Building Momentum in Cooking: the Integrated Market
May 2010Major Domestic Appliances, UK
Home Appliances have gathered significant pace since last summer and if two consecutive quarters of improvement signal a marginal recovery, then the sector is in a better position than other consumer durables. April saw major appliances* value grow by more than 8% to £207.9m. The big surprise? Built in sales accounted for around a quarter of this!
In cooking, the biggest portion of built in appliances, overall value rose by 7% to around £46m and whilst unit sales subsided by 2% overall, the built in market enjoyed one of its best performances since the recession hit, up 21% in value and 7% in volume. This is the third consecutive month of growth for built in cooking.
As with many industries, one must pick one’s battles to achieve success and for the past 18 months, the cooking sector has perhaps looked the least likely to offer such success.
Last year saw an even bigger drop as home owners struggled to move up and first time buyers were left reeling at the prospect of 40% deposits causing a contraction in both the underlying replacement and initial acquisition of domestic appliances. Combined with exchange rate and raw material costs driving increases in average price and a move to lower priced distress purchases, value was hit hard in the wider market. Fitted kitchens was one of the hardest hit and both value and unit sales within ovens, hobs and cooker hoods fell alarmingly.
There are of course two sides to every story and what emerged last year was acute polarisation in consumer spend between those who were looking for durable, high-featured products and those who targeted the entry-level either through financial necessity or priority.
This year, the future appears brighter. At the end of last year order books for kitchen studios appeared healthy and even the property market, although still a long way from coming full circle, has experienced some marginal improvement. So far, value looks in better shape for 2010 in cooking.
*MDA Total 8 (April 2010)
Written by Anthony Williams
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