Table of Contents
Executive Summary
-
- The market
- Spending continues to grow across electricals
-
- Figure 1: Consumer spending on all electrical products: market size and forecast (including VAT), 2014-2024
- Specialists’ share falls again amid the rise of online pure play
- Online-only boosts share as specialists and grocers slip
-
- Figure 2: Estimated distribution of spending on electrical goods, 2018 and 2019
- Companies and brands
- Dixons Carphone hit by struggling mobile sales as Amazon continues its charge
- Dixons Carphone loses share as online makes gains
-
- Figure 3: Estimated market shares of the leading specialist and non-specialist retailers of electrical goods, 2019
- Online grows its share of total spending
-
- Figure 4: Leading online retailers’ estimated share of online spending on electrical goods, 2019
- The consumer
- Nearly three quarters of buyers purchased electricals online in 2019
-
- Figure 5: How consumers purchased electrical goods, November 2019
- Mobile purchasing is on the rise
-
- Figure 6: How consumers purchased electrical goods Online, November 2019
- Online-only top consumer choice of retailer
-
- Figure 7: Retailers used to purchase electrical goods in the last 12 months, November 2019
- The need for stores is falling among some younger consumers
-
- Figure 8: Attitudes towards electrical goods, November 2019
- How stores can re-engage younger consumers
-
- Figure 9: Behaviours in the electrical goods market, November 2019
- Electricals lead Black Friday sales, but room for further growth
-
- Figure 10: Electricals purchased during Black Friday 2018 and 2019, December 2018 and 2019
- What we think
Issues and Insights
-
- An untapped opportunity: Black Friday electrical sales among women
- The facts
- The implications
- The opportunity for retailers to collaborate with YouTubers
- The facts
- The implications
The Market – What You Need to Know
-
- Spending continues to grow across electricals
- Headline inflation hits a three-year low
- Specialists’ share falls again amid the rise of online pure play
- Online-only boosts share as specialists and grocers slip
Market Size and Forecast
-
- Consumer spending on electricals picks up in 2019
-
- Figure 11: Consumer spending on all electrical products: market size and forecast (including VAT), 2014-2024
- Figure 12: Consumer spending on all electrical products: market size and forecast (including VAT), in current and constant prices, 2014-2024
- Segment forecasts
-
- Figure 13: Core electrical goods segments as a percentage of the total market, 2014-2019
- Household appliances continue to grow
-
- Figure 14: Household appliances: segment size and forecast (including VAT), 2014-24
- Figure 15: Household appliances: segment size and forecast (including VAT), at current and constant prices, 2014-24
- Computing and telecoms recover momentum
-
- Figure 16: Computing and telecoms goods: segment size and forecast (including VAT), 2014-24
-
- Figure 17: Computing and telecoms goods: segment size and forecast (including VAT), at current and constant prices, 2014-24
- Audio-visual and photographic goods return to growth
-
- Figure 18: Audio-visual and photographic goods: segment size and forecast (including VAT), 2014-24
- Figure 19: Audio-visual and photographic goods: segment size and forecast (including VAT), in current and constant prices, 2014-24
- Personal care appliances the