According to GfK, demand of Consumer Tech & Durables (T&D) is starting to recover and 2024, played wisely, presents opportunity for a wide-spread return to positive growth. «Many shoppers – the company experts explains – are delaying their T&D purchases until they see an attractive price deal or inspirational product innovation. Until then, they are taking lower-cost options, such as buying product accessories, rather than replacing the product itself. Black Friday 2023 is likely to see discounts at levels beyond prior years, due to consumers holding their purchases for these events and retailers wishing to clear higher-than-average levels of old stock».

GfK also predicts four markets drivers for 2024: “Product lifetime costs”, “Making life easier”, “Individualism and tailored experience”, “Environment and sustainability”. Regarding the first driver, the company explains that «alongside a product’s price, shoppers are also considering the operational costs across its full lifetime – it’s durability, repairability, energy use – together with its green credentials. The crucial question for manufacturers and retailers is: which factor takes the lead for consumers when buying specific types of products».

“Making life easier” is a frequent people request. So robotic, multifunctional, smart, and cordless products still outperform the category average this year. «Further opportunities – GfK says – lie in smart functionality that includes AI that will automatically change appliance settings to save energy, based on the individual user’s lifestyle».

IFA 2023 was the occasion for GFK experts to present the recent sector trends. According to the company’s data, Tech and Durables products (T&D) are recording a negative trend. The sector closed the first six months of 2023 with a value decline by -6.3% to 390 billion US dollars compared to the same period last year. Looking ahead to the full year results, GfK forecasts value change of -3.4 percent overall, due to ongoing market saturation and slowing demand.

«Within the overall sale – commented Nevin Francis, GfK expert for the T&D industry -, traditional retail regained market share, while online rebalanced after a surge in share during peak sales months. 35 percent of global T&D sales were made online in the first half of 2023, down 5 percent from last year. While this slight drop does not disrupt the long-standing trend toward omnichannel retail, it does make the need for an omnichannel strategy more important than ever.»

Looking at specific segments data, GfK reveils that revenues declined by -12% for Consumer Electronics, by 5% for Major Domestic Appliance and by 1% for Small Domestic Appliances. Even Telecom and IT devices recorded a fall in value, respectevely by 5 and 12%.

Gfk made an analysis about sustainability and appliances to understand if sustainability is already a core driver for global Tech and Durables shoppers. In 2022, pollution still was among the top five concerns in 13 of the 22 countries surveyed in the global GfK Consumer Life study. The company’s experts take a look at how sustainability and consumers’ environmental demands are influencing the global Tech and Durables (T&D) market. It forecasts that by 2030 50 percent of the world’s population will be eco-active, with a potential global spend of over 700 billion US dollars on Consumer Tech and Durables.

Despite short-term disruption, environmentalism continues to be a fast-growing, long-term personal value among consumers. There is a widespread belief that young people are the most concerned about climate change, but the biggest increase in concern since 2021 has actually been among those aged 60 and over. One in five of this group researched companies’ environmental practices in 2022 – that’s up 6 percentage points from the previous year – and nearly 50 percent of them “travel green”.

«It is very likely that a company’s environmental credentials, such as its carbon footprint, alone do not easily justify a premium price to consumers – says Norbert Herzog, GfK expert for Consumer Tech and Durables –. Durability and energy efficiency are key factors for Tech and Durables shoppers who are looking for overall saving in the lifetime cost of their devices, as well as being greener in their product choices.»

Aham, the North American Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers, published a statement regarding the “Save Our Gas Stoves Act”. «Strong bipartisan support for the Save Our Gas Stoves Act tells us that Americans value the ability to choose the cooking appliance that works best for their home – the Association says –. This legislation will prevent the U.S. Department of Energy from finalizing its extreme standard, which would force manufacturers to radically redesign gas cooking appliances at the cost of popular features and convenience».

Aham adds that «Americans, 40 percent of whom live in homes that cook with gas, do not want to give up multiple large burners or spend a full day per year just waiting for water to boil, both of which would be a reality for gas cooking appliances if the DOE’s proposal were to take effect. The DOE’s proposal is a major setback for innovation and offers only negligible energy savings in return. This is a personal issue that transcends the political divide, and we are pleased to see the U.S. Senate follow with its own bill to support and send the Save Our Gas Stoves Act to President Biden’s desk».

New research from Electrolux Group in laundry habits reveals Europe turns to 30° wash, driving down CO2 emissions. Three years of data in “The Truth About Laundry” report, shows 35 million households have turned down wash temperatures for potential saving of nearly 1 million tons of CO2 equivalent emissions.

The results of the longest and largest study of its kind into laundry behaviors across Europe reveal long established behaviors are changing at pace, in favor of the environment, as consumers seek to save energy costs. According to the study 35 million European households have turned to washing at 30°C since 2020; over 14 million of which have switched in the past 12 months. The turn to 30°C is likely to have saved over 952,000 tons of CO2 equivalent.

Moreover 44% of households are now mainly washing their clothes at 30°C or below, compared to 35% three years ago. Majority of Europe will be 30°C laundry zone by 2025 if trend continues, while 86% of all households have tried to reduce energy usage in the past twelve months and over half (56%) have specifically changed the way they launder.

According to GfK experts, global market for Consumer Technology and Durables is expected to stabilize in 2023, after deceleration in 2022. In a regional comparison, the 2022 picture is thoroughly divergent at present. Looking at the turnover in US dollar terms, the positive lights are mostly coming from Emerging Asia (without China), which stands at +13%.

However, comparing January to October 2022 with the same period last year, some European countries are developing less negatively in local currency than in US dollar terms – for example, Germany, which shows a small growth of +1% in euro terms. This is mainly due to the current strength of the US dollar compared to the euro. However, these unfavorable exchange rates will continue to drive up procurement prices, thus leading either to increased prices for end consumers, to reduced profit margins for retailers and manufacturers selling in Europe or even to both effects.

