Consumer Appliances in Western Europe

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key findings

Sales continue to decline in the post-pandemic environment

After two years of recording healthy growth rates, consumer appliances went into decline in Western Europe in 2022, remaining negative in 2023. As well as a “normalisation” of sales after the demand spike seen during the pandemic, the end of the review period was proving a difficult time economically, with high inflation, rising energy costs and supply chain disruptions.

E-commerce accounts for almost two thirds of UK sales

After the gains made during the pandemic, e-commerce has generally continued to slightly increase its share, reaching 32% in Western Europe as a whole in 2023, and as high as 63% of unit volumes in the UK. However, appliances and electronics specialists still lead in many countries, with local consumers preferring to see products before purchasing them, especially major appliances, as well as tap into expert advice from in-store staff.

Energy-efficient products seeing increasing demand

Energy efficiency has become a must-have attribute for many consumers in light of the high energy prices, as people strive to keep their utility bills as low as possible. With sustainability also increasingly to the fore, manufacturers will push energy efficiency improvements and incorporate more recycled or recyclable materials into appliances and their packaging over the forecast period.

Smart and connected appliances to gain more ground

Moving forward, manufacturers are expected to push connectivity in search of opportunities to add value to sales with the bundling of services through connectivity features. Players view the addition of services as a growth opportunity, as it represents a vehicle to develop recurring revenue streams, thereby weakening the reliance on actual unit sales. In this sense, the development of connected appliances could allow manufacturers to transform themselves from producers to service providers.