Sales of white goods and household appliances beat forecasts during the pandemic

11.8.2020

The industry presents figures for the first half of 2020 and reports a record increase in June

Throughout the spring and so far this summer, the trend has been very positive for the industry's products. This is now crowned with an exceptional rise in June, with no less than a 20.3 percent increase in value compared to June 2019.

The best performing categories are SDA (Small Domestic Appliances), which includes coffee machines, vacuum cleaners and kitchen assistants, which increased by a full 31 percent in June. In MDA (Major Domestic Appliances), i.e. larger appliances such as refrigerators and freezers and washing machines, sales increased by just over 17 percent in June.

– The extensive work from home and staying at home has greatly benefited the interest in household appliances in Sweden, says Kent Oderud, chairman of APPLiA – Home Appliances Sweden, now that the industry's figures for the first half of 2020 are presented.

– This increase, which for the industry as a whole during the first half of the year is 7.5 percent over last year, means that the industry is significantly exceeding its forecasts for the first half of 2020. This can be seen as a positive surprise when we have experienced both production stops in several manufacturing countries and all other uncertainty associated with the pandemic, says Tobias Gullberg, statistics manager for APPLiA.

The product categories showing the highest increases during the first half of the year are all within the product areas associated with our increased presence at home: kitchen assistants and larger food processors for baking and food preparation, mixers and blenders, all types of coffee machines and even ice cream machines, which almost doubled their sales. Within the white goods segments, it is washing machines and dryers as well as refrigerators and freezers that show the highest increases.

– It is clear that the pandemic has had a positive impact on sales of our industry's products, especially household appliances (SDA), where sales in the first half of 2020 are almost 15 percent above last year in value and almost 10 percent above in number. More products are being sold, and most people are also choosing to buy slightly more exclusive products, within both SDA and MDA, which is a very positive development, says Matts Spångberg, CEO of APPLiA – Home Appliances Sweden.

Within the white goods segments, washing machines and dryers as well as refrigerators and freezers show the highest increases.

– Washing machines, with more advanced hygiene programs, have become an important product for many during the pandemic. This is to ensure virus- and bacteria-free treatment of clothes, sheets and other textiles. Our changed food shopping habits also require larger and safer storage capacity in homes, so the increase in sales of both refrigerators and freezers is therefore seen as completely logical. Sweden also has one of Europe's oldest white goods parks as the products are included in property sales, which is not the case in most of Europe, points out Kent Oderud.

Media contact

APPLIANCE

Name: Kent Oderud, chairman of APPLiA

email: kent.oderud@applia-sverige.se
Mobile: +46 70 4201589

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