As communicated by GfK, despite a challenging business environment, the global technical consumer goods (TCG) industry has inched back to $799 billion (excluding North America), which is a 2 percent value growth in 2020. Smart product segments performed better than average, resulting in a revival of 24 percent to $28 billion across EU7 markets (Germany, France, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium). Alert detectors, robot vacuum cleaners and cooking ranges enjoyed high demand driven by the “stay at home” focus. Sales of voice-controlled products saw explosive growth of almost 61 percent in 2020, making them one of the best sellers of the year. The pandemic is certainly fast-tracking digitization in our homes. The focus on home as headquarters is driving demand for tech goods. Restricted to working and studying at home and prevented from travel and outdoor leisure, consumers turned to indoor options. This delivered good growth of 19 percent for Smart Entertainment & Office products across EU7 markets.
The pandemic also spotlighted health and hygiene which catapulted the Smart Small Domestic Appliances and Smart Health Sector (i.e. vacuum cleaner, personal diagnostics, fitness trackers, wrist sport computers) to growth. This was the fastest growing segment across EU7 with +41 percent increase. Smart vacuum cleaners, a key category within SDA & Health, grew by an impressive +43 percent in value terms. Since at-home meant more cooking, many consumers looked for ways to simplify food preparation. As a result, smart cooking grew by a staggering +71.5 percent. For example, smart built-in hobs were up +48.2. GfK’s Market Intelligence Sales Tracking data indicate a transition to a smarter future. The virtual speaker is emerging as a smart home success story as voice control is becoming the way consumers interact with their smart products.
