Latvia: New technology slowly enters the vacuum cleaner market

Within the SDA industry, cylinder vacuum cleaners are still popular and account for 90% of the total Latvian vacuum cleaner market.

While demand is growing for robotic devices across Western Europe, these products have failed to take off in Latvia. In terms of units sold, retail sales data shows they represent only 1% of the vacuum cleaner market; this is largely because of their high price. During the first nine months of 2011, the average sales price of a robotic vacuum cleaner in Latvia was LVL 270. In comparison, the average price of the market leader (cylinder vacuum) during the same period was LVL 55.

Looking at the market dynamics of cylinder vacuum cleaners from January to September 2011, sales volume decreased by around 17%. A similar trend can be seen with regards to sales value; during each month from January to July 2011, there was a drop of approximately 12% when compared to the same period of last year. In August and September 2011, there was an increase of 6% and 0.2% respectively.

Men’s electric shavers account for 67% of the total electric shaver market in Latvia  

In 2010, the Latvian electric shaver market saw a sales increase of 16% and a value decline of 11% when compared to 2009.  Comparing retail data from the first nine months of this year with the same period in 2010, electric shavers declined in both sales value (12%) and units (23%).

In Latvia’s electric shaver market, men’s electric shavers dominate in terms of sales value and units sold. In the first three quarters of 2009, 2010 and 2011, they took 67% of Latvia’s electric shaver market. However, during warmer months of the year, epilator’s market share rose. In July 2010, regarding units sold, epilators made up 53% of the market and 45% in terms of sales value. The average price of electric shavers was higher than the price of epilators. During the first three quarters of 2011, the average price of an electric shaver was LVL 30 while the average price of an epilator was LVL 27.

The sales volumes of electric shavers in Latvia vary significantly. In January 2010, there was a rise of 3% when compared to December 2009, while the drop was 53% when comparing January 2011 to December 2010.