Gillette shaves of nearly 50 per cent off Vector Plus in TN

Chennai: In order to cut into the Tamil Nadu shaving blade market, Gillette India Ltd, part of the Procter & Gamble group, has shaved off nearly 50 per cent of Vector Plus razor and the twin blade's retail price.

The company has reduced the price of Vector Plus razor to Rs 29 from Rs 49 and that of the twin blade to Rs 20 (2 cartridges) and Rs 38 (4 cartridges). The earlier prices of the twin blades were Rs 35 and Rs 65 respectively.

Declining to reveal the company's market share in the state, and the reason for the sudden price cut, marketing manager Sumeet Narang said the price cut is restricted to Tamil Nadu only, and not across the markets where the company is present. He does not expect Vector Plus eating into the sales of other brand like Mach 3 Turbo after the recent price cut. "The value delivered by the two products is different."

According to Narang the total shaving blade market size in India is around Rs 600 crore. Of that, Rs 200 crore would be the share of twin blades. The rest is garnered by the traditional safety razors using the flat double edged blades. Gillette India is also present in the traditional safety razor market.