By Laura Mahecha Director, Professional Cleaning, Kline + Company
Kline’s highly anticipated survey of over 1,000 janitorial professionals has recently concluded and delivered crucial end-user insights on product usage, preferences, buying habits, and key trends impacting the business. Key market sectors have shown increased demand, including office buildings with more employees requiring in-office workdays and hotels with increased business and leisure travel. While end users are no longer cleaning as frequently as they did during the pandemic, they still prioritize clean surfaces and hand care. As a result, hard-surface cleaners and hand care products have propelled industry growth over the past few years.
Efficient, multi-purpose products and simplified routines are in demand as end users grapple with persistent labor shortages. The cleaning industry, in particular, has faced ongoing challenges maintaining full teams and retaining talent. Therefore, these end users are increasingly relying on multi-purpose products, simplified routines, and automation in their work processes.
Among the many topics revealed from this research, we learn that cleaning product performance and trusted brands are the most important purchase factors, though there is some variation by end-use segment. Nursing homes look for products that offer superior performance from brands they know and trust. Given the sensitive patient populations at nursing homes and the problems that occurred during the pandemic, the performance of cleaning products for nursing homes is paramount.
Full-service restaurants, on the other hand, are also concerned with price and using products that save employees time and offer labor-saving benefits. Staff shortages and rising costs of food and operations are key challenges faced by restaurant owners.
Sustainability is also a key priority for professional cleaning end users. Some are seeking clean ingredients in the products they use, and others are focused on increasing their use of products that come in post-recycled content packaging, water and energy conservation, or concentrated formulas. And this is not just hyperbole as majority are putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak; 87% of respondents indicate a willingness to pay more for green cleaning products.
Green certification on their cleaning products was rated important by 39% of our sample overall but scored higher among nursing homes (48%), K-12 schools (42%), and assisted living facilities (41%).
Respondents were asked to choose the single-most important purchase factor when buying cleaning products. Product performance was the single-most important purchase factor among all decision markers. The next highest purchase factor was “product helps keep workers and building users safe,” and this was particularly appreciated by those in office buildings, restaurants, K-12 schools, and nursing homes.
The results of our survey provide deep insights into a wide variety of topics including:
- product usage
- brand preferences
- packaging and product forms used
- dilution control
- recent changes in antibacterial hand soap usage
- expected changes in facility flooring
- frequency of floor care
- purchase channels
- online buying habits
- green cleaning
The U.S. edition of the Janitorial and Housekeeping Cleaning Products study is now available with a detailed database on hundreds of products and suppliers along with a comprehensive detailed written report showing the market by end use segment, product category, supplier profiles, and a full summary of survey responses. To learn more about this study and how it can help inform your business strategy, please contact us.
