The education segment is not the largest in the jansan market, but is expected to grow due to increased penetration of contract cleaners at schools that were primarily self-maintained in the past. To identify the key purchase factors in K-12 education, Kline has conducted a survey among jansan professionals serving this segment.
Product attributes
Child and worker safety is a cornerstone of the schools purchasing decisions when choosing a cleaning chemical brand. Several manufacturers have stated that their green products are in most demand in schools. The findings from our recent surveys are unexpected. For example, “Low price,” which would be thought to be one of the highest rated product attributes, as schools are operating under tight budgets, is down on the list in terms of both ratings and rankings. The most important and highest ranked attributes to end users in the education sector are safety, product performance, and vendor relationships.
Advanced features in dilution systems
From our research with K-12 schools, we know that over 75% of schools report the use of dilution and dispensing systems. However, only about one-fourth of respondents (27%) would prefer advanced functionality in their dilution control systems. Among this group, the most popular potential features are monitoring chemicals levels, automatically re-ordering when the product level is low, and automatic maintenance notification, as these options offer great convenience and cost reduction opportunities. The remaining 73% of respondents are not interested in advanced technology because of the high initial cost, higher maintenance costs, and, if damaged by students, higher replacement costs.
Customer loyalty
Over 54% of the schools surveyed placed more importance on loyalty to a cleaning brand than loyalty to a distributor, meaning that this group would seek out the same brand wherever they could get it if their current distributor/supplier relationship changed. Loyalty to a specific distributor ranked a distant second among education respondents, accounting for 43%.
What are the other market trends and key buying factors for end users of jansan products? Kline’s largest I&I market study is underway with over 1,000 end-user surveys being completed. Kline is examining critical success factors and buying dimensions in the market channel for jansan cleaning products in all the key end-use segments in the new edition of our Janitorial and Housekeeping Cleaning Products: U.S. Market Analysis and Opportunities report.
