I went to stock up on some laundry detergent a week ago and could not find my usual brand/bottle, much to my dismay. Before leaving the aisle with a second choice, I noticed a smaller version of my usual brand on the bottom shelf. I picked it up and saw the words “New 2X Ultra Tide.”
Those (smart) people at Tide decided to come out with a concentrated version of laundry detergent that saves:
Plastic
By making the bottle smaller, they reduce the amount of packaging needed. When I read the stats on their web site, I found out that the new formula uses significantly less plastic that the old Tide.
Because it’s concentrated, 2X Ultra Tide bottles use up to 43% less plastic than nonconcentrated Tide bottles. Less plastic means less waste — up to 8,334 tons of it per year. That’s equivalent to about 1 billion plastic shopping bags each year!
Water
Since they removed water from the formula, I can use less detergent in each load. I wonder how many other products could concentrate their formulas to save water?
2X Ultra Tide also contains up to 44% less water than before. This, along with other water savings due to concentrating, could save almost 120 million gallons of water every year — almost enough to fill 180 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
Space
Smaller bottles means you can fit more on each shelf, each truckload, and there’s more room at my house for other things.
Okay, so maybe I’m being a bit over zealous when it comes to laundry detergent. But seriously! How many other consumer goods products could eliminate excess from their products and generate excitement about new ways to improve standard products?
Colleen Jaycox Mann 
So, why do you figure that the Tide Ultra 2X Concentrate, with so many good new features and benefits to talk about, would be hidden on the bottom shelf?
I was at the worst K-mart in the history of K-marts. I don’t think that the shelf stocking points to a bad product. I think it’s because K-mart sucks. Usually when I shop there, they have half-empty shelves, or products placed in the wrong section, or other signs of poor store organization/management. But it’s the price I pay for convenience, since it’s close to home.