Bic Versus Gillette

Bic Versus Gillette: The Disposable Wars ABOUT HALF OF ALL WESTERN men get up each morning, confront their stubble in the bathroom mirror and reach for a cheap disposable plastic razor. Schiek, Bic, Gillette, Wilkinson or whatever, most men think that one brand does as well as the next. Also, the razor makers seem always to have them on sale, so you can scoop up a dozen of them for next to nothing. The Gillette Company does not like this sort of thinking. Of course, women also use Gillette's razors, but Gillette worries about the growing number of men who use disposables. The company makes about three times more money per unit on cartridge refills for its Atra and Trac II razor systems than it does on its disposables. However, since the first disposables appeared in 1975, their sales have grown faster than those of system razors. By 1988 disposables accounted for 40 per cent of shaving product money sales and more than 50 per cent of unit sales. Gillette: The Defender Gillette dominates the world wet-shave industry with a 61 per cent share. Schiek is second with a 16.2 per cent share, Bic has 9.3 per cent and others, including Wilkinson, account for most of the rest of the market. In 1988 Gillette's blades and razors produced 32 per cent of its $3.5 billion sales and 61 per cent of its $268 million net income. Gillette earned its dominant position in the market through large investments in research and development and through careful consumer research. Every day, about 10,000 men carefully record the results of their shaves for Gillette. Five hundred of these men shave in special in-plant cubicles under carefully controlled and monitored conditions, including observation through two-way mirrors and video cameras. Shavers record the precise number of nicks and cuts. In certain cases, researchers even collect sheared whiskers to weigh and measure. As a result, Gillette scientists