequate price points, sufficient margins, and, as with all upscale products, commitment to in-store demonstrations.

Department store buyers mentioned such lines as Royal’s Signature Series, Hoover’s Legacy and Eureka’s Boss Plus and Ultra-Boss as being the kinds of highly featured products that do especially well in upscale stores.

A buyer from a department-store chain in the Mid-Atlantic States acknowledged that Royal’s new product features had turned his business around in recent months. “Royal has really been positioning themselves for the department stores,” he said. “Our February was a lot stronger, and a lot of that was due to Royal.”

Jenny Fischback, national sales manager for Royal, said, “We made a concerted effort to differentiate every product by category of trade. Our Signature Series offers department stores upgraded features, a nice margin and they’re protected from competition from mass merchants.”

Royal’s Signature Series is a complete upscale line of vacs targeted specifically toward department stores and mail-order catalogs. The line shipped in March. It includes a hand vac, broom vac, canister vac and an upright in distinctive black with soft cloth bags in either black or gray marble tones. The Model 7300 upright has a 7.5 amp motor, 35-foot power cord, power edger, headlight and a full set of on-board cleaning attachments.

Frizen from Rich’s also said he has incorporated some items from the Signature line into his product mix, but it was “still too early to see any results as yet.”

Buyers have an eye on highly-featured uprights when it comes to driving the category. The hot buttons for uprights this year are above-the-floor cleaning and on-board tools.

See more: Some say featured uprights in direct competition

“Canister sales have always been overrated,” said a senior buyer at a Midwestern department-store chain. “The Legacy from Hoover is doing well for us. I suspect a lot of the reason is because of the tool attachments.”

Introduced last year, Hoover’s lightweight Legacy line has four SKUs with suggested retail price-points ranging from $229.95 to $279.95. All models feature a top tool-connection for above-the-floor cleaning. A 5-piece cleaning tool set is included with each model.

While not designed specifically for the department-store trade, Hoover’s Legacy concept proved so successful for the company that it introduced a new upright line at the Housewares Show, Elite II. These cleaners incorporate attached tools with easy top tool-connection.

“The attached tool feature is nothing new to Hoover,” said Brian Girdlestone, president of Hoover North America. “Our engineers developed the feature in the 1930s, but consumers have only recently come to appreciate its advantages.”

A spokesperson for Hoover said extensions to both new upright lines would be coming in the near future, but no other details were available at press time.

Also showing a knowledge of department stores’ special requirements are those vendors that are working to raise margins and price points.

For example, Eureka’s Boss, Ultra-Boss and Boss Plus are getting rave reviews from buyers, who say the success of the Boss line is due in large part to its offering value and hitting the right pricepoints.

According to Dan Whitney, assistant buyer at Jordan Marsh, the Boss provided a bright spot in an otherwise off year. “The Ultra-Boss is also doing well–it’s a nice step-up,” he said.

Rich’s Frizen said, “We’ve been doing real well with the Boss and all its brothers.” He attributes this to a raise in his benchmark pricepoint from $100 to $129. “And now we’re starting to see some results from the Boss Plus,” he added.

Uprights with attached tools for above-the-floor cleaning may be beginning to take a toll on the canister market, but not everyone is convinced that canisters will suffer as the new uprights gain ground.

At present, some retailers say they are taking a serious look at reducing the number of canister SKUs in their product mix, while others say canisters are stable and attached-tool uprights simply represent a new floor care category.

Hoover, Royal and Regina offer uprights with attached tools. The leading players in canisters include Ryobi Motor Products, Hoover, Eureka and Electrolux.

“The canister market is declining,” said Dennis Dorn, senior vac and electrics buyer at Kmart. “These new uprights offer the features that canisters traditionally offered.”

“Our market share (in canisters) increased in 1990,” said Dorn. “[The new uprights] are causing us to rethink our mix — we’ll probably cut some canisters.” Even if he cuts the number of SKUs in canisters, however, Dorn said he thinks it represents a viable market segment.

Dorn noted that high-ticket canisters with power nozzles are still selling at the mass merchant channel and door-to-door. “Canisters still clean bare floors better than any upright,” he said.

A buyer from a major West Coast department store chain, requesting anonymity, said the new uprights are bumping canisters off the floor. “I used to carry three canisters, now I only carry one,” the buyer said.

“The Legacy from Hoover is dominating our sales,” the buyer added. “It captured the market because it’s a well manufactured product. It has features that consumers normally find in a canister.

But Ed Saleeba, vacuum cleaner buyer for Henderson, N.C.-based Rose’s, expressed a different viewpoint. “I think the manufacturers have created another segment as opposed to eliminating one,” he said. “I don’t see any cannibalization of the canister market. It will always be there.”

“I will say this, these new uprights have made floor care stronger this year where it might have otherwise been weak,” Saleeba added.

“We’re pleased with the sales of canister-style vacuums,” said Perry Chlan, spokesperson for Sears. “But we see a growing trend toward the upright styles.”

Cliff Wood, executive secretary for the Vacuum Cleaner Manufacturers Association, observed: “There has been more publicity and activity in uprights, but canisters are still alive and well.”

While Wood could not give sales figures, he did say that canisters, “have not fluctuated upward or downward as much as uprights. They are a steady seller.”

Vendors agree that canisters represent a steady segment, but some say the excitement of the new above-the-floor cleaning uprights will bite into canister business.

“There is no doubt these new uprights will impact the canister market,” said Bob Riddell, vice president of marketing at Hoover.

Riding on the success of its upper-moderate-priced Legacy line, Hoover recently introduced Elite II, a line of uprights with above-the-floor cleaning at more competitive price points ranging between $89.95 and $159.95.

“The one major advantage of canisters has always been that they clean above the floor,” said Riddell. “Now uprights are beginning to attack that.”

Riddell added that full-sized canisters, while affected by the newer uprights, will remain a profitable segment. “In particular, our upper-end Spectrum canisters are doing well,” he said. “The wand-storage capability and triple-filter system are features that consumers are looking for in canisters.”