Consumer
Choice Drives Personal Care
BY
HÉLÈNE DEGRYSE
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| DA promotes
its new Bad & Douche product with a special 1/2-price offer. |
Dutch retailers offer an impressive range of inventive PL personal
care products that are designed to meet the needs of all consumer
groups.
EMA is a more than a Dutch warehouse, it is an institution. Born
in 1926 in Amsterdam, HEMA sells only PL products in various ranges,
food as well as non-food.
HEMA belongs to the Vendex group, along with the Bijenkorf and
the V&D. With 260 stores in the Netherlands, more than 30 in
Belgium and three in Germany, HEMA employs over 10,000 Europeans.
The bath and body care range of HEMA is very broad. The shelf space
devoted to the articles and the amount of articles is impressive.
The first striking element of the whole personal care range is
the sober design with clear lines of the HEMA products. The HEMA
PL hair range offers eight variations.
The products for "thin and dull hair" with orange extract,
keratin and panthenol are: a 300ml shampoo, a 300 ml conditioner,
a 150 ml leave-in conditioner and a 150 ml styling lotion. All products
are contained in beautiful transparent bottles, the liquid is orange
and the label is a yellow that shades off. The Dutch and French
(for the Walloon client) texts are on the reverse of the bottle
as well as the ingredients used in the products.
The "dry and damaged hair" range is green and contains
seaweed, keratin and panthenol. The range is composed of a shampoo,
a conditioner, a leave-in conditioner, a styling lotion as well
as a creamy treatment in a 150 ml tube.
The line for "colored or permed hair" is called the "Henna
range". It contains the usual products; shampoo, conditioner
and leave-in conditioner as well as a cream treatment in a 150 ml
tube. The whole henna range is pink.
The range for "greasy hair" with nettle extract is green.
The line consists of only three products: shampoo, conditioner and
leave-in conditioner.
The "anti-dandruff" range with peppermint and panthenol
counts three items: a shampoo, a conditioner and a leave-in conditioner.
HEMA also sells a range especially for gray hair with gingko biloba.
This range consists of a shampoo, a conditioner and a strengthening
lotion with seaweed extract.
The "swim, sun range"(in English on the label) proposes
a 2-in-1 shampoo, a conditioner with walnut extract, a creamy conditioner
as well as a leave-in conditioner and a hair gel in a 150ml tube.
The last range is one for normal hair (with apricot); it gives shine
and vitality to the hair. It contains a 500ml shampoo bottle, a
conditioner and a leave-in conditioner.
The HEMA bath foam is available in two versions: fresh (green letters)
and cool (blue letters) both in a 1 liter bottle. The body lotion
for both versions comes in a 500ml bottle. The shower gel, the shower/shampoo
2-in-1 gel and the separate shampoo are sold in a practical 300ml
bottle equipped with a plastic rope. All products are contained
in a white bottle with green/blue letters. The HEMA logo appears
discreetly in relief on the bottle. Those products are meant for
all skin types but the marine smell caters for the masculine client.
HEMA's main target consumer is the woman between 25 and 50 and
the whole body range devoted to them is impressive. While seeing
this range, the boundaries between A-brands and PL range are blurred.
The whole range consists of luxury and quality products for a low
price.
The women range is declined in three lines: one with spirea for
sensitive skin, another range with seaweed extracts called the vitality
range and the last with almond extract for dry skin. Each line includes
the following products: a shower cream (300ml tube), a shower gel
(200ml tube), a scrub (150 ml tube), a bath foam (500ml), a 2-phases
bath oil (150ml), a body lotion (250ml), a body spray (150ml), a
body moisturizer (150ml jar) and a body splash.
HEMA also proposes a special targeted range for women. This range
contains the following products: body contour cream, anti-cellulite
cream, slimming gel, contour gel for the belly, a bust gel as well
as cream for heavy legs. All products cost less than 6 euros.
HEMA also sells 130g soap bars for sensitive skins (with horse
chestnut extract), one with seaweed and the last one called sport.
There is also a special HEMA bath and body range for children.
It offers fun products such as bath salts, bath confetti's, banana
and cola scented bath gels with Jip and Janneke, Annie MG Schmidt's
world famous characters pictured on the packaging. Those products
are more expensive than the PL range for adults.
The DA Approach
DA is a 60-year-old Dutch drugstore. It started as the association
of 5 drugstores and now counts more than 800 shops under different
names: 600 DA stores, 70 DA d'Attance (the luxury store version),
and 150 "Stip", a drugstore with a smaller retail surface.
