Shoppers in the UK are spending less money on toilet paper to save money, research has shown.
Penny-pinching UK consumers choose cheaper products from discounters such as Aldi and Lidl rather than luxury alternatives.
This has wiped 6% off the value of the soft tissue paper market in the UK. It has shrunk from £1,19 billion in 2011 to £1,12 billion in 2015, according to a new report from market research company Mintel. Furthermore, the future of the market looks far from rosy, with sales expected to fall further to £1,11 billion in 2016.
In the last year alone, despite an increase in the UK population and a subsequent rise in the number of households, sales of toilet paper fell by 2%, with the average household reducing their toilet roll spending from £43 in 2014 to £41 in 2015.
Overall, almost three in five people say they try to limit their usage of paper—including facing tissue and kitchen roll—to save money. “Strength, softness and thickness remain the leading indicators of toilet paper quality, with just a small proportion of consumers preferring more luxurious alternatives, such as those with flower patterns or perfume,” said Mintel analyst Jack Duckett. “These extra features are deemed unnecessary by the majority of shoppers, which probably reflects how these types of products are typically more expensive than regular toilet paper, even when on special offer.”
While consumers are spending less on toilet paper, they remain fussy—in theory at least—when it comes to paper quality. Top of Britons’s toilet paper wish list is softness (57%) followed by strength (45%) and thickness (36%).
One in 10 buyers rank toilet rolls made from recycled paper among their top considerations, highlighting how overall the environment is much less of a consideration for shoppers than product quality. In a challenge for manufactures, 81% of paper product users said they would consider buying recycled toilet tissue if it were comparable in quality to standard paper.
