Retailers to give oral care goods branded edge

KOLKATA: With sales of private labels picking up in India, retail chains like Subhiksha, Spencer’s and Big Bazaar are planning to replicate the concept in the personal care segment, largely with oral hygiene products.

Retail chains believe Indian consumers have matured, in that, they can lap up private labels beyond apparel, groceries and accessories. They see the oral hygiene market as a precursor to the fiercely competitive FMCG space.

For instance, Spencer’s is eyeing the entire personal care segment. "The products will be targeted at the value-conscious consumer. Consumers will slowly understand the value of private labels, even in oral hygiene segment, since these will be produced by the same manufacturer," said JH Mehta, president, Spencer’s Retail.

Subhiksha has a different strategy. It plans to introduce the concept of branded private labels with the oral care segment. “We are looking to launch multiple private label brands for the first time with this segment. The USP will be a superior product at much lower price than the existing brands available in the market,” a company official said.

Since this will trigger direct competition with FMCG players, retail chains will now increase their branding and marketing efforts to promote these products. “We will take recourse to proper marketing activities akin to FMCG like sampling, direct contact program mes with customers and extensive in-store branding,” a Subhiksha official said.

Speciality contract manufacturers like JHS Svendgaard Labs, which supplies dental care products like tooth-paste, tooth-brushes, mouth rinse and whitening gel to eight global retail chains across US, Europe and the Middle East is betting big on India. The company is increasing capacity by nearly 300% at an investment of Rs 50 crore to garner a large slice of this emerging domestic market.