Stay ahead of the curve and future-proof your business with Mintel’s UK Attitudes towards Household Care Packaging Market Report 2024. Our full report is packed with consumer-led market intelligence, the latest market research, trends, and consumer behaviours affecting your business.Â
Below, we’ve handpicked the key insights analysed in the full report and summarised the core topics.
Key Topics Discussed in the Full Report
- Market drivers impacting homecare packaging market such as economic and environmental factors and developments in refills.
- Responsibility for purchasing household care products.
- Influence of packaging features such as convenience and eco-friendliness on product purchase.
- Influence of on-pack information such as number of doses, ingredient functionality and convenience claims on purchase.
- Consumer behaviour towards household care products’ packaging including tendency to recycle empty bottles, use of refills and following on-pack dosing instructions
- Consumer interest in packaging innovations, with easy to use spray systems and concentrated refill cartridges gaining most interest
- Consumer attitudes towards homecare packaging, including barriers to using refills
Homecare Packaging Market Outlook
The household care sector is a needs-based market, meaning consumer engagement is likely to remain stable regardless of financial circumstances. In the face of rising living costs, the key to sustained success lies in the household care market in prioritising value. Packaging can significantly contribute to this by, for instance, designing systems that minimise environmental waste, are safe and are easy to use by consumers.
Opportunities for the Household Care Products and Packaging
Priortise convenienceÂ
Refill formats and refillable packaging offers brands in the homecare packaging market an opportunity to invest in convenient, cost effective and sustainable solutions. While attractive refill packaging will lure younger consumers, older consumers need encouragement to use refill formats. Sheet formats for refill products can provide added convenience features alongside improved brand’s sustainability credentials.
- Household care product statistics: 37% of UK household care buyers are interested in using concentrated refill cartridges that snap onto reusable bottles.
Improve recyclabilityÂ
Consumers show positive behaviours when it comes to sustainability – particularly recycling – especially older homecare product users who actively recycle used packaging. Tackling the use of single-use plastics by substituting them with recyclable materials or adopting PCR plastics on a large scale presents a formidable challenge, requiring substantial investment. Nevertheless, the benefits of responsibly reusing plastics and preventing them from polluting the environment far outweigh the costs,
- Homecare packaging trends: 47% of UK adults expect household brands to use sustainable packaging as a way to become eco-friendlier.
Purchase our UK Attitudes Towards Household Care Packaging Market Report to receive a five-year forecast, consumer behaviour analysis, and recommendations for market opportunities. in our UK Food Packaging Market Report 2024, or our range of Packaging Market Research.
Meet the Expert
Arpita joined Mintel in 2019 as a Global Household Analyst, writing UK Reports and global household content. Prior to joining Mintel, Arpita worked in various roles at Nielsen across a span of 13 years, working across different geographies including South Asia, Nordics and the UK.
Demand for convenient, recyclable packaging will keep rising. There’s a chance to lead by focusing on cheaper, sustainable and visually appealing refills.
