Today, I went to a barber shop to get a haircut and a shave. I must say that I was not surprised to see that the barber shop was still continuing to use the regular old shaving blades and had not upgraded to multiple blade products introduced a decade before by Gillette and other such companies. When I asked the barber why he did not upgrade to twin blade or other such razors, he cited the cost of such blades as the reason.
I think that inertia is also one of the reasons. This is how everyone does it and so I do it this way too.
This provides an excellent opportunity for Gillette to penetrate a market which is completely.
This got me thinking and the result is this idea post.
Idea:
- Gillette to introduce a twin blade, single use razor to be sold exclusively to the barber shops or beauty saloons directly.
@Price point:
- 1 or 2 INR per razor is the ideal price point for such an offering in order to get these barbers to start using these twin blades. It is absolutely essential that the cost is less than 2 rupees that the blade is only suitable for single use due to hygiene reasons.
Distribution
- One more critical success factor for this to work is also to have a direct selling team that can reach these barbers directly away from the regular distribution network.
- Gillette can promote this as a self-employment opportunity to young entrepreneurs who want to start their own businesses.
- This will ensure that Gillette does not incur high costs on the distribution of these product and at the same time provides self-employment to a multitude of people (worth talking about in the press and has the possibility to generate a lot of good PR around this).
- Once the network is in place, Gillette can use this to cross-sell its other products to the same customers.
Whats in it for
Barber shop:
- Provide better shave to their customers
- Increase their customer retention
- Beyond a certain level of adoption, this becomes the price of entry
- This can also help them slightly increase their service fee
Gillette:
- Increased sales by tapping a completely new segment
- Increased brand recall by customers who use the barber shop
- Availability of an alternate distribution channel which can be leveraged for other products as well
- Good PR opportunity
Consumer (Customer of the barber shop):
- They get a a better shaving experience at the barber shops.
Distributors:
- Self-employment oppportunity to 100’s of young people.
- They can also then start cross – selling other skin-care or beauty products to the customer community and thereby grow their business.
Hope someone is listening and explores the feasibility of this approach.
Now the questions is, will someone be open enough to take a serious look at this opportunity?
