酷兔英语

洗衣剂行业面临着一个问题:它正在萎缩。原因是宝洁公司(Procter & Gamble Co.)和其它企业推出的事先配好用量的pod洗衣剂可以让消费者不再用量过度。多年来,消费品生产商都可以从那些每次洗衣都要倒入过量洗衣剂的买家那里获得额外的销量。当生产商全面推广浓缩度越来越高的洗衣剂时,这种现象变得越发明显。


The laundry-soap business has a problem-it is shrinking-thanks to premeasured pod detergents from Procter & Gamble Co. and others that keep consumers from overdosing.


可是等到宝洁公司推出洗衣新产品──汰渍Pod洗衣胶囊(Tide Pods capsules)──时,泡沫破裂了。这种产品固定了单次洗衣所使用的洗衣剂用量,开启了一个"单位剂量"(unit dose)产品的时代。根据市场信息调查公司尼尔森(Nielsen)的数据,截至今年三月的12个月里,美国洗衣剂的总销量下降了2.1%,这个数据不包括好市多(Costco Wholesale Corp.)和其它一些零售商的销量。与三年前的前pod时代相比,洗衣剂的销量按美元计算下降了5.1%,从74.4亿美元跌到了70.6亿美元。


For years, consumer-product makers could count on extra sales from shoppers who poured in too much detergent with every load. The phenomenon became more pronounced when manufacturers rolled out increasingly concentrated detergent.


销量的下滑已经在业内引发了一场异常直白的争论,话题是创新到何种程度算是超过了限度。销量下滑还导致了人们相互指责,争论到底谁对此负有责任。坦率直言的詹姆斯·克雷吉(James Craigie)是销售阿姆-哈默(Arm & Hammer)和Xtra等低价品牌洗衣剂的丘奇-德怀特公司(Church & Dwight Co.)的首席执行长,他的答案是:错在宝洁公司。


But the bubble burst when P&G introduced its new laundry product-Tide Pods capsules-which fixed the amount of detergent used per wash and ushered in the era of 'unit dose' products. Total U.S. sales of laundry detergents fell 2.1% in the 12 months to March, according to market-information firm Nielsen, whose data excludes sales from Costco Wholesale Corp. and some other retailers. Compared with the pre-pod age three years ago, detergent sales are down 5.1% in dollar terms, to $7.06 billion from $7.44 billion.


克雷吉在二月的一次行业会议上说:"Pod正在扼杀洗衣剂类的产品。"


The sales downturn has set off an unusually frank debate in the industry over when innovation goes too far, and it has led to finger-pointing about who might be at fault. James Craigie, the outspoken chief executive of Church & Dwight Co., which sells low-price detergents under the Arm & Hammer and Xtra brands, has an answer: P&G.


他说,新产品应该摊大生产商和零售商的收入蛋糕,而不是让它收缩。他说,这才是创新过去一直在做的事情。他说,各商家最近一次提高洗衣液浓缩度是在2008年,,当时洗衣剂的销量被推高了5%。在同一次会议上,高乐氏公司(Clorox Co.)指出,浓缩型漂白剂助推了整个漂白剂产品销量的提升,克雷吉也重申了这一事实。


'Pod is killing the laundry detergent category,' Mr. Craigie said at an industry conference in February.


他说,但是自从汰渍Pod洗衣胶囊在2012年初推出以来,其它企业(包括丘奇-德怀特公司)纷纷跟进,销售就呈一路下滑趋势。


New products ought to expand the revenue pie for manufacturers and retailers, not shrink it, he said. That is what innovation always did in the past, he said. The last round of more-concentrated liquid, in 2008, drove laundry detergent sales up 5%, he said. At the same conference, Clorox Co. noted that concentrated bleach helped lift overall bleach sales, a fact that Mr. Craigie reiterated.


他说:"一种新产品对整个产品门类造成损害时,它能算是好产品吗?"


But since Tide Pods launched in early 2012 and others (including Church & Dwight) followed, the sales trend has been down, he said.


