The Future of Wetshaving

[verdict]

My fellow DE, SE, Straight, and even cartridge users, if there are any - where do you see wetshaving in say, about 10 years?

Will there be more companies making razors? Will the 3T's expand? Will EJ manufacture shaving paraphernalia for other companies? Will the vintage Gillettes people sort after today, be obsolete, or will they be rare antiques? Or, perhaps, will Gillette finally produce something akin to their roots?

Personally, I see two possible outcomes, which are:

1. It will grow, as more people turn towards the internet, increasing their chances of exposure to traditional wetshaving, and internet shopping will become even more efficient than it is today. People will stumble across shaving communities, blogs, and shops, and they will be curious as to what these are used for, and they will be introduced to wetshaving, as some members, myself included, entered the world of shaving.
   
2. It will shrink, as razor, blade, and brush makers don't deem it profitable enough to continue producing, and they exit the wetshaving market. Or, the major shaving companies introduce new products, which surpass the time-tested quality of traditional razors, and the majority of wetshavers convert.

I don't really see it staying the same, and IMO it will have to follow one of the two paths above.

What do you think is the future?

 

[Pumpkin]

Would love to see option 1 However, I doubt Gillette will go back to their roots...not enough mark-up on blades and razors would last too long for them to get decent turnover.

 

[bonusmarple]

Straight razor shaving is enjoying a renaissance even in this economic climate. Dovo and TI have had a 3-4X increase in sales. A new razor manufacturer has started in the US. Lastly, old caches of NOS razors are hitting the market and fetching record prices.

Straight shaving has never been governed by a board of directors, so I think it will continue to thrive and expand.

I predict DE shaving will continue to decline as more and more blade manufactures switch to cartridge. This is already happening in India where each blade comes with a little ad for a cartridge. Not a good sign.

As far as brushes, soaps and creams go, I think you will see the status quo. Those who get it get it, and those you don't don't. It seems like it has been that way for a long time and it will continue.

 

[Follicle Genocide]

I think it's always going to be around in one way or another. I wonder if SE blades have more of a secure future, though modern SE razors are completely absent.

 

[michiganlover]

I don't see DE wet shaving going anyway anytime soon. As long as there is a profit to be made, so company will exist to fulfill the void.

I don't in my wildest dreams ever see Gillette going back to making traditional razors. There is very little profit for them in that venture, and from a marketing standpoint, they would need to admit that the Fusion is a failure, and that DE razors are somehow better; it would be undoing 30+ years of marketing, and brainwashing.

Even if Gillette wants to push cartridges in India, and other predominately DE markets, that doesn't mean they have a ton of success. The vast majority of these people are still "poor" by our standards, and can't afford expensive cartridges.

I think we shall more new products introduced, as we are growing group; we have new members sign up every week.

I think it's always going to be around in one way or another. I wonder if SE blades have more of a secure future, though modern SE razors are completely absent.

The blades people buy in bulk (Ted Pella's) are not specifically marketed for shaving. They are made for laboratory machines called a Micro-tome. They should be safe for the time being.

 

[Crawford Montizano]

Great another potential Shaveapocalypse thread


There is a market for all the traditional products we use. The B&B membership since November was 20,218 and grew to 22,622 and it is still growing. Also don't forget about the lurkers viewing. Also keep in mind Mantic's videos and how many time they are viewed. I started there and then heard the famous line: "you are checking out the wet shavers discussion boards?" That is how I found B&B!

Gillette and P&G would not of bought AOS if there was not a market and profit to be made from it. This is good for us because with a "trendy" place around this means all the other vendors will have business too as people look for other alternatives. You could consider AOS to be a type of "gateway" product line. And we all know when AD sets in what happens.

Will everyone switch: no but more people that will want to get a better shave will eventually find the tools they need to accomplish this.

 

[Drubbing]

If I could answer this sort of Crystal ball question with any certainty, I'd be making a fortune on the stock market with the info.

DE shaving has survived through the cart revolution, albeit as a niche market. It will continue to survive. P&G see this niche market has a good margin in AoS; low turnover, but good profit. Doesn't beat their current cart model of massive turnover/obscene profit, but it's still profit.

Nothing ever gets cheaper, so there will probably be a steady drift to DE shaving, I reckon. It if goes mainstream at all, I'm sure it will be a passing fad, as many more people will be lured by the cool idea of it all and the buzz created, but lower numbers will actually learn properly, or stick with it long term.

 

[Deltaboy]

I see DE shaving growing as the younger gen who are more green minded see Manic's videos and others on You-tube. Other than water use DE is way more earth friendly than this Fusion system that is being promoted today.

 

[Compaq]

I sent a mail to Trufitt and Hill, just to see what the "experts" anticipate will happen to traditional wet shaving

*waits for answer*

Compaq

 

[whistleman123]

I think, through the marvels of genetic engineering, future generations of men will be born without facial hair. No fuss, no muss, no shaving!!!

 

[A_Jameson]

I don't see it growing exponentially but I deffinitely see some moderate growth. It will always remain a niche market and profitable for the companies who understand it and make products for it. It will probably stay very much like it is now.

 

[klm099]

Before I retired from the business world (then got bored and went into teaching) I was in marketing positions with 2 fortune 500 companies so I am self qualifying myself to make a wild *** guess. It is a world economy and most of the world is too poor to throw away shaving products on a weekly basis, most of the world are DE, straight, or SE shavers. So, we will have access to our lifeline products in the foreseeable future. I disagree that Gillette would never re-enter; how long will they watch Merkur, EJ, Parker, et. al. sell and leave them out of it. Gillette can always license their name to someone to build the product or do it themselves. While I was in business if someone exploited what I considered our market with a niche we failed to provided, I made sure we placed a product line in that niche; even one hole in the dike will empty the lake, you just don't watch someone steal your market. Least thats how I did it.
In case I am wrong, I am stocking up now
ken

 

[DougK]

This sounds like the "Is film dead?" threads I used to read on photography forums. Film's still around, folks.

