However late to the game, we tip our hats to Herbalife, the gurus of multi-level-marketing, for their 'breakthrough" launch of a non-alcohol hand sanitizer product.
While its always fun to take note of marketing strategies (and to notice how competitors within the space are emulating each other's "shout outs" and shouting down the dangers of alcohol-based products), some should be dismayed when having to peel back the Herbalife onion layers to discover that however effective when compared to the legacy alcohol-based products, their alcohol-free hand sanitizer is hardly unique, as its powered by the same active ingredient used by most of the other alcohol-free hand sanitizer products (the organic compound benzalkonium chloride a/k/a BAC); and that those existing products sell for 1/5 the price when compared to Herbalife's product.
A 1 oz spray bottle of Herbalife Hand Sanitizer has a suggested retail price of $5.50.
Established brands in the market place (whether Soapopular, Hy5, HandClens or others) have 1.7 oz- 3.4oz package sizes that sell for no more than $2.50-$3.50, and those respective makers have 7oz -8.5 oz packages that retail for under $5.00..
Lets see if we can do the math...a 1 oz bottle that sells for $5.50 vs. an 8.5 oz package that retails for under $5.00....OK..there's a premium that comes with a convenient, travel-size package.
But..The Hy5 1.7 oz, foam format, fragrance free product retails for $2.49. A similar-sized bottle of HandClens retails for just under $3.00.
Soapopular's 3.4 oz alcohol-free, dye-free, fragrance free product is available online for $2.85 ($16.99 for a six-pack)
So, ounce for ounce, Herbalife is close to 5x more costly than competing products..
While we apologize to Herbalife for our transparency, and for providing our audience with like-product price comparisons, we truly applaud Herbalife for joining the fold, and for helping add to the credibility and raise the overall awareness re: dangers of Purell and similar alcohol products vs. the benefits/features of similar non-alcohol hand sanitizer products.
Monday, March 22, 2010
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1 comment:
good observations i.e. pricing of same products...But women love buying products in the comfort of their home from neighbors that are into the whole Herbalife MLM thing--even if the could buy the same type of items at a store for much less. Its called old-fashioned social networking! Rock on Mary Kaye and Herbalife...Boo to Yahoo! (which makes it too easy to search out best prices)
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