2020 electronics and household appliances product best sellers
The electronics segment has nothing to complain about in 2020. From January to November sales increased by 24% compared to the same period last year. An unprecedented situation for an atypical year. “Nobody would imagine that such a growth would happen due to the change in consumer behavior”, says Fernando Baialuna, Director of the Research Company GfK. The construction sector was its growth companion.
At the top of the electronics ranking was the category of vacuum cleaners, with sales growing by 65%. Only the robot vacuum cleaner achieved an increase of 380%. Then came tablets, with 62%; Notebooks with 60%; Video games, with 57%; Electric fryers with 51%; Food mixers with 35%; Mixers with 34%; Cooktops, with 33%; Hair crimpers with 32%; and Printers with 30%.
Income growth was also recorded by other categories. Refrigerators increase by 25%; Desktops 25%; Air conditioning units, 24%; Coffee makers, 23%; Washer-dryer combo 23%; Smartphones 23%; Stoves, 22%; Blenders, 21%; Microwave, 20%; Compact wash machine 19%; Automatic washers 16%; Televisions, 12%; Fans 10%; and Dryers 9%. Sales decreased in stereo systems (-3%), irons (-9%) and DVDs (-37%).
House as home
It has s been such a good year that some regional retailers claim they have experienced a seasonality since March 2020 such as that seen on commemorative dates. “The electronics segment has been growing consecutively every year. During the last Black Friday, sales increased 21% year over year. 2020 was an incredible positive year”, says Fernando.
In November, the sector’s revenues increased by 21%. In units, the decrease was 19%. The growth was supported by the price increase and premium products, which are most in demand in the online channel,” explains the director of GfK. “There were of course issues like the lack of products, but the quarantine created a scenario that made the consumer really see the house as a home,” he adds.
For example, during the pandemic, those who spent a lot of money on food realized that the home could offer a lot more and still help save money. Instead of long trips, few friends’ meetings. “This has grown in importance with the new consumer behavior and seems to be here to stay.”
The challenge for retail
Facing 2021, the scenario consists of questions. What can we expect in the new year? “Nothing is clear yet as we are faced with macroeconomic problems, such as the rising unemployment rate, falling income, uncertainties about vaccination and consumer distrust, the main selling thermometer”, explains Fernando.
The performance of the first quarter of 2021 will be fundamental to the strategy, he said. “Brazil still has great pent-up demand, mainly in the white and brown lines, and for retail there is the challenge of offering credit and terms to the consumer to leverage sales.”
On the consumer side there are still questions, says the director of GfK, some related to the economy and others to personal life. Couldn’t business trips be solved with virtual meetings? Personal contact is lost, but there are gains in terms of quality of life. “People are taking stock of their trajectories,” says Fernando. The way is to wait until the end of the first quarter.
Source: Eletrolar News Magazine 140