Cartridge razors were introduced in the early 1970s, some razor called the Trac II if I remember my history correctly, and you can still buy refill cartridges for it fortyish years after it was introduced.

Safety razors in general were introduced one hundred or so years ago. In spite of the marketing for the plastic multi-blade wonders, you still see DE, SE, and injector blades on the shelves, which means a fair number of people still have these razors and are buying the blades. It helps that a number of laboratory tools were designed to use these bladed because they were and are so widely available.

Straight razors have been around since the dawn of civilization and haven't disappeared yet.

It may become harder to find wetshaving products, or at least our favorite products, but they will continue to exist for quite some time (especially thanks to small businesses such as craft soapmakers). The resurgence of environmental awareness may even provide a small boost. Who knows? Just keep buying and using the products.

 

[BigDawg]

im going to go with option number 1

and the only way it will work is if these companies (three T's,AoS, and others) actually start marketing. Right now its all word of mouth or curiosity when you walk by one of their stores.

If they started marketing and advertising on tv, billboards, etc...
then it would spread like wildfire over the course of a few years, especially with a great marketing scheme.

The internet will definitely have a huge impact also. But that is more or less in our hands ourselves. If more youtube videos spawned, such as product reviews with examples (reviewing cream or soap and showing how it works and lathers, etc...)
then it will be more out there and open. We cant just leave everything on the hands of mantic59, who does a great job at the videos he makes, but we should owe it to ourselves and take pressure off of him make videos ourselves.

especially for experimental shavers who try out lots of products very often.

 

[Compaq]

im going to go with option number 1

and the only way it will work is if these companies (three T's,AoS, and others) actually start marketing. Right now its all word of mouth or curiosity when you walk by one of their stores.

If they started marketing and advertising on tv, billboards, etc...
then it would spread like wildfire over the course of a few years, especially with a great marketing scheme.

The internet will definitely have a huge impact also. But that is more or less in our hands ourselves. If more youtube videos spawned, such as product reviews with examples (reviewing cream or soap and showing how it works and lathers, etc...)
then it will be more out there and open. We cant just leave everything on the hands of mantic59, who does a great job at the videos he makes, but we should owe it to ourselves and take pressure off of him make videos ourselves.

especially for experimental shavers who try out lots of products very often.

Couldn't have said it better myself. I can't believe why the big companies in traditional wet shaving don't market themselves. Gillette acts like they have monopole on marketing shaving articles, which isn't true. Gillette's products don't sell because of quality, it sells because it's the only think people know of!

 

[Sterling Cooper]

I see slow but steady growth in the US, as consumers turn against the madness of paying $4 for an inferior cartridge. I've been a DE shaver for less than a year and already have two firm converts. While I may not have any true market data, I think P&G probably did quite a bit of extensive homework before writing a reported $60MM check to purchase Art of Shaving.

Sadly, I see the gains in the US (and Western Europe) offset tenfold by declining DE razor usage in developing countries as P&G's relentless Borg-like marketing comes into play.

I don't think this will effect Merkur and Muehle, both of whom I assume cater to a primarily Western, upscale market. The real danger comes in blade manufacturing as the overall market for DE blades starts to contract.

And oh yes, I do believe that P&G will ruin AoS cream and soap. Maybe not tomorrow, or next month or even this year, but it will happen.

 

[Sterling Cooper]

BTW, anyone noticed that the Barbasol ads running relentlessly on The Big Ten Network, show a guy shaving with a Merkur HD?

 

[Doc4]

I can only speak for the richer parts of the world (Canada, USA, western Europe) as that is where my experience lies, so ...

1. Wetshaving will continue to increase in popularity, but only to become a slightly larger niche. The easier way for most guys to balk at the ever-increasing cost of shaving with the four-blade-now-five-blade-now-six-blade monstrosities is to take a step back and use no-name knock-off of Mach-3 cartridges.

2. Straight-razor shaving will continue to have a manly cachet not mached by "safety razors." Safety my aunt fanny.

3. Finite-supply items will be rarer and more expensive. Vintage and NOS straights and DEs, and natural hones will cost much more and be harder to find in good condition. (Don't even ask how much a gen-U-ine puck of tallow-first English Fern will go for. )

4. Major companies will toy with the wetshaving interest, but not take over or re-intruduce the sort of DEs they made 50 years ago. The supercorporations will see some small business going gangbusters selling wetshaving stuff, buy it up, and slowly but surely reformulate and re-image the company into a modern-shaving clone of themselves, with no real interest to wetshavers. One by one our old beloved products will become pale shadows of their former selves, and eventually wither on the vine and be discontinued since no one wants to buy the "new coke" version.

5. Take heart ... in conjuntion to #4, new small companies will start up to fill the void. Existing small companies will expand product line (stuff we actually like and buy) to fill the void. We will see evolution of what constitutes the "good" products.

 

[pauls51]

He who knows where wet shaving will be in 10 years will be a very wealthy man!

 

[Uncle Erik]

I think the ranks of wet shavers will grow modestly over time.

You have to consider economic trends - things are not especially good and I don't like the looks of the economy.

As more people cut back, paying $16-$20 for a pack of cartridges will be less and less appealing. Paying $30-$50 for a razor and then 10 or 15 cents a blade will make sense. DE razors feel better and more solid than a Fusion or the rest of them.

It'll probably spread word-of-mouth from there. I've converted three people so far and will get a few more shaving sets later this year for birthdays.

Once people get a good shave they rarely go back to the alternative - especially one that costs more.