Looking forward, GfK expects the value of Technical Consumer Goods (TCG) markets to remain strong, maintaining the last year’s level. For 2020 the estimated market value should reach 1 trillion euro, including North America. According to the GfK experts, solid period of recovery paves the way for this significant comeback, driven by consumers’ “at-home” focus and add-on demand due to digitization during lockdown.
«We project that the current market recovery will continue. For the last quarter of 2020 there are several indicators pointing to a stable scenario for the crucial peak season – explains Norbert Herzog, GfK expert for the TCG industry. – On the other hand, volatility in the markets will not disappear as consumer demand patters have seen – and are expected to continue to see – significant shifts. The sustainable step-up of e-commerce is the most significant acceleration of such a trend shift. For retailers and manufacturers, it is a call to action to deliver the next level of omnichannel experience that consumers are demanding.»
Disruption hit the TCG markets in the advent of ovid-19. While this is somewhat disguised by a 0 percent growth performance vs. 2019, business reality is far away from a state of stability. Looking at the Telecom/Smartphone market representing 40 percent of the TCG turnover, the expected decline of -6 percent proves this. Market volatility has never been as high as this year – on the extreme positive end the IT/Office business is expected to grow by +15 percent in value. Here, the market went from “I want” to “I need” IT/Office equipment due to lockdown and enforced working from home. With some delay and initial declines, the Small Domestic Appliances market accelerated post lockdowns to deliver almost double-digit growth (+9 percent in value) for the year 2020. Similarly, consumer electronics (-1 percent in value) and major domestic appliances (-2 percent in value) close the gap on last year’s performance and benefit from the “cook at home” and “entertain at home” trend.