Promotions emerge as a key influence on consumers’ purchase decisions

A few years ago, there was one section of grocery shopping which kindled the least interest in consumers. A quick pick of their 'regular' brand and they would move on.

In contrast, consumers off-late are seen to be spending much more time in checking out promotional offers, product claims and multiple brands, while selecting products in the Indian CPG industry – household cleaning and laundry products.

According to a recent consumer insight report, Indian Household Products Industry: Capitalizing on Changing Consumer Preferences, from leading European market researcher Datamonitor, the Indian household products industry was worth Rs11,100 crore in 2009, having grown at a CAGR of 10 per cent over the period 2004-09. The rising number of home-proud consumers, but with less time to devote to domestic chores is quickly but drastically shaping the landscape of this market.

''Given the rising number of nuclear families, the lower age at which Indians buy their first home, and the sophisticated appliances and fitments in each household, there is an imminent opportunity in the Indian market. To cater to a generation of time-starved consumers, multi-functional products would present ample opportunities amid the slew of surface / occasion-specific products that currently crowd the market,'' says Rahul Ashok, consultant, consumer markets, Datamonitor India.

This was corroborated through the Datamonitor consumer survey, which found that more than 65 per cent of the Indian consumers are highly influenced by ease-of-use and multi-purpose claims, and the importance given to these are higher than most other attributes of a household care product.

A major factor driving the demand for such multi-purpose products is the increasing involvement of urban Indian women in the labor force, and lesser time and energy to devote to upkeep of their homes. Coupled with the rising cost of hiring domestic help, this eventually necessitates greater involvement from the family members in regular household cleaning and maintenance tasks.