5 posts tagged “which? magazine”
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'.
Praise for King of Shaves Azor, letter to Which? Magazine. Absolutely Excellent! (original blog post)
Reading
the June edition of Which? Magazine, the UK's leading independent
consumer magazine, I was absolutely delighted to read the letter below,
especially about Mr. Michael Garrard regarding his other razors "as
museum pieces". Priceless.
This huge sum, the GDP of some developing nations, was spent by Gillette on Fusion in the recession ravaged USA alone, convincing customers that Fusion's 5 blades costing £2.50 are better than Mach3's three. Despite the fact that Fusion blades cost up to twice as much as their Mach3 replacement, yet lasted about as long (and this about half as long as our Azor Endurium blades).
As we approach the anniversary of the King of Shaves Azor launch, we're making serious inroads into the UK shaving market, with not only a fraction of this spend, but with a product that (independent, unbiased) Which? magazine not only rates a 'best buy' but 'exceptional value' too.
Indeed, they even run a brief article comparing our Azor Endurium cartridges (at £1.25 or less) with Fusion Power cartridges (at £2.50) asking "are razor blades a rip-off?'
This is market disrupting stuff. With over 15,000 new Azor converts joining us in enjoying the 'King of Shaves, without Gillette's ransom' each and every week, I can see why they need to spend so much money - in the UK, we estimate their market spend to be around £30,000,000 - Thirty Million Pounds.
Funny, that like Apple's iPod, people are switching to our King of Shaves Azor as an embodiment of stylish, product performance, which pushes shaving simplicity first, and marketing nonsense second. Plus, with our 'Technology of Bendology', we know Batteries and Extra (over-priced) blades simply aren't cutting it anymore.
Would we spend over £150m on marketing the Azor. Seriously doubt it - I'd plough it back in to making King of Shaves more and more the 'Future of Shaving', and invest in you, the customer, rather than trying to buy loyalty through marketing. Will King of Shaves be the 'new best a man can buy'.
Absolutely.
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!
Which? Magazine like which razor? The King of Shaves Azor (and i'm absolutely, massively delighted)! (original blog post)
Which?
is the UK's leading, independent, unbiased and authoritative consumer
magazine. As they put it, "No Advertising, No Bias, No Hidden Agenda'.
It reviews all manner of goods, from cameras to cars, phones to printers, and of course razors. And we just missed out on inclusion in a razor test in May (just prior to the Azor launch). But, true to form, they've checked out the King of Shaves Azor, and like what they see.
I don't need to say anything else, other than Which? agree with our opinion about the Azor, that it "shaves closer, longer, for less". Plus, it's coming to Tesco, Superdrug, Morrisons and Waitrose very very soon...
Thanks Which?!!!!!!!
ps
- to see how to use the cartridge case to hold (and store) the Azor,
see the pic of the Mauritus based World's Happiest Azor, above too (no
unnecessary secondary packaging remember)
