New turn to shampoo wars as HLL shrinks pack

The shampoo wars have taken a new turn. Instead of just cutting prices straightaway, the leading shampoo-maker has now cut both prices and the size of the packaging.

Fast moving consumer goods major Hindustan Lever is changing the size of packages for its Sunsilk shampoo. The company has introduced new pack sizes for Sunsilk at different prices.

The soap-to-foods maker has reduced the size of the 125 ml Sunsilk bottle to 100 ml and its price from Rs 55 to Rs 37.

Similarly, the 250 ml bottle has been reduced to 200 ml and its price from Rs 100 to Rs 70. The 125-ml package is the most popular one.

However, there is no change in the content of the 400 ml bottle whose price has been slashed from Rs 150 to Rs 125. The new pack sizes now match arch rival Procter & Gamble's Pantene pack sizes.

Pantene is positioned against Sunsilk. Pantene sells its 100 ml bottle at Rs 51, 200 ml bottle at Rs 98 and 400 ml bottle at Rs 175.

HLL had relaunched Sunsilk Naturals, one of the variants, during the December quarter.

Mumbai-based distributors confirmed HLL's new packaging sizes with new prices. HLL officials declined to comment on the move. In April, HLL withdrew its promotional offer of buy-one-get-one-free bottle on both its big shampoo brands "" Sunsilk and Clinic Plus.

Simultaneously, HLL relaunched Clinic Plus shampoo at a lower price point , with five hair health benefit formulations.

The Rs 1,000 crore shampoo market has been packed with action for quite some time now, with both HLL & P&G announcing price cuts. The ongoing battle is expected to shore up shampoo volumes while taking a hit on company margins. In 2003, volumes in the shampoo market declined by 5.2 per cent.

HLL is the market leader in shampoos, with a share of 50 per cent. Sunsilk has a share of 15 per cent while the flagship brand, Clinic Plus, has a share of 25 per cent.

Procter & Gamble, with all its three brands (Head & Shoulders, Pantene and Rejoice), has a share of over 15 per cent in value terms.