Miss stack on shopping list of Brazilians

Battery sales in the Brazilian market grew 4.8% in value, but retreated 3.4 percent by volume last year, according to the Nielsen consulting. The migration of zinc, cheaper, for alkaline, which last longer, justify the increased spending and, in part, the decline in the frequency of purchases, but the economic downturn has not spared the industry until 2014 grew 5% in units. At Duracell, leader in alkaline, improve retail distribution and stimulate the transition to higher-value cells guide the plans for business this year, still uncertain on economic scene.
"It''s very difficult for the consumer to put the stack as shopping list item. So the presence at the point of sale and product availability play a lot in this category, "said Rafael Gisse, Duracell operation Manager in Brazil. The item is present in only 31% of households in the country, according to Kantar WorldPanel: consumer.
In countries like Mexico, alkaline batteries arrive at achieving a participation of 81.4%, compared to 65.6% in Brazil. The Brazilian still consumes few batteries and spend little with the item. On average, nine units per year, with average price of 1.48 R$ each, according to Kantar. The Duracell trades not common batteries, of shorter duration, they cost half the price of the alkaline at the point of sale.
Despite the advance sales of connected devices the rechargeable batteries, such as smartphones and tablets, there is a broad market of portable electronics, toys, cameras and remote controls, which demand high-performance batteries. The participation of alkaline rose 0.6 percentage point in volume, to 38.4%, and 0.4 percentage point in value, to 65.3% in 2014 and 2015 comparison. The zinc lost 0.6 point in units sold, to 61.6%, and fell from a slice of 35.1% to 34.7% in revenues.
Leader in the category, alkaline Duracell with participation of 47.2%, according to data from Nielsen for the 12 months ended in September, provided by the manufacturer. The Rayovac, the largest of the zinc market, is in second place in the category alkaline.
In November 2014 the Duracell was sold to Berkshire Hathaway, the American businessman Warren Buffett, as part of the simplification of Procter and Gamble (PeG).
The Brazil is one of three countries where Duracell has maintained offices in Latin America, in addition to Colombia and Mexico, after the takeover. "Is a sign of the importance of the country to the group," said Gisse, out of P & G to command a team of 23 professionals in Duracell, divided between the areas of finance, marketing, sales and logistics, in São Paulo.
In Brazil, the Duracell has partnerships with networks such as Multicoisas and Kalunga, and works to expand distribution beyond capital and metropolitan regions to strengthen the presence of the product in stores. The brand is in about 60 1000 points of the alimentary canal, the most relevant for the sector.
The Duracell, which created the Bunny as a mascot in 1973, is responsible for over 90% of advertising investment of the category. "To enlarge the volumes, the opportunity is not only in the distribution, but also in making the product more visible," said the Manager of operations in Brazil. The marketing campaign of October refers to the "Star Wars" movie, with children wielding light sabers, of course, work with batteries.
In strategic sectors such as toys, the company made agreements such as the agreement with Hasbro, owner of brands such as Monopoly and Mr. Potato Head, to be mentioned on packaging and on toys as the most appropriate to use.
"Managing the business in Latin America demand provide moments of instability. The market slowed and inflation and high-dollar are additional difficulties, mainly because we don''t have a local production, "said Gisse-manufacturing is done in China and the United States. The company increased sales of promotional packages as an alternative to reduce per-unit prices and ease the volume drops.
About rechargeable batteries, Gisse estimates that represent a market of less than 5% in the world, having an even smaller percentage in Brazil. "At the time of use, the consumer remember you forgot to charge the battery and just using the common model." Chargers and rechargeable batteries correspond to less than 5% of the business of Duracell.
In technological terms, the Duracell trades since the end of 2014 1 version that lasts up to 18 times more than the stack of zinc, which increases the time of use, reduces the frequency of purchase in the category, but raises the average ticket.
Sought, the Rayovac wouldn''t comment.