Mobile App Gives Shoppers Access to Product Ingredients

The Clorox Company (NYSE: CLX) is launching a new mobile phone app that will give people in-store access to product ingredient information while they shop.

The mobile application, focused initially on iPhone users, will allow people to use their smart phones to scan a product UPC code and be taken instantly to that product’s ingredient listing.

The app and its corresponding website are an expansion to the company’s "Ingredients Inside" communication program and will be available later this year.

In 2008, with the introduction of its Green Works line, The Clorox Company was the first major consumer packaged goods company to launch a product ingredient communication program in North America.

In January 2009, the company began listing ingredients of its household and commercial cleaning, disinfecting and laundry products in the U.S. and Canada on its corporate website. And last winter, the company expanded its disclosures on preservatives, dyes and fragrances.

The new mobile tools reflect consumer trends toward increasing use of smart phones. The Nielsen Company reports that as of December 2010, 31% of all US mobile users owned smart phones;  eMarketer predicts this number will rise to 43% by 2015.

Clorox made the announcement Thursday at the Sustainable Fragrances conference in Washington, D.C.