Clean Insights 2: Home Care Innovation

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In-depth perspectives and expert analysis for today’s laundry care leaders.

Issue No. 2

The Evolution of Connected Living: Laundry Trends in the Digital Age

Continuing our series on consumer trends, we’ll explore some additional forces shaping the fabric care market and transforming the way people approach their laundry habits today and into the future.

At the core of the next three consumer trends that we’ll cover is the concept of connected living. As smart home devices, health trackers and voice-activated shopping assistants (like Amazon’s Alexa) become omnipresent in our daily lives, consumers expect more convenience and personalization from their brands, and products that contribute to a more balanced and meaningful lifestyle.

No generation embodies the concept of connected living more than Generation Z — those born between 1996 and 2010. Representing one in four people around the globe, Gen Z’s sheer size, spending power and social influence make them trendsetters, driving shifts in the home care market. And, as they’re coming of age in this time of radical change and digital hyper-connectivity, this group is rooted in openness and adaptability, with a strong commitment to social justice and sustainability.

For laundry brands, leveraging social media platforms effectively and demonstrating alignment with Gen Z’s values when relevant — and acting on it — will be crucial to winning long-term customer loyalty with this rising generation.

But the ongoing transformation in the laundry care market extends across generations. Below, we’ll explore some key trends that reflect wide-ranging consumer shifts in values and behaviors in the digital age.

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01 New Digital Reality
02 Simplicity and Convenience
03 Expanded View of Health
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New Digital Reality

E-commerce exploded during the pandemic, and the digital transformation continues to shape how consumers discover, evaluate and purchase their laundry detergents.

Online reviews, social media and influencer recommendations greatly influence buying decisions, highlighting the importance for brands to have a strong digital presence and promote direct engagement. Moreover, there’s a growing expectation for personalized shopping experiences, powered by data analytics and AI, to guide consumers toward products that meet their specific needs and preferences.

The Laundry Lens

This digital shift requires laundry detergent companies to be agile, adopt technologies to enhance customer engagement, and leverage data for targeted marketing strategies.

A close-up of a clothing care label on a plaid cotton fabric, showing size 3XL and various laundry care symbols.

e-commerce market

By the numbers

Bar chart showing global e-commerce market share by country in 2022: China (34%), US (30%), Other (25%), UK (5%), Japan (3%), France (3%), Germany (2%).

Purple background with white text stating that India has one of the world’s fastest-growing e-commerce markets, with projected transaction value share by 2027.

Bar chart showing projected global e-commerce market share by country in 2027: China (36%), US (27%), Other (24%), including UK (4%), India (3%), Japan (3%), and France (3%).

A blue shopping basket filled with groceries including a baguette, canned goods, red bell peppers, and lettuce, with text about U.S. omnichannel shopping habits.

A panoramic view of a modern Chinese city skyline at dusk, with illuminated skyscrapers and a prominent bridge reflecting over a calm river (shutterstock_2474396631)

Lessons from China

China has the world’s largest e-commerce market, with sales increasing at an annual rate of 14% between 2017 and 2022. Its rising middle class coupled with high mobile phone use has created a massive consumer base. At the same time, the Chinese government has heavily invested in digital infrastructure like mobile payment systems and delivery logistics, fueling the growth in online retail.

Beyond the traditional e-commerce platforms like Taobao and JD.com, social e-commerce is a rapidly growing business model. Social media platforms like Douyin (Chinese TikTok) and Xiaohongshu (“Little Red Book”) have e-commerce features directly integrated into their apps, allowing users to seamlessly discover, share and purchase products while staying within the experience. In this social space, brands also rely heavily on influencers to drive product discovery and sales.

The Laundry Lens

The rise of e-commerce is generating a wealth of consumer data that can be leveraged to design products that better meet consumers’ needs. On the marketing side, this data can also be used to better target specific consumer segments, says Lynn Meng, Asia Pacific Business Segment Leader at IFF.

As the e-commerce marketplace becomes more crowded, however, it will become more challenging for brands to stand out. “This will require R&D and marketing teams to collaborate to really understand their products’ features and then translate that to consumer language that resonates,” says Meng. In addition, there’s an opportunity for brands to leverage key opinion leaders on e-commerce sites to educate consumers about their products and build trust.

A person stands in a store aisle lined with laundry detergent bottles. Two product links in Chinese are highlighted, referencing direct-to-consumer sales on Douyin.

