In the cat litter industry, “agglomeration” has always been one of the core properties that consumers are most concerned about.
When many consumers buy cat litter, their first reaction is:
“How about this cat litter dough?”
But in fact, many people confuse “quick clumping cat litter” with “strong clumping cat litter”.
In fact, these two concepts are not exactly the same.
Some cat litter clumps very fast, but the clumping strength is average.
However, although some cat litter clumps slowly, the formed clumps are stronger.
It is actually very important to understand the difference between these two performances.
Because different markets and different consumers have different demands for “ideal cat litter”.
In the process of OEM development, LOVE SAND often discusses with customers:
Should we put more emphasis on “quick clumping” or “strong clumping”?
Because this will directly affect:
* raw material selection
* Formula proportion
* User experience
* Consumer feedback
* product positioning
What’s a quick clumping?
Quick agglomeration, simply put, is that cat litter can form agglomeration in a short time after contacting with liquid.
For consumers, this means:
* Urine is wrapped faster.
* Less odor diffusion
* Easier to clean up in time.
* The litter box is easier to keep clean.
This kind of product is usually more suitable for:
* Multi-cat families
* High-frequency usage scenarios
* High temperature environment in summer
* Small apartment
Because these scenes usually have higher requirements for “quick taste lock”
What is a powerful cluster?
Strong agglomeration emphasizes “agglomeration hardness” more.
That is to say, when the cat litter forms a lump:
* Is it easy to disperse?
* Is it easy to break?
* Is it easy to stick to the bottom?
In fact, many consumers don’t just hate “slow clustering”.
They hate it more:
“When shoveling, it will be scattered directly.”
Because once the reunion is over:
* Cat litter pots get dirty easily.
* Odor is more obvious.
* Cat litter consumes faster.
* The cleaning experience is poor.
Therefore, strong clumping is actually very important for long-term experience.
Why do many consumers confuse these two concepts?
Because most consumers will simply understand it as:
“It’s good to form a group.”
But in fact:
* Agglomeration speed
* Cohesion strength
Are two different dimensions.
Fast ≠ hard agglomeration
Some low-end products will make the products look “agglomerated quickly” by increasing the water absorption speed.
However, the briquettes actually formed may be loose.
At first, consumers will feel:
“The response is very fast.”
But when you really clean up, you will find:
* Very fragile
* Easy to stick to the bottom
* Incomplete cleaning
Therefore, it is not enough to just pursue speed.
Strong clustering ≠ Slow clustering
On the other hand, some consumers will mistakenly think that:
“The harder the knot, the slower the speed.”
Actually, not necessarily.
A truly mature formula will try to balance:
* Water absorption speed
* hardness of briquette
* Dust control
* use stability
This is why high-quality sodium bentonite cat litter still occupies an important position in the global market.
Why does sodium bentonite form strong clusters more easily?
In the current market, high-quality sodium bentonite is still one of the most stable raw materials for agglomeration.
Its advantages include:
* fast water absorption
* Strong expansion capacity
* stable lump formation
* The cluster is thin and hard.
Especially high-quality sodium bentonite.
It can form a thin but firm lump in a short time.
In this way, when consumers clean up, it is not easy to break up and stick to the bottom, and it saves cat litter.
This is why many professional cat owners still prefer bentonite cat litter.
Why do more and more brands begin to emphasize “balanced clumping”?
Now consumers are demanding more and more on cat litter.
They not only want:
* Get together quickly
Also hope: hard agglomeration, low dust, no sand and stable deodorization.
Therefore, many brands are no longer simply promoting “ultra-fast grouping”.
Instead, it began to emphasize: “The overall experience.”
Why do multi-cat families pay more attention to quick reunion?
Families with many cats usually have higher requirements for cat litter.
Because the litter box is used more frequently.
If the agglomeration speed is insufficient:
* Odor will be more obvious.
* The bottom is easy to get wet.
* Cat litter tends to get dirty as a whole.
Therefore, multi-cat families are usually more inclined to:
* rapid adsorption
* Quick taste lock
* Strong deodorizing products
But at the same time, if the lump is not strong enough, it will also increase the difficulty of cleaning.
Therefore, the multi-cat market is usually more suitable for products that are both “fast and powerful”.
Why do E-commerce users pay more and more attention to the real group experience?
In the past, consumers often had to rely on packaging publicity.
But now, short video platforms and e-commerce reviews have changed the market.
Consumers will upload directly:
* Shovel video
* Cluster test
* Dust test
* Use comparison
Therefore, the real product experience has become more and more transparent.
Although many low-end products promote “quick grouping”, it is easy for consumers to expose problems after actual use.
This is why more and more brands begin to pay attention to:
* Practical experience
* Long-term stability
* User repurchase rate
Rather than pure marketing.
How does Lovesand balance fast and strong agglomeration?
In LOVE SAND’s OEM projects, we usually don’t simply pursue a certain indicator.
Because products that are truly sold stably for a long time often need to be more balanced.
Therefore, we will pay more attention to:
Stability of raw materials
Including:
* Sodium bentonite quality
* particle uniformity
* Water absorption stability
Particle structure
Particle size will directly affect:
* Water absorption speed
* Agglomeration
* Dust control
OEM market positioning
Different markets have different needs for clustering.
For example:
* Multi-cat families pay more attention to speed
* The high-end market pays more attention to the overall experience.
* The e-commerce market pays more attention to user evaluation.
Therefore, LOVE SAND usually adjusts the product plan according to the customer market direction.
What will consumers pay more attention to in the future?
Judging from the current market trend, consumers in the future are no longer satisfied with “being able to form a group”.
They will pay more attention to:
* Is it easy to clean up?
* Is it easy to break up?
* Is it low dust?
* Is it easy to take sand?
* Is it stable for a long time?
Therefore, the competition in the cat litter industry in the future is likely to shift from “single performance competition” to “comprehensive experience competition”.
Conclusion
Fast clumping and strong clumping cat litter are not the same concept.
Really good cat litter usually needs to take into account at the same time:
* Water absorption speed
* hardness of briquette
* Deodorization ability
* Dust control
* Long-term stability
For brands, it is no longer enough to just promote “fast group”.
Consumers are now paying more attention to the real experience.
At LOVE SAND, we will pay more attention to the overall balance of products, rather than simply pursuing a certain parameter.
Because it is often not the laboratory data that really determines consumers’ repurchase, but the feelings when they actually use it every day.