宝洁公司的高管有不同的看法。之前担任过汰渍品牌经理的宝洁公司首席执行长罗伯特·麦克唐纳(Robert McDonald)在一次采访中表示,汰渍Pod洗衣胶囊代表了洗涤用品的"终极完美剂量。我们是把注意力高度集中在确保用户获得正确的剂量上,而这也许会对我们的竞争对象产生影响"。


'Now, what kind of a new product is good when it's hurting the total category?' he said.


战略资源集团(Strategic Resource Group)常务董事、宝洁公司前高管伯特·弗利金杰三世(Burt Flickinger III)说,生产包装食品和家居用品的企业早就从消费者超出推荐量过多使用产品的消费倾向中获利了。他说:"消费者把大包装跟更省钱与更多价值联系起来,他们往往过多倒出或过多使用产品,因为他们对于多用了一些并不感到愧疚。"


P&G executives see things differently. Tide Pods represent 'the ultimate perfect dose' of laundry detergent, said P&G Chief Executive Robert McDonald, a former Tide brand manager himself, speaking in an interview. 'We are laser focused on making sure consumers get the right dose, and that may have consequences for our competitors.'


但是换用Pod产品后的经济账对宝洁公司很有利,该公司每年在北美的洗衣剂产品销售额超过45亿美元。宝洁公司说它拥有大约75%的单位剂量产品市场,把消费者从竞争对手那边吸引了过来。根据德意志银行市场研究部(Deutsche Bank Markets Research)的数据,以消费者在沃尔玛(Wal-Mart)购买的产品价格为准,一剂汰渍Pod要花25美分左右,相比之下,瓶装汰渍洗衣液单次洗衣所用量的价格为20美分,而竞争对手的低价洗衣液只要七美分。


Companies that make packaged foods and household goods have long profited from consumers' tendency to use more than the recommended amounts of their products, said Burt Flickinger III, managing director of Strategic Resource Group and an ex-P&G executive. 'Consumers associate larger sizes with more savings and more value, and they tend to over-pour or over-use the products because they don't feel guilty about using more,' he said.


更多的消费者也开始使用高效洗衣机,这种洗衣机洗 衣服使用的洗衣剂相对较少。


But the economics of the shift to pods work in favor of P&G, which sells more than $4.5 billion in laundry detergent in North America annually. P&G says it has about 75% of the unit-dose market and is drawing customers from rivals. Consumers pay about 25 cents a load for Tide Pods at Wal-Mart, versus 20 cents per wash load for bottled Tide and as little as 7 cents for competitors' low-price detergents, according to Deutsche Bank Markets Research.


按宝洁公司的说法,结果就是单位剂量产品和价格较高的洗衣剂的销量在增长,而低端市场正在失去份额。该公司预计,在截至六月的财年里,汰渍Pod洗衣胶囊的销量会达到五亿美元。


More consumers are also using high-efficiency washing machines, which clean with relatively little detergent.


虽然这对宝洁公司来说是好事,但是这种趋势给整个行业带来了压力。总部位于得克萨斯、拥有约50家连锁超市的联合超市(United Supermarkets)营业部经理斯蒂芬妮·布莱克(Stephanie Black)说,联合超市洗衣剂的销量与去年持平,这类商品的利润实际上还有所下降。


The result, according to P&G, which expects sales of Tide Pods to hit $500 million in the fiscal year ending in June, is that sales of unit dose and higher-priced detergents are growing while the low-end market is losing share.


部分的原因是联合超市现在销售的像汰渍Pod洗衣胶囊这样的单位剂量洗衣剂更多,对零售商来说,其利润率比液体洗衣剂产品低5%,与此同时,洗衣液和洗衣粉的单位销量下降了15%左右。


While that is good for P&G, the trend is weighing on the industry as a whole. At United Supermarkets, a Texas-based chain of about 50 supermarkets, laundry detergent sales are flat over the past year, and profits in that category are actually down a bit, said business manager Stephanie Black.