On Douyin (Chinese TikTok), “HDL” sites sell manufacturers’ products directly to consumers, claiming lower prices that cut out the retail middleman.

A Douyin influencer’s chart compares laundry detergents across three categories: Repurchase List, Easy to Use List, and Conscience List, with various Chinese brands shown.

Influencers play an important role in buying decisions for Chinese consumers; the influencer above on Douyin, Miss Bi Hua, rates her favorite laundry detergents.

Two laundry detergent products featured on Xiaohongshu with prices, purchase counts, and brief descriptions in Chinese.

Xiaohongshu (“Little Red Book”) is a popular social shopping app where users share their product reviews and tips; above, users give their reviews of laundry detergents with a link to purchase.

Simplicity and convenience

As today’s consumers are inundated with choices while also juggling work, family responsibilities and household chores, they’re looking for solutions that streamline their daily routines, making life a bit simpler.

This trend is about more than just ease of use; it’s about offering multifunctional products that can address multiple cleaning needs in one go, saving time and reducing clutter.

The Laundry Lens

From laundry strips and tabs to fiber tiles, detergent manufacturers around the globe are offering innovative new product formats that emphasize convenience and sustainability for consumers.

Responding to consumers’ shifting laundry habits (fewer stains on clothing, but more sweat, dust and body oils), Unilever has launched Wonder Wash, a new product category designed to work in cycles as short as 15 minutes.

The Lab Co.’s laundry strips from the UK are marketed as “made from plant-based ingredients” and advertised to perform effectively at all washing temperatures.

Procter & Gamble’s recently launched Tide evo, a new fiber tile format, aims to eliminate the need for liquid detergents and bulky plastic bottles while promising high performance in cold-water washing. Initially being tested in Colorado markets this spring, the new format will roll out across the U.S. later this year.

A person holds a detergent pod in one hand and a container of pods in the other, standing in front of an open washing machine filled with laundry.

As fabric care leaders race to innovate and adapt their product portfolios to this potentially disruptive new format.

It’s important to keep in mind that performance still rules the day. If you look at the history of new product releases, such as unit doses (“detergent pods”), many of these innovations were initially unpopular with consumers. But through laundry manufacturers’ continued innovation and performance optimization, these formats eventually gained a following.

“Whatever new convenience or sustainability formats you’re working on, you still need to deliver the same level of performance.

Our research has found that dissatisfaction with stain removal is the number one reason consumers change brands or formats,”

says Tatiana Goncharova,
Global Business Segment Leader at IFF.

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Cleaning Power

By the numbers

World map highlighting countries where consumers cite “better stain fighting abilities” as the top reason to switch detergent brands, including Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Nigeria, Spain, and China.

Expanded View of Health

The definition of health has shifted beyond merely “the absence of illness and disease” to a broader, more holistic perspective that encompasses mental health and well-being and living in harmony with the environment.

Gen Z and Millennials

The Laundry Lens

Consumers still expect their basic needs of cleaning and hygiene to be met, but now brands have a growing opportunity to differentiate by offering products that safeguard physical health and the planet and enhance well-being.

This shift resonates particularly with younger consumers (Gen Z, millennials), who are more attuned to how household care products impact their health. Fabric care leaders have an opportunity to connect with this digital-native generation and ensure that they understand their products’ positive health aspects and lower health risks.

A generational View

By the numbers

Bar chart showing the percentage of each generation that says health always or often impacts their homecare product purchases: Gen Y (65%), Gen Z (63%), Gen X (63%), Boomers (56%), Silent Gen (54%).

Wellness Movement

Laundry as a meditative ritual

In line with the growing wellness movement, millennials and Gen Zers are leading the way in reimagining laundry as a mediative ritual and appreciating the simple moments of life. On social media platforms, influencers are driving the #CleanTok and #Cleanfluencer trends, attracting millions of viewers for their helpful tips and a sense of calm.

Influencers

The Laundry Lens

Fabric care brands can seize this opportunity to leverage influencers to interact with their products and educate younger generations.

Scratch Pad for Images in IFF Branding (1)

Cleaning Preferences

By the numbers

elevating laundry

TikTok Influencers

A call to action

As we navigate the digital age, the intersection of technological advances and consumer trends presents a tremendous opportunity for laundry care leaders to create products that align with and enhance the way we live.

Industry leaders must keep innovating to develop products that not only deliver outstanding performance but also integrate seamlessly into our interconnected, eco-friendly and health-focused lifestyles.