Arpita Sharma
Global Household Analyst
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Executive Summary
- Opportunities for household care packaging
- Amalgamate convenience and sustainability of household care packaging
- Prioritise convenience
- Improve sustainability
- Provide more access to refill stations
- Market dynamics and outlook
- Market outlook for household care packaging
- What consumers want and why
- What you need to know
- Consumer trends: key takeaways
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Market Dynamics
- Macroeconomic factors
- Economic output has stagnated since the cost of living crisis began
- Graph 1: GDP, 2021-23
- Falling inflation has reduced pressure on household finances
- Graph 2: CPI inflation rate, 2021-24
- Consumer sentiment: wellbeing is up but the recovery has slowed
- Graph 3: the financial wellbeing index, 2016-24
- Consumer confidence continues to trend upwards
- Graph 4: the financial confidence index, 2016-24
- Social and environmental factors
- Parents drive the need for safe packaging
- Consumers are eager for on-pack information about environmental impact
- Quantify carbon reporting to provide clarity
- Consumers are highly aware about recycling pitfalls
- Merge the benefits of recycling and refills
- Bring refill stations to mainstream for easy access for consumers
- Refill Coalition enhances supply chain to reduce packaging and increase convenience
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What Consumers Want and Why
- Purchase of household care products
- Gen Z shoulders less responsibility for purchase
- Graph 5: responsibility for purchasing household care products, by age, 2024
- Influence of packaging features on household care purchasing and launch activity
- Brands focus on new packaging in post-pandemic product innovation
- Graph 6: new product launches in the household care market*, by launch type, 2020-24
- Innovate with sustainable packaging materials to meet consumer expectations
- Convenient packaging is at the forefront of consumers’ priorities
- Graph 7: importance of packaging features on decision to purchase homceare products, 2024
- Growing demand for convenient packaging amidst decline in eco-friendly material as purchase driver
- Graph 8: change in significance of packaging features on decision to purchase homecare products, 2022-24
- Convenient homecare aligns with parents’ busy lifestyles
- Graph 9: importance of easy to open packaging on decision to purchase homecare products, by age, 2024
- Sheet formats are on the rise supporting consumer’s convenience needs
- Ariel continues to drive innovation to make packaging convenient for all
- Present visuals of “how-to” for packaging innovations for greater awareness
- Packaging innovation increases its share of dishwashing and paper products launches
- Graph 10: new packaging as a % of household care category launches, 2020-24
- Eco-friendly packaging becomes an expectation
- Graph 11: importance of eco-friendly packaging on decision to purchase homecare products, by age, 2024
- Experiment with sustainable packaging material innovations
- Redefine plastic by increasing use of recyclable materials and improving recyclability
- Graph 12: New product launches in the UK household care market*, by packaging material, 2020-24
- Attractive pack designs can lure younger consumers to become a loyal fanbase
- Graph 13: importance of attractive packaging design on decision to purchase homecare products, 2024
- Influence of on-pack information on household care purchasing
- Number of doses is significant for laundry and dishwash…
- Graph 14: importance of on-pack information on decision to purchase homecare products, 2024
- …but ingredient functionality is most significant for hard surface/toilet cleaners
- Convenience claims are most desirable within hard surface/toilet cleaners
- Graph 15: importance of convenience when purchasing homecare products and share of launches* with convenience claims, 2024
- Influence of eco-friendly claims on-pack has dropped…
- Graph 16: importance of environmental claims on-pack (eg AISE accredited) on decision to purchase homecare products, 2022 and 2024
- Graph 17: importance of carbon footprint information on-pack on decision to purchase homecare products, 2022 and 2024
- …but household brands are stepping up packaging initiatives to showcase their commitment to eco-responsibility
- Environmental logos can aid purchase decisions
- Graph 18: household care* launches with environmentally friendly package and biodegradable claims, 2020-24
- Behaviours towards household care packaging
- Consumers need more encouragement to recycle
- Improve recyclability of packaging to support consumers’ intentions
- Graph 19: behaviours towards household care packaging, 2024
- Encourage recycling amongst younger consumers…
- Graph 20: recycling behaviours of household care consumers, by age, 2024
- …and use of refillables among older consumers
- Graph 21: consumers who refill an old/resuable homecare product bottle, by age, 2024
- Appliance brands can help consumers to understand product dosage
- Offer value for money with packaging designed to dispense all of the product
- Graph 22: consumers who find it hard to use every last bit of the product, by financial situation, 2024
- Interest in packaging innovation
- Innovations around easy to use spray system will spark attention
- Unilever’s Domestos launches spray mechanism with inverted dispensing
- Unilever promotes Domestos upside down spray system on TV
- Explore cartridges for concentrated products to improve eco-credentials
- Attitudes towards household care packaging
- It is time for inclusive packaging to enter household care category
- Graph 23: attitudes towards household care packaging, 2024
- Take inspiration from parallel categories delving into inclusive packaging
- Make refills attractive
- Make refilling an attractive and hygienic proposition
- Expansion of closed loop refill systems requires economies of scale
- Approach the ideal solution – package made of recycled plastic and recyclable
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Appendix
- Report scope, definitions and abbreviations
- Report scope and market definition
- Abbreviations and terms
- Methodology
- Consumer research methodology
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
- Additional data – media spend
- Media spend
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