Introducing the Seven-Blade Razor. (No, Seriously.)
October 07 2015 - 6:31PM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Ziobro
Not even the satirists at the Onion predicted the razor's latest
iteration: seven blades.
The U.S. arm of the Korean razor maker Dorco Co. is launching
the Pace 7, which packs seven blades into the head of its razor
cartridge. The new model tops Dorco's own six-bladed razor and has
two more blades than the dominant U.S. brands, Procter & Gamble
Co.'s Gillette and Edgewell Personal Care Co.'s Schick.
The race to cram more blades onto a quarter-inch of real estate
has been a punch line of comedy writers. In 2004, the satirical
newspaper The Onion ran a fake op-ed purportedly from Gillette's
then-chief executive, Jim Kilts, boasting plans to top a rival's
four-blade razor by going with five. Two years later, Gillette came
out with the five-bladed Fusion, now the top-selling razor in the
U.S. by market share.
The joke underscores a real challenge for the U.S. shaving
industry, which racks up nearly $3 billion of annual sales of
everything from creams and aftershave to razors and blades.
Consumers no longer equate more blades with a better shave,
especially when each addition comes with a higher price tag.
Ken Hill, chief executive of Dorco USA and a former Schick
executive, acknowledges that there is skepticism to overcome. "Our
R&D group really believes that the seven blade is a much better
shave than the six blade, " Mr. Hill said.
Gillette and Schick have turned to other features in the face of
blade fatigue. Gillette introduced a new razor, the ProGlide
FlexBall, in 2014 that swivels side-to-side with the aim of
maintaining better contact with the face to cut scruff shorter.
Schick, meanwhile, has been promoting its Hydro 5 that moisturizes
skin during shaving with a "gel reservoir."
P&G has hinted a significant upgrade to its blade cartridges
starting next year, but hasn't disclosed details. In the past,
company executive haven't ruled out adding more blades.
P&G spokesman Kurt Iverson said that customers care about
things other than the number of blades, like the angle of the
blades and coating that helps the blade cut better and last
longer.
Gillette's upcoming razor comes as the U.S. shaving industry is
mired in a slump. Data tracker Euromonitor International estimates
that sales of razors and blades will fall 2% to $2.31 billion this
year, in part due to greater acceptance of stubble in the
workplace.
There is also a major shift in shopping habits too, as more
consumers buy their blades online from new players like Dollar
Shave Club, which sends blades to subscribers every month or so.
Gillette has responded by launching it own online club and touting
that its blades can last for a month before needing to be
replaced.
Dorco started in the U.S. in 2012 and is a very small player.
Its direct-to-consumer business has about $15 million a year in
annual sales in the U.S., though sales of its private-label razors
to the likes of Dollar Shave Club and Dollar General Corp. is
larger.
The company will sell the Pace 7 on its U.S. website, as well as
on Amazon. It plans to price the seven-blade model at 25% below the
top razors from Gillette and Schick that have two fewer blades.
Mr. Hill, who fondly remembers the Onion's spoof, says seven
blades might be the max. "At least for a couple of years," he
said.
Write to Paul Ziobro at Paul.Ziobro@wsj.com
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 07, 2015 18:16 ET (22:16 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2015 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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