41 posts tagged “gillette fusion”
Link to today's Daily Mail article here
Reprinted below
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Gillette marks up razor price by 4,750%
Sean Poulter, Daily Mail8 June 2009
Men are paying over the odds for a clean shave because of a huge mark-up on razor heads.
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| Faces of the brand: Gillette can afford to hire sports stars Roger Federer, Thierry Henry and Tiger Woods to advertise its products |
The products sold by Gillette and other companies cost as little as 5p to make, industry insiders have revealed.
But consumers are charged up to £2.43 a piece - a mark-up of more than 4,750%.
The price of shaving products at leading supermarkets is under investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.
The Government watchdog is involved in a long-running inquiry into alleged collusion between manufacturers and retailers.
It is alleged that salesmen from Procter & Gamble, which bought Gillette for $57bn (£35bn) in 2005, urged retailers not to cut the shop price of its brands.
A check of Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury's found the UK's three biggest supermarkets are selling Gillette's Fusion Power cartridges at the same price.
A pack of eight costs £18.53, and the replacement razor heads are so expensive that they are now the most shoplifted product in the High Street.
Special security measures have been introduced, including sealing the packs in boxes with an electronic tag which sets off an alarm if it is not removed before leaving the store, and CCTV that activates if the product is removed from the shelf.
A pack of four Fusion Power cartridges costs only 20p to manufacture, plus 8p for packaging. But they are sold for £9.72 - a mark-up of £9.44.
An industry insider said Gillette takes the lion share - £6.28 - to cover its operating costs and make a profit. Some £1.90 goes to the retailer and £1.26 to the Government in VAT. The insider said: 'I know as a matter of fact that it will not cost more than 5p to produce a refill cartridge, it is a question of pennies given the bulk involved, yet Gillette is charging a wholesale price which is much higher.
'The figures tell you why it can afford to use stars such as Tiger Woods on its payroll (for advertising) and how it could afford to give David Beckham a diamond-encrusted mach3 razor for Father's Day some years back costing $54,000.
'With the Gillette products, the company is so dominant that it is able to spell out the terms of sale, including the price they want to see, to retailers.'
As well as Beckham and Woods, Gillette has splashed out large amounts of money on tennis star Roger Federer and footballer Thierry Henry to help market its products.
A recent Which? survey praised Gillette's products but gave a 'Best Buy' rating to the King of Shaves Azor.
Its four cartridge refill pack comes in at a much cheaper £4.88.
Tesco's Matrix system, which has a triple blade head, has also won plaudits. A four cartridge refill costs only £2.20. A spokesman for Procter & Gamble said the retailers, rather than manufacturers, set the price paid by customers.
She said: 'Delivering value to our consumers is critical to our business.
'P&G determines the (wholesale) prices at which we sell to customers primarily based on covering our costs - the cost of product development, raw materials, processing, packaging, transport, general-expenses and marketing.' She said that the company also needed to earn 'a sufficient return to sustain our business' and argued that its products provide good value in terms of performance in relation to price.
She said the company was unable to comment on the OFT investigation, but added: 'Our policy is to comply with the letter and spirit of the law everywhere we do business'.
A picture tells a story of 1,000 words.
Check this out Gillette Fusion at £2 per handle. That's pretty close to cost of goods for Gillette. So, it's either from the grey market, or it's UK stock. You'll have seen my blog post earlier about the fact I hadn't seen Gillette Fusion handles on promotion this month - well, this is one HELL of a promotion (major-league loss leader). No wonder sales of Fusion handles are heavily up (when promoted) but rep cartridges overtaken by Mach3. Men - if you have half a dozen, a dozen - ore more - of unwanted Fusion handles cluttering up your bathroom (and possibly causing your wife, partner much annoyance) we'll shortly be repeating our Hamnesty (Handle Amnesty) so you can send them to us, we'll recycle them (or maybe use the for something clever) and send you a swish new Azor handle, affordably priced at the get-go, and with blades that shave closer, last longer - and COST LESS!
Peeps, remember to bookmark www.moneyshavingexpert.com - you'll be glad you did - very QT 'Hush Hush' - all will be revealed - and to be the first in the know, follow me on twitter - you might enjoy it!!!!
The Mach3 system razor comprised sixteen individual plastic and metal parts (excluding the cartridge), all requiring assembly and as you might imagine, somewhat challenging to recycle.
The Fusion manual system razor comprised ten parts.
The Azor comprised just one.
