By George Anderson
More consumers than ever are eating while they drive, walk and engage in various other forms of transport. Not surprisingly, that also means there are more cups of spilled beverages, leaky sandwiches and a host of other mishaps that find their way onto clothing at the most inopportune of times. As a report in The Wall Street Journal puts so succinctly: "A nation of snackers has become a nation of stainers."
The result of all this moving and spilling is that food manufacturers have come up with snacks that consumers can eat one-handed with less mess. Products such as yogurt tubes, snack bars and soup cups have made it easier for consumers to move and munch at the same time. Nestlé modified its Hot Pockets sandwich to make it "practically drip-proof," according to the company.
In those instances where drips and spills occur and stains follow, manufacturers of cleaning products have come up with quick and easy one-handed solutions to match.
"The key to effectively removing stains," Brian Sansoni, a vice president of the Soap and Detergent Association in Washington told WSJ, "is speed, pure and simple."
Products such as Procter & Gamble's Tide to Go stain-removal pen (P&G is a sponsor of RetailWire), S.C. Johnson's Shout wipes and Oxiclean Instant Spot remover wipes from Orange Glo International have all been developed to help consumers get rid of stains as soon as they happen.
Julie Woffington, brand manager for Tide, said the real value of these instant answers is to keep people from feeling overly self-conscious. "No one needs to know you ever had a stain," she said.
Moderator's Comment: Where do you see the greatest opportunities (products, operations, shopping experience, marketing, etc.) for retailers to differentiate based on their ability to make consumers lives more convenient? Are there retailers, you might not normally think of being convenience-oriented, that you think do a surprisingly good job in this area? - George Anderson - Moderator