GfK has communicated the results of the SDA sector in Western Europe during the first half of 2014. In this period, global spending (excluding North America) on these products rose by 12%, following adjustment for currency effects. The UK was the major driver of revenue growth, followed by France, Netherlands and Spain. The online purchasing trend continued in the first six months of 2014. Online sales of small domestic appliances rose by 19% in comparison with the first half of 2013. Major markets for online sales were Germany, UK and Netherlands.
Considering the different products, in addition to electrical toothbrushes and curling tongs, a strong increase was evident in kitchen appliances, such as stand mixers and kitchen machines, as well as in floor care products. The coffee and espresso machines registered slight growth in terms of volume, but value sales for the first half of the year were below the previous year’s level. Single Serve Espresso machines were the only segment which registered an improvement, driven by double-digit growth in Italy, the Netherlands and the UK. Sales of fully-automatic espresso machines declined by 2% in Germany, which is the most important market for these appliances.
As regard to the sales of kitchen appliances, in the first half of 2014 stand mixers generated revenue growth of 43% in comparison with the same period of the previous year. In addition to stand mixers, sales of kitchen machines also improved by 18%. This was above all attributable to double-digit growth rates in the markets of France, Germany and Italy. Besides, revenue in the floor care market increased by 4% and sales of rechargeable handstick vacuum cleaners were up 22%. In the UK, traditional vacuum cleaners were also popular, achieving growth of 17%. In this segment, bagless vacuum cleaners continued to see steady growth. Over the first half of the year, the key growth areas for robotic vacuum cleaners were the Netherlands, Spain and the UK. Then, growth was recorded also in the two segments of traditional steam irons (+1%) and generators (+4%). The development of the market for personal care products was highly dynamic, with revenue up 6%. Value sales growth was particularly strong in the UK and France (15% and 9%, respectively). Electrical toothbrushes and curling tongs achieved double-digit or triple-digit sales growth in almost all countries. Beard styling with clippers, beard trimmers and multi-groomers continued to be popular and outshone traditional men’s shavers. Laser and IPL (intense pulsed light) hair removal products also appealed to consumers. Smaller niche segments also emerged as additional strong growth markets. Revenues in electric hard skin removers have almost tripled in the five major European markets since the same period of the previous year. Ever more consumers in France, Germany and the UK are also buying electric facial cleansing systems. In the first half of the year, sales of rotating facial brushes increased by 166%. Finally, the mobile health segment (which covers all devices that can be synced with health apps on smartphones) had a dynamic growth. The products that registered the better results were personal bathroom scales with wireless data transfer via Bluetooth, wireless blood pressure monitors and health and fitness trackers.