The retail activities are run by Dynadro, which offers promotional
support and is in charge of the DA store brand development. The
DA brand (only sold in the DA shops and DA D'Attance) contains about
600 PL products and is 25 years old.
The DA bath & body range consists of the following products:
a shower gel for sensitive skin (300ml purple bottle with dark blue
top), a 2-in-1 soft shampoo in a light green bottle, a shower gel
in a yellow bottle, a fresh shower gel in a light blue bottle and
blue top, and an exotic shower gel in an orange bottle.
The range also offers a bath and shower gel in a 1 litre bottle.
The fresh version is light blue; the sensitive is purple and the
exotic orange.
DA also sells a luxury PL aromatherapy range. The range is divided
into 3 categories adapted to the actual mood one wants to achieve.
The Perfect Harmony line (with green tea and green coloured) is
aiming for balance and bears a yin yang symbol on the packaging.
The High Spirit line (red) gives extra energy and has a clover
on the products.
The Inner Peace line (lavender coloured) presents a round signs
on the bottle and helps relaxing.
Each line offers the following products: a 200 ml shower gel, a
150 ml body scrub, a 250 ml bath foam, a 200 ml bath oil and a 200
ml body lotion. This range gives an impression of luxury, but no
product costs over EUR5.
In the general range, DA also offers 3 different body lotions.
A shea butter lotion for dry skin, a lotion for normal skin and
a lotion for dry and sensitive skin.
The DA PL hair care range contains the following items: a shine
shampoo for normal hair, a balance shampoo for dry and damaged hair,
a shampoo for greasy hair, a conditioner as well as a mild shampoo.
Etos: A Modern PL Approach
The Etos PL Bath and Body range occupies an important shelf space
and is strategically located in each Etos shop. At eye height, more
accessible than A-brands and with a very attractive design and bright
colours, the Etos brand is definitely eye catching!
The PL hair assortment is very compact and contains all the essential
items for every hair type. There are 5 different Etos shampoos:
one for thin hair, one for dyed or permed hair, one for normal to
greasy hair, one is an anti-dandruff shampoo, and one a shampoo
special for dry or damaged hair.
All products are presented in a 300 ml transparent bottle with
a blue top and coloured liquid. Each shampoo contains specific elements
adapted to the nature of the hair and they all give extra body.
Etos also sells four conditioners (for thin hair, dyed hair, normal
hair and dry and damaged hair), they all come in a 300ml transparent
bottle with a blue top.
The Etos PL hair range finally contains 2 hair masks: one for dry
or damaged hair and the other for dyed hair. The masks are sold
in a 150ml bottle with a pump. The blue "energy" Etos
logo is of course strategically located on the products of the PL
hair range.
The most important Etos PL body range is called the soft and caring
range. It contains the usual bath & body articles: a shower
foam in a 200ml bottle with a pump, a bath foam with moisturising
lotion in a 1 litre bottle, a shower gel in a 300 ml bottle, a body
lotion available in both 250ml and 500ml bottles with pump, a body
milk with shea butter and aloe vera (250ml and 500ml) and a hand
cream.
This range also contains more elaborated items such as a massage
milk with aloe vera in a 500 ml bottle, a scrub gel in a 200 ml
bottle, a toning lotion in a 200ml bottle, a slimming cream in a
200ml bottle.
This Etos range has a stunning design with round and soft shapes
and a sharp and energetic orange color and blue letters! The theme
of the range is energy and the key element is vitamin E which is
present in important quantities in all the articles.
Two products exist in a version specially made for sensitive skins:
a 300ml shower gel and a bath foam sold in a 1 litre bottle. The
design is unchanged but the vivid orange color is replaced by a
white bottle and a pastel green top. Two articles are available
in the range called M for man: a 1 litre bath foam and a 300ml shower
gel. The smell and design specially caters for men: a fresh and
sportive scented gel contained a metallic grey bottle!
Etos also sells a moisturising cream for the whole family in a
100 ml blue jar.
5 oils are available in the PL Etos body range: 2 skin oils (an
oil with various herbs and an almond oil for dry skin in a 100ml
bottle) as well as 3 bath oils (lavender, almond and eucalyptus
in 200ml bottle).
The star of Etos PL body range is the aromatherary range. Launched
2 years ago, this innovative range is a serious competitor for cosmetic
brands. The products are adapted to 3 different moments of the day:
the morning (wake-up sub-range), during the day (take it easy sub-range)
and the evening (sleep tight sub-range). Each sub-range consists
of the following items: 200 ml bath oil, 200ml shower gel in a tube,
100 ml body spray and 250ml body scrub in a jar. The design of the
range is a true success and transforms a bathroom into a spa!
Most of Etos PL bath and body products are also sold in deluxe
sample sizes.
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