From “you can’t get whiter” to “Madam, do you want to change your canister for two of another detergent?”. The first is an iconic slogan, the second the fateful question from the supermarket test. Whether they are used for doing laundry, washing dishes or cleaning surfaces, home care and cleaning products represent a category much appreciated by buyers, who increasingly choose to purchase them online, especially on Amazon.
What can you find when you buy online
The marketplace par excellence offers, as stated on the dedicated home page, “household detergents, paper, films, bags and wipes, firelighters and matches, laundry products, rolls of kitchen paper and toilet paper, shoe care and much more”. It goes without saying that buying household products online allows you to focus longer on the characteristics of what you intend to buy. For example, the specifics of the “Dash Power PODs”, well described in a campaign marketing created by Procter & Gamble, can be consulted more conveniently: from the double closure to the cardboard packaging made up of over 70 percent recycled fibres.
Browsing further on Amazon, the “Hygiene and personal care” section ranges from toothpastes to toothbrushes and deodorants. But, whether it’s home or personal care, where is it best to buy these products? And, above all, outside of e-commerce, is it preferable to turn to supermarkets or specialized shops? Let’s try to clarify things a little.
Where is the best place to shop
In a discussion about Reddit entitled “Home products: supermarkets or specialized shops?”, a user asks: “My wife and I are trying to save as much as possible by doing the shopping and we are wondering whether, for home and personal hygiene products, supermarkets such as Conad, Coop, Lidl and Eurospin or specialized chains such as Tigotà and La Saponeria are more convenient”. Another user replies: “The savings are negligible. Of course, if I bought the Dash pack for 18 euros at the supermarket and it cost 13 euros at Tigotà, then yes, something would change.”
We did a test: a 750 ml pack of Smart Dishwasher Gel costs 6.95 euros from Tigotà, while on the Esselungain the Smart line, the same product is sold for 3.89 euros. The saving is 43.2 percent: 2.96 euros that remain in the wallet. Contacted by The Vermilion, Esselunga explained: “Our promotional initiatives are continuous and vary periodically, with the aim of guaranteeing customers a constant offer of convenience over time”.
The supermarket chain recently partnered with the Italian startup Scuter. It also specifies that “the promotions affect the different product categories and are defined on the basis of multiple commercial and assortment factors, without being linked to a specific day of the week”. An approach that allows Esselunga, one of the main Italian large-scale retail groups, to “meet customers’ savings needs on a daily basis, maintaining the usual attention to quality”.
Toothpaste price comparison
From home care and cleaning products to those for personal hygiene: intimate cleansers, toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, dental floss, breath sprays and much more. In the oral hygiene category, the toothpaste occupies a prominent place: before spreading to supermarkets and shops, it was mainly purchased in pharmacies.
In a post published on the platform Quoraa user said that, according to his dental hygienist, “the quality of teeth cleaning depends above all on the frequency and correct brushing technique, rather than on the price of the toothpaste. For this reason, with the right precautions, even a cheap tube can effectively perform its function”.
Without wanting to delve into this last aspect, but limiting ourselves to the economic one, we take as a reference the Oral-B toothpaste, of which the actor Luca Argentero is the testimonial. Well, it being understood that prices in supermarkets and shops may vary based on promotions and availability, the official price of the 75 ml Clinical is 6.99 euros, exactly how much it costs in a supermarket Carrefour. The online comparison is interesting: Trovaprezzi.it, which collects offers and products on promotion, reports prices starting from 3 euros. However, considering shipping costs, the advantage may be reduced.
Savings are worth the product
Let’s sum up. In general, there is no increasingly convenient point of sale for products intended for home care and cleaning and for those dedicated to personal hygiene. In the first case, when it comes to laundry detergents, dishwasher detergents and toilet paper, the supermarket can offer good savings opportunities, especially when you choose the chain’s branded products or take advantage of promotions. In these cases, in fact, distributor brands can have lower prices than branded products, despite performing the same function.
The situation is different for products dedicated to personal and oral hygiene. For toothpastes, toothbrushes, mouthwashes, shampoos and shower gels, specialized chains such as Water & Soapthe largest network in the sector with over 1,000 consortium-managed sales points, e Caddy’swith over 380 stores in Northern and Central Italy, often offer convenient promotions on major brands and provide constantly updated flyers. It is therefore useful to compare prices before purchasing, especially for products such as Oral-B, but also Colgate, Elmex and Mentadent, the cost of which can vary significantly from one store to another.
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