Shaving items by internet sales threaten mark Gillette u.s. retail

The growing sales of razors and shaving appliances online are imposing challenges the world leader in the sector: the Gillette brand. The online market for shaving products barely existed a few years ago, but in 12 months ending in May of this year, almost doubled in size. Turnover in the period $ 263 million, according to estimation of the Slice Intelligence, a market research firm.
This represented about 8% of the total market, which moves almost $ 3 billion, and it was a big surprise to people who follow the industry. "It's amazing that all this happened in a year," says Tim Barrett, an analyst at market research firm Euromonitor International. The pace continues. In the first five months of 2015, online sales totaled $ 141 million, more than double the same period last year, according to the Slice. The change in buying habits caught the leader of this market, Gillette, by surprise. Online sales of the brand in the United States are growing quickly, but the speed of the competitors is greatest. The unit of Procter Gamble Co. & holds over 60% of the traditional retail market, which is much larger, but still is shrinking. In heated online market, the share of Gillette is just 20%. The mismatching is forcing a series of adjustments in Gillette. Between them, compete based on price, a change for a company that always charged high values for your cartridges with five blades or devices with rotary head.
The online leader in the United States is the Dollar Shave Club. Three years ago, the company was a "startup" inexperienced he used provocative videos in which the Chief Executive Officer, Michael Dubin, said: "Our blades are the c ***". But she won an audience for its monthly deliveries of blades in cardboard envelopes, with the promise that subscribers would save in relation to leading brands. She now has two million people who pay between $ 1 and $ 9 for their razor blades at least a few months out of the year.
The Dollar Shave Club should hit $ 140 million in sales this year, says Dubin, who has 36 years and is the founder of the company. Other online vendors have emerged, such as the 800Razors LLC, the Harry s Razo r co. and Shave Mob LLC, all advertising lower prices than those of Gillette. Their ambitions are being fed by handset manufacturers and own brand razors, which are finding the internet a fertile ground for selling their products than in physical stores, where Gillette and Schick brand, Energizer, dominate.
P&G sales
Conquer online customers is increasingly important for Gillette. The P&G provides that the annual growth of online sales of shaving appliances will stabilize in an average of 25% over the next five years, says Sonia Fife, General Manager of Gillette in North America. "The growth has been very high and the needs and habits of consumers are changing."
P&G Division's sales of personal care products for men, consisting mainly of Gillette, fell 3% in the nine months ended in March, to $ 5.75 billion. The fall was caused by exchange rate trend, even with Gillette taking advantage of higher prices.
But overall sales of appliances and razors are also falling, in part, due to broader social trends, as a greater acceptance of stubble in the workplace.
Sales in the u.s. fell to $ 2,96 billion in 2014, up from $ 3,08 billion in 2012, according to research firm IRI, whose data are based on the physical stores. Robertson, the Energizer, told investors this month that at least part of this fall is due to the migration to online shopping.