Gain a deeper understanding of what’s in, what’s out, and which trends to pay attention to for your brand’s household care lines to excel in 2023.
Data analyzed for this report
Our team has collected and analyzed 8.6 million consumer data points to understand where consumer interest is headed in 2022 and beyond. We analyzed social media mentions, consumer sentiment patterns, product descriptions, and search traffic. Here’s a recap of the data we collected and dissected throughout our analysis:
- Social Engagement: Massive data pools and analysis of influential posts
- Search: A leading indicator of consumer purchasing behavior
- Reviews: Helps identify unmet need states and consumer language used to describe products
- Descriptions: Allow us to extract language used by competitors and how often specific attributes are being used
This allowed us to identify what ingredients, need states, and sensory attributes are coming up in the data. We used that information to make predictions about the future, considering the following:
- Consumer demand
- Overall opportunity size
- Competition
- Innovation opportunities
Our opportunity analysis helps brands understand where to invest next. This de-risks new product development and ultimately grows new product revenue. Data insights like these have proven helpful to any business looking to get ahead of the curve.
Let’s dig in.
Overall Insights
With nearly 9 million consumer data points analyzed from October 2017-2019, the team here at Simporter is predicting quite a bit of growth in the household care industry.
Pets have always been popular, but with the COVID-19 pandemic, pet ownership exploded. During countless months in lockdown, Americans brought furry friends into their homes to add some fun and companionship to their daily routines. Over 3.9 million households added one pet over the past year or so, which is only expected to grow. As more and more people adopt furry (or scaly) friends, it’s significantly impacting the world of household care.
Pets bring mess, dirt, and grime into our homes, which means we’re searching for ways to keep our homes clean and tidy. In 2023, we’ll see a rise in demand for products handling pet hair, dander, and accidental messes. We’ll also see more people talking about household care on social media and online forums. And, of course, consumers will be spending more money on products that keep their homes looking and smelling good.
Gen Z will also have the largest share of buying power, and as more and more of them venture into homeownership, the higher impact they’ll have on trending products. Our team predicts their influence will continue to rise across 2022. At the same time, not surprisingly, we will see a higher percentage of consumer conversations and searches for natural and sustainable products.
Household Care Key Takeaways
- Sanitizing and Disinfecting needs have returned to have growth rates more similar to pre-pandemic norms, though you can routinely expect spikes as variants emerge.
- Natural and sustainable are different terms with different meanings. Knowing the difference and making sure your claims are accurate is essential.
- Pets are here to stay (and stink). 3.9 million households welcomed pets last year, which will be a top consumer need.
- Make sure your products are built with a purpose in mind. Specializing your development to a niche problem is even better.
Household Care
Pet ownership is exploding, with 70 percent of US households currently owning pets (up from 67 percent in 2021). Videos and photos of pet shelters cleared out peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic as consumers craved companionship. For a while, it seemed like everyone was getting a new pet.
We all know what that means. Pets bring mess, and this year, they’re making a big impact on 2023 household care trends.
Categories Winners & Losers
Categories like Cleaning Pads, Bathroom Cleaner, Deodorizers, Shower Cleaners, and Couch Cleaners will grow driven primarily by increased homeownership and pets. Put simply; consumers need different types of products to clean the areas they’re spending the most time in.
While we tend to think of pet products as a standalone category, brands that can bring pet stain and odor-fighting power to standard household cleaning products will succeed. Consumers want multipurpose products when possible, so help them clean up after the whole family — humans and non-humans alike.
Categories like Disinfecting Wipes, Disinfectant Spray, and Window Cleaners seem to be declining, but don’t count these products out. They will still be popular as we attribute much of their decline to noise in the market.
Themes Winners & Losers
To nobody’s surprise, plant-Based is leading much of the growth within household care themes. With a larger percentage of Millennial and Gen Z consumers buying homes, they will have more counters, floors, and rooms to clean. Expect a significant shift in natural and plant-based household cleaners as younger generations expand their buying power.
Forms Winners & Losers
Industry staples like Pastes, Pads, Tablets, and Sprays will grow in 2023. Foams are a unique and high-impact form with high potential for growth and an opportunity for a more innovative form to top consumer interest. Powders and Liquid solutions have a slightly negative growth outlook, but they’ll continue to compete for market share.
Need States Winners & Losers
Deep Cleaning will remain relevant and continue to grow as more and more younger consumers take the leap into first-time homeownership. More space means more space to clean, so younger generations are driving trending needs.
Deodorizers are a close second, making sense given the higher rate of pet ownership and the need to keep spaces feeling fresh and less like wet dogs.
Terms that peaked during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic include Antibacterial, Disinfects, Mold-Remover, and Protection. While they’ll remain popular, especially as different variants emerge and heighten germ sensitivity, these need states will have a hard time competing with the massive growth they experienced across 2020 and 2021.
Sensory Attributes Winners & Losers
In a world dominated by social media, how a product looks, bubbles, foams, or transforms will be trending in 2023. With TikTok tutorials and reviews becoming more popular than ever before, a visually engaging product is set up for success compared to standard spray or liquid forms.
If you have products that are already a hit, try to add a foaming or bubbling element to optimize growth and user-generated awareness.
Household Care Sensory Attributes like durable, non-scratch, shine and dry will decline in popularity among consumers in 2023.
Stain Removal Use Cases Winners & Losers
As we’ve mentioned previously, increased homeownership, particularly across younger generations, is driving growth across the household care industry. Stain removal for Laminate, Coffee, and Hardwood are evergreen consumer needs, but with the increase of homeowners comes an increase in these traditional needs.
When we look at declining ingredients, Grime, Iron, and Food take the top three spots on our list. These are all typically associated with being outdoors, so the less time folks spend outside during the colder winter months, the less focus they’ve placed on these stain removal needs. As summer approaches, these are likely to balance out.
Deep Dive into COVID-19 Need States Winners & Losers
We can’t pretend COVID-19 isn’t a factor impacting all industries, especially cleaning and household care. The pandemic isn’t over, and it will continue to ebb and flow as variants emerge and dissipate into the background. Antimicrobial products became popular during the pandemic, so there’s an opportunity to position those types of products as protective.
Cleaning products will always be a consumer need, but the more convenient a product is, the more success it will see. Kills Viruses will continue to be a popular claim because as long as the COVID-19 pandemic is going on, people are going to want products that kill any virus they might’ve picked up.
There are slight changes in how consumers discuss COVID-19 need states, causing terms like Kills Bacteria, Disinfects, and Antibacterial to decline year-over-year.
About Simporter
Founded in 2018, Simporter is a data analytics firm that automates new product research with AI software to automate new product research.
Brands and retailers use our software to pinpoint which products consumers truly want and how much they will purchase. Our proprietary technology analyzes billions of data points from point-of-sales, search traffic, social media sentiment, and customer reviews.
For more insights on luxury cosmetics trends, you can watch our recent webinar 2022 Fabric and Household Trends here on YouTube. If you’re ready to see Simporter AI in action and learn what it can do for you, request a demo on our website.
