Wet Wipes For Hot Days
Topco’s Full Circle Biodegradable Travel Wipes keep both hands and the environment clean.
Store brand wipe sales rise heading into the summer; babies’ bottoms and sticky fingers stay clean.
Sticky summer situations–think ice cream, popsicles, barbecue–all call for something more than just napkins and tissues. With summer here, consumers are grabbing for the wet wipes to combat dirty fingers and keep summer fun clean.
Store brand wipes are always a good way for shoppers to save money and sales continue to be improving, according to SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago-based market research firm.
Private Label Moist Towelettes are up just over 26% to approximately $63 million with a 12% share, according to data from Supermarkets, Drugstores, and Mass Merchandise Outlets, excluding Wal-Mart, for the latest 52 weeks ending May 16, 2010, while Private Label Baby Wipes have a 23% share and are up over 8% to more than $166 million.
For summer fun on-the-run retailers offer convenient travel packaging. Under the Full Circle line from Topco, Skokie, IL, shoppers will find Biodegradable Travel Wipes, for keeping both hands and the environment clean. The wipes are biodegradable because 99.9% of the ingredients are derived from vegetable or plant extract including the preservative system. Ten fragrance free wraps come packaged in a green, oxo-degradable package (degradable in a landfill, but not compostable).
CVS, Woonsocket, RI, sells an even smaller wipes package. The resealable back pack buddies contain 20 antibacterial moist wipes with aloe in a “Pocket-Pak” about the size of a fruit bar. The retailer offers the same 20 wipes for adults in a more grown-up red package marked “Travel Pack.” Target, Minneapolis, MN, sells an identical product packaged in green found with the travel-sized products. For car trips or housework, Supervalu, Eden Prairie, MN, sells under its Homelife line disinfecting wipes packed in a round canister with a pop-top. The canister reads, “Kills flu virus!” in a bright yellow band at the top.
Baby Wipes
A 23% share means plenty of private label baby wipes are found on shelves and many stores carry more than one store brand. At Delhaize America, Salisbury, NC, store banners shoppers can get 80 wipes for just $1.99 under the Smart Option economy brand. Unscented or lightly scented wipes are packed in bright yellow with a rubber ducky drawing. The Hannaford store website advertises Pop-Ups, a scented refill of 80 baby wipes, for $2.19, but the Hannaford Bag In Bag wipes retail at $9.49 for 400 wipes. A 40-count travel pack of wipes for on-the-go moms is $1.19. Under the Home 360 Baby line, wipes come in a white and purple pack with a convenient dispensing top.
“What if you could have top quality along with convenience and variety, all within your budget,” asks the Food Lion website. “With Home 360 Baby, you are buying the quality of leading national brands, at much lower prices. Good for your little one and good for you, with the security of our money back satisfaction guarantee. Give this Food Lion Brand a try and surround your baby with love and Home 360 Baby.”
It’s easy to see that store brand baby wipes have such a share; almost every retailer offers a line of wipes. At Harris Teeter, Charlotte, NC, Yourbaby (yourbaby) Wipes are perfect for all the cleaning up needed with little ones. “Our refills all ‘pop up like a tissue’ and are made with aloe and come both scented and unscented,” reads the website. In addition to Yourbaby Wipes the retailer also sells Yourtot Flushable Wipes.
Supervalu offers wipes from its Baby Basics line in Scented, Unscented, Lavender, Flushable Wipes for Toddlers, or as Travel Size, Refills or Soft ups. A red half circle in the upper right corner of the label tells consumers they compare to Huggies Natural Care. An illustration also calls out that the hard pack “Pops up like a tissue!” The retail claims the alcohol free, hypoallergenic wipes won’t irritate baby’s skin.
From Topco Associates LLC, Skokie, IL, the Top Care (TopCare) baby accessories line includes Top Care Baby Supreme wipes that claim to compare to Pampers Wipes. The wipes offer “cloth-like comfort” and feature a photo of a smiling baby on the pop up lid.
Dollar General, Goodlettsville, TN, has rolled out crisp white packaging on its DG Baby line of baby care products. The DG baby wipes also feature a pop-top lid and the DG Baby Shea Butter or Sensitive 64-count package retails for just $1.75. The retailer’s website reads: “DG Baby takes care of your baby and toddler with products that are comparable in quality to national brands, but priced to save you money. And you can rest assured you’ll be giving your baby the best…we guarantee it!” The wipes do not, however, claim a comparison to a specific national brand on the package.
At a Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, NY, store, an end-cap display showed off the store’s line of baby wipes, which includes unscented, scented, sensitive and lavender wipes. They come in a 320-count box, 216-count packs, or 80-count packs. Kid Wipes come in a bright colored convenient travel pack of 42 flushable wipes.