布莱克说单位剂量洗涤剂的利润率是有限的,因为批发价已经很高了,因此零售商会很谨慎地避免把价格加得过高。布莱克说:"卖这种产品我们没有亏本,但是我们挣到的利润也不多。"


Part of the reason is that the chain is selling more unit-dose laundry detergent, like Tide Pods, which have a profit margin up to 5% lower than liquidlaundry for retailers. Unit sales of liquid and powdered detergent, meanwhile, are down around 15%.


37岁的黛安娜·帕滕(Diane Patten)是俄勒冈州杰克逊维尔(Jacksonville)的一名律师,她说,她和丈夫以及两个儿子在滑雪度假期间使用汰渍Pod洗衣胶囊。


Ms. Black said profit margins on unit-dose detergents are constrained because the wholesale price is already high, so the retailer is wary of putting too much of a markup on it. 'We don't lose on them, but we don't make as much of a profit,' Ms. Black said.


她说,在全家人出行的时候,"它们用起来太方便了......我放几颗在小盒子里,然后扔进包里"。在家的时候,帕滕用的是瓶装的汰渍洗衣液,因为价格便宜一些。她说:"我一般按瓶盖的刻度投放剂量,除非要洗的衣物实在是太脏。"


Diane Patten, a 37-year-old attorney in Jacksonville, Ore., said she uses Tide Pods for laundry during ski vacations with her husband and two boys.


消费品生产企业多年来一直在让他们的洗涤类产品浓缩度更高,这样可以节约包装和运输的成本,也能让商店货架腾出空间摆放更多的瓶瓶罐罐。消费者的回应往往是伸手去拿大一些的瓶子和盒子──这种尺寸他们感觉更亲切──他们倒进洗衣机的剂量则往往比推荐的剂量多。


'They are so convenient...I pack a few in a little container and throw them in a bag' when the family travels, she said. At home, Ms. Patten uses Tide bottled detergent because it is cheaper. 'I usually follow the cap measurement unless there is a really filthy load,' she said.


丘奇-德怀特公司现在致力于让它的阿姆-哈默品牌的瓶装洗衣液浓缩度更高,以期它的竞争对手会效仿,然后整个行业的销量会增长。


Consumer products companies have been making their soaps more concentrated for years to save on packaging materials and transportation costs, as well as to make room for more jugs on store shelves. Consumers often responded by reaching for larger bottles and cartons-sizes that felt more familiar- and pouring more than the recommended amount into their washing machines.


Method Products公司生产的高浓缩洗涤剂像洗手液那样通过几个小泵压出洗涤剂。该公司的共同创始人亚当·劳里(Adam Lowry)说,消费品生产巨头没有多少积极性去帮助消费者减少过量使用洗衣剂,因为那样有助于让购物者更快回到商店去买更多的洗衣剂。


Church & Dwight is now making its Arm & Hammer bottled liquid detergent more concentrated in the hopes that rivals will follow and industry sales will grow.


他说,造成用量过度问题的一个主要因素是洗衣剂的包装瓶太大。他把那种超大的包装瓶比作是SUV车。他说,瓶盖的容量往往比最大洗衣量所需的洗衣剂剂量要大得多。


Adam Lowry, co-founder of Method Products Inc., which makes highly concentrated detergents that are dispensed like hand soap via a few small pumps, said consumer-goods giants have little incentive to help consumers cut back on overdosing, since it helps send shoppers back to the stores faster to buy more detergent.


劳里相信,随着瓶子和包装变小,消费者就不那么会往洗衣机里过量倒入洗衣剂了。不过那是洗衣剂生产商不愿放弃的东西。


A major contributor to the overdosing problem, he said, is the oversize laundry jug, which he likens to sport-utility vehicles. The caps tend to be much bigger than the dose for the heaviest loads, he said.


劳里说:"如果你决定要选择一个方案让所有消费者都不再过量使用洗涤剂,那么你就会面临着如何向股东作交待的问题。"


As bottles and packages become smaller, Mr. Lowry believes, consumers will be less apt to over-pour. But that is something that detergent-makers won't want to give up.


PAUL ZIOBRO/ SERENA NG