Home care innovation strategy in 2024 is being developed in the context of a more challenging economic and financial environment. Large multinational producers have focused on reducing rather than expanding the number of brands in their portfolios, with Procter & Gamble and Unilever focusing innovation on their leading brand portfolio and on fewer but more disruptive product launches. According to Euromonitor’s Innovation Tracker, new brand and sub-brand launches in home care declined by 23% in 2024.
In 2024, new product launches in home care concentrate around wellness attributes and energy saving, with the latter being both a consumer driver and an expression of sustainability commitments made by brands
Source: Euromonitor's Innovation Tracker
New product launches from leading global brands are typically first trialled in the US and Western Europe before they make their way into other regions, whilst smaller emerging brands, which sell directly to the consumer online, use their local markets as a testing ground.
Following the evolution of innovation in home care can help businesses understand and respond to consumer purchasing preferences and help them make informed strategic decisions.
The rise of wellness: Tapping into an emotionally resonant zone
Consumers look for wellness and self-care attributes in the products they purchase. Brands are shaping their traditional portfolios to address consumers’ emerging wellness needs. A growing thematic overlap with other industries becomes apparent, with similar claim structures finding their way into home care.
In the fast-evolving wellness space, knowledge is growing around the body’s hormonal balance and how it is aided by the natural world and harmed by all things “artificial”, and stress is the major factor in play – as a chemical state, not an emotion – creating imbalances and side effects for mood and health. Brands are innovating with this in mind and are making significant investments into developing credible natural alternatives, drawing inspiration from biology to address a growing aversion to the use of artificial ingredients in an industry that has for the longest time counted on chemicals for optimal hygiene results.
Beyond this evident shift in consumer preference away from home care associated with health risks, commonly referred to as “chemophobia”, the most intriguing consistent development is the independent creation of solutions across various sectors to enhance mood. We are observing a clear pick-up in science-backed product claims around the mood-enhancing attributes of ingredients – in particular, scent.
Therapy Clean is a D2C brand in the US, offering plant-based cleaners made with 100% natural scents with third party approved mood-boosting claims. Ingredient transparency and plant-based formulation are among the brand’s key USPs, which is increasingly important for consumers. Since its launch in 2022, the brand has extended its portfolio across a variety of home care categories, including multi-purpose cleaners, which first appeared on the digital shelf in the US in 2023 and expanded to France, Spain, and Germany in 2024, according to Euromonitor International’s Innovation Tracker.
Hitting the sweet spot: Sustainability as a value driver
Another development in home care is in laundry where laundry temperatures are, on the whole, decreasing. The majority of households around the world already wash at low temperatures, with the notable exception of most countries in Western and Eastern Europe. The ongoing economic crisis is providing fertile ground for broader cold wash adoption. Households globally continue to contend with the effects of rising inflation and high energy prices, bringing into focus the energy-saving benefits of low-temperature washing.
There are two key reasons for brands to invest in cold wash technology:
- Brands have made significant sustainability commitments, including reducing carbon emissions by 2030. Failing to act on these promises could put their reputations at risk.
- Global household penetration of washing machines is reaching saturation. Euromonitor’s Economies and Consumers data reveal an almost stagnant forecast for growth in global household possession of washing machines. According to Euromonitor’s home care data, automatic detergents is projected to grow at a constant retail value CAGR of 2% over the period 2023-2028, compared to a 6% CAGR during the historic period 2018-2023. To move beyond this limit, brands will need to reformulate products to be compatible with cold wash technology.
Unilever launched Persil Wonder Wash in April 2024, a concentrated liquid detergent specifically designed for cold and short cycles, claiming to achieve an effective clean in as little as 15 minutes.
Over the next few years, home care innovation will be driven by wellness and sustainability-focused product developments.
As manufacturers return to a volume-led growth strategy, product innovation is seen as a key factor in expanding market reach and adoption across new formats, products and categories
Source: Euromonitor International
Leading players have adopted a more selective approach to innovation, concentrating on a streamlined portfolio of key brands, categories and geographies.
Learn more about Euromonitor’s Product Innovation tool in our report, Product Innovation in Home Care, to see how launches from specific players and retailers are contributing to trends in the home care industry.
At Euromonitor International, we track new product launches at online retailers across 54 fmcg categories and 32 countries. Contact us here to see which new products have been gaining ground in your category.