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Why Are Disinfecting Wipes Still So Hard To Find?

by Freedonia Industry Studies

May 12, 2020

Prior to the coronavirus pandemic, disinfecting wipes weren’t a high priority repeat shopping item for most households. According to data from The Freedonia Group’s National Online Consumer Survey conducted in July-August 2019, only 38% of respondents reported buying surface cleaning wipes (disinfecting or otherwise) more than once in the previous 12 months.

However, with the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, disinfecting wipes became a particularly hot object. They are a convenient cleaning option at a time when many people find themselves cleaning surfaces at home or at work multiple times a day. According to data from The Freedonia Group’s newest National Online Consumer Survey conducted in April-May 2020, 62% of respondents reported buying surface cleaning wipes (disinfecting or otherwise) more than once in the previous 12 months.

This big shift in new consumer demand was on top of increased use by existing wipes users at home and heightened demand from places such as commercial businesses, factories, retail stores, hospitals, and eldercare facilities.

So why is it getting easier to find toilet paper and hand sanitizer, but not disinfecting wipes? The spike in use was bigger and the barriers to entry are higher.

In response to the increased demand, Clorox has been running more shifts, shifted production capacity to the basic versions, and reached out to third-party manufacturers. The company is also making investments in capacity expansions, presuming that demand will remain high in the longer term.

Reckitt Benckiser, which sells Lysol and Dettol disinfectant products, expanded capacity and concentrated production on core needed production.

With heightened demand expected to continue through this crisis period and beyond, other wipes manufacturers may develop products for consumer markets. For instance, firms such as NicePak, which do a lot of business in healthcare and contract cleaning markets, could make headway by sending similar products to the consumer market once supplies are steady in the markets they already serve.

For more information, see The Freedonia Group’s Wipes, Global Nonwovens, and Industrial & Institutional Cleaning Chemicals. Contact your sales representative or The Freedonia Group’s customer service for information on our upcoming special Industrial & Institutional Disinfectants & Sanitizers report. Additional targeted research is available from Freedonia Custom Research.

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