EXPORTING HAND SANITISER FROM AUSTRALIA
WHERE’S THE OPPORTUNITY ?
The spread of COVID-19 had sparked a global obsession with sanitisation and hygiene. In Australia, we have seen a remarkable expansion of domestic supply capacity by some 400 percent over the first few months of the pandemic. It’s worthy to note that a large number of these new market players in the industry are existing local distilleries. These companies continue to be in a good position to adapt business operations and take advantage of existing resources to meet surges in demand.
As the COVID-19 situation in Australia continues to improve, there is a great opportunity for these suppliers to expand their newfound competitive operations into international markets.
OUR EXPORT TIPS
PRODUCT
Australian producers can leverage their unique designs such as glass bottles to differentiate themselves in the market. There has been large segment growth in fragranced hand sanitisers and this is something Australian producers should take advantage of. As the formulation of hand sanitisers is largely standardised, branding and differentiation is the key to success.
PRICE
Pricing varies across region. Exporters targeting a mass market in the USA should be looking at price points ranging from $1.80 to $3.80 AUD for a 100ML bottle and $5.80 to $6 AUD for premium offerings. Meanwhile a majority of bands in China are standardised and slightly lower price points from $1 to $1.20 AUD per 100 ML would be appropriate
PROMOTION
The biggest driver of recent trends of personal care and hygiene has been through social media and online advertising. If you are planning on exporting something unique like “Australian whisky” themed hand sanitisers, then social media is the place to be.
PLACE
As governments scale back on public restrictions across the globe, we can expect to see an even greater demand not only for standard hand sanitisers but also for premium offerings. Future demand for hand sanitisers is to mainly stem from consumers undertaking essential and leisure activities. Hence convenience and availability will be the primary drivers of product sales, and exporters should focus on targeting retail, boutique or online sale channels.
OUR STRATEGIC TAKEAWAYS
We predict that demand for hand sanitisers will remain strong over 2021. Not all countries have the unique branding that Australian suppliers can offer and Australia has only just tapped into its domestic production capacity. We recommend suppliers who are considering exporting hand sanitiser from Australia to target a niche market – focusing on bringing interesting fragrances, themes and design offerings to propel the premium branding of Australian hand sanitiser. In summary we see this product having real export potential.
