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Consumer spending on home fashions, appliances rose for two years

Consumers spent more than $47 billion on small appliances, non-electric housewares products and home fashions in 2014, according to The NPD Group.

February 12, 2015

Consumers spent more than $47 billion on small appliances, non-electric housewares products and home fashions in 2014, according to The NPD Group, a global information company. This nearly half-a-billion-dollar increase in spending, a 1-percent increase over 2013 home-product sales, continued the growth trajectory resumed in 2013, when the industry grew by 4 percent. Sales of small kitchen appliances, bed and bath home fashions products buoyed the industry in 2014, while most non-electric housewares continued to struggle.

"Inspiration, innovation and simplification influenced consumers and product performance throughout the home in 2014," said Debra Mednick, executive director and home industry analyst, The NPD Group Inc. "Following a year of aspirational motivation in 2013, which came on the heels of challenging economic times, consumers have adjusted their attitude to a less emotional, more practical one when it comes to equipping and furnishing their homes — looking to products that deliver on a new look or feel, or a new approach to performing everyday tasks."

Overall sales performance dynamics shifted across the home-products industries in 2014. The trade-up trend was still relevant in categories such as blenders, where high-performance models are still popular and on the rise. However, beverage products overall lost some fizzle and steam in 2014, as categories such as single-serve brewing systems experienced sales declines for the first time in years, as did the total coffeemaker category. Sales of juicers, home soda machines and the related consumables softened, creating a drag on overall industry growth.

Non-electrics housewares continues to be the most challenged home industry, with more decline spanning across most categories, despite positive results in November 2014 sales. Cookware, the largest non-electric category at more than $2 billion in sales in 2014, gave back some of its 2013 unit and dollar sales growth. In terms of home fashions, the attention appears to have moved toward more formal but functional products; categories such as table linens grew significantly as kitchen linens declined, and bed covers grew double digits while bed ensembles remained flat.