«We have already predicted that the pandemic-related record sales of 2020 and 2021 would not be sustained and that the global T&D market would stabilize at a certain point – explained Ines Haaga, GfK expert for Consumer Technology and Durables -. However, the turnaround in 2022 was stronger than originally expected, influenced by numerous macroeconomic factors, such as the war in Ukraine, high inflation rates and consumer confidence at record lows. Between January and October 2022, the global T&D market already faced a deceleration of more than 7 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, standing at a total value of 680 billion US dollars. This trend is unlikely to recover in the full-year results for 2022, but the forecasts for 2023 are more promising.»

According to Research and Markets, the built-in kitchen appliances market in India is expected to grow at a compounded average growth rate (Cagr) of 8.83% to reach a value of Usd 601.18 million by 2028. «The growing disposable income and surge in purchasing power of consumers – the company explaines – enable them to invest in quality kitchen appliances. The rise in the working women population and the busy lifestyle of consumers is driving the demand for easy-to-operate kitchen appliances».

In addition, the country records a rapid expansion of the food industry and the growing use of advanced technology in built-in kitchen appliances, that is accelerating the demand for built-in kitchen appliances among consumers during the forecast period. The report “India Built-in kitchen appliances aarket. Competition, forecast & opportunities” also adds that among consumers preferences we can find advanced and user-friendly products and appliances. «The kitchen appliances are becoming smarter with the advent and integration of novel technologies in the existing system. Built-in kitchen appliances save a lot of space and are flexible enough for thorough cleaning and maintenance».

As main players of the sector in the Indian markets, the report quotes: Whirlpool of India Ltd., BSH Household Appliances Manufacturing Private Limited, Franke Faber India Private Limited, Hafele India Private Limited, Miele India Pvt. Ltd., Samsung India Electronics Private Limited, Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd, Kaff Appliances (India) Private Limited, IFB Appliances LTD, BlowHot Kitchen Appliances Pvt. Ltd.

According to GfK European retail study, in 2021 the retail sector in the 27 countries of EU grew by 6.8 percent. In 2020 the turnover growth was of 1.5 percent. As regard the single markets, the company underlines that the highest growth rates were recorded in smaller Eastern European countries such as Lithuania (up 17 percent), Slovenia (up 16 percent) and Estonia (up 13 percent). Larger markets such as France, Spain and Italy also all recorded retail growth rates of over 7 percent.

Driver of retail value increase were the non-food segments. «Despite the pandemic and a difficult market environment, the past two years have been quite successful overall for retailers from a sales perspective – explains study lead Philipp Willroth -. However, city center-relevant retail, especially sectors such as clothing, footwear or jewelry, is still suffering badly in many European countries. This is because online retail is gaining more and more ground, especially in high-growth regions in Europe, which is why new digital offerings will also have to be tested in city center retail in the medium term.»

The nominal purchasing power of EU citizens grew by an average of 2.4 percent in 2021. After many non-euro countries such as the Czech Republic, Croatia and Norway had to contend with reduced purchasing power in 2020, which was also due to exchange rate effects, many of these countries were able to benefit from both better macroeconomic development and a strengthening of their national currencies. Accordingly, purchasing power in 2021 grew by more than 5 percent in each of the first two countries, and by over 8 percent in Norway.

During this year, CIH, the electrical buying group, part of Euronics, is focusing its campains on sustainability to help consumers to find the best green appliances. As Amdea, the UK Association of Manufacturers of Domestic Appliances said, «the dramatic jump in energy prices in recent months is part of the rising cost of living for UK consumers who are also increasingly aware of climate change and the general health of the planet».

The Association also explains that «the Government has introduced extra legislation to ensure that the products that consumers purchase are as energy efficient as possible. Euronics is well placed to offer advice on the right electrical appliances and how they can be used to best effect to minimise energy and water consumption».

To provide the end users information and features about the most efficient appliances, Euronics has introduced a range of tools available, such as those that ca be found on the company’s website, that presents an overview of some of the key technologies available in the latest products including sensor drying technology, auto dosing, heat pump technology and induction hobs.

After the good performance of 2021 (+12%), this year is recording a deceleration for the consumer tech and durables segment. According to GfK, in the first two months of the year, revenue already declined by 3 percent compared to the same period last year. These are GfK’s findings ahead of the international TCG Summit in Vienna.

«Against the backdrop of a weakening market, it is now even more important for retailers and manufacturers to identify growth potential and secure their margins – says Ines Haaga, GfK expert for technical consumer goods -. Companies must adapt to consumer product preferences to continue to be successful in 2022.»

Among the most important drivers, we still see premiumization and simplification products. According to Gfk experts consumers often choose innovative solutions and devices that promise improved features or additional functions. These include robot vacuum cleaners with docking and charging stations, which started 2022 with a 182 percent increase in revenue compared to the same period last year. Ultra-thin notebooks less than 18 millimeters thick (plus 7 percent) and TVs with a screen diagonal larger than 65 inches (plus 13 percent) also saw above-average growth despite their higher price point, outperforming the cheaper entry-level models.

Simplification and multifuntionality are other two leading trade. The simplification trend is evident across smart home products, among others. Home automation products saw an overall growth of 15 percent in seven EU countries from January to February 2022. These include, for example, smart thermostats for automatic temperature control, motion sensors and smoke or fire detectors that improve home safety.

Another product category benefiting from the simplification trend is household appliances that are multifunctional. Electric cooking pots including a rice cooking function, washer-dryers or mini ovens with a steam or air-frying function recorded above-average growth rates in the first two months of 2022 and improved their market position enormously compared to the same period of the previous year.