This is what we call "Simply Better, Designed In", because we see shaving simplicity as a virtue. This is our future, and we hope you embrace it too. You can find out a little bit more about our view on the environment here
PS - we didn't even look at taking apart a Fusion Power razor, or the Precision Trimmer...I think you know what my view would be on them!!!
King of Shaves Azor Awarded Which? Magazine 'Best Buy' (original blog posting)
Nicky
was emailed about the above today, and I was delighted
to browse Which? magazine's online website, and find that our King of
Shaves Azor has been awarded 'Best Buy'
status by the UK's leading unbiased consumer product magazine. No
mention of Wilkinson Sword or Gillette Fusion Manual, the other razors
rated were Gillette Fusion Power (handle £9.99 versus our £4.99,
cartridges £2.50 versus our £1.25) and the 11 year old Mach3.
Here's what Which? had to say:
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71% King of Shaves Azor £4.88
The four-blade Azor from King of Shaves looks more like a tuning fork than a razor but it delivers a close and comfortable shave at a reasonable price. Rather than a pivoting head, the Azor reaches the nooks and crannies of your face by the blade cartridge being fitted to a flexible rubber head, a bit like a bendy-toothbrush. It comes with three replacement blades. There is a version in black (Warp), white (Pola) and limited-edition red (Rari).
And, perhaps most tellingly of all, Which? made the following comments:
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The costs of using a shaving system
Replacing the blade cartridges for a shaving system can be expensive and, unlike printer cartridges, you won't be able to find cheap unbranded blades to attach to big-name razors. Manufacturers are keen to protect their razor-innovations and Gillette have 70 patents on the Fusion alone.
We found that the six shaving systems we tested had similar durability, but there were striking differences in cost.
For example, when we checked, the Azor from King of Shaves was half
the price of the Gillette Fusion Power Stealth and came with three
replacement blades, while the Power Stealth came with one. And buying a
pack of four replacement blades for the Azor was half the price as well.
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FANTASTIC RESULT!
With the King's market share increasing month on month, these promotions spearhead exciting
I was amused to see this picture in top online golf eZine, In Golf We Trust.
Good find, guys - and thanks for bigging up the Azor, I shouldn't think the top brass at Gillette Central will be too happy to see the world's best golfer sprouting whiskers, especially as Gillette sponsor him with squillions of dollars.
Check it out here
And if you're looking for the shaving equivalent of Tiger Woods when he broke into the world of professional golf many years ago, and reinvented it, click here
Credit
Crunched? Recession Ravaged? Get the King of Shaves for £9.49 for 8
blades, not Gillette Fusion's 'The Most Expensive A Man Can Get' for
nearly £19!! (original blog posting)
Pictures
tell a 1,000 words. I snapped this in my local Sainsbury's today, we're
nicely in stock with handles, and blades are due to be replenished
shortly! Check the huge (£9.49) price difference between our pack of 8 blades, and those from Gillette Fusion.
You could save nearly £10 with King of Shaves Azor! Plus, ours last longer too. So, if you want the King of Shaves, without paying Gillette's ransom, you know who to trust.
Join us. We are King of Shaves!
Out with the old, in with the new!
Gentlemen - in these chilly credit-crunched days, why not join the 300,000+ men who've changed their razor to the NEW King of Shaves Azor? With a 3 up Azor handle including 3 super long lasting Endurium coated blades costing just £4.99, and replacement blades just £4.99 for 4 (or £9.49 for 8), now it's time to "Shave Money" and switch from your 2008 Gillette Fusion, Mach 3 or Wilkinson Sword Quattro to the revolutionary new, UK designed, UK manufactured Azor!
For 10,000 men in Surrey, Christmas came early, with Santa leaving an Azor bag (see picture) hanging on the front door knob, where you only had to toss in your old Gillette or Wilkinson Sword razor and answer a couple of simple questions to get a brand new Azor! (PS - check out all that old hardware, and some not so old - even Fusion handles consigned to our Hamnesty bag! Anyone got any ideas with what to do with 7,000+ system handles...?)
As 2009 unfolds, everyone will be looking at more performance for less money, and the King of Shaves Azor was designed with exactly this in mind. Why pay nearly £19 for 8 Gillette Fusion blades, or stick with 10 year old Mach 3 technology, when you can upgrade your shave to the World's Best Shave?
Join us (and save cash in the process). We are King of Shaves!
More of this shortly. Until then.
Well,
I have to agree with Campaign.
Link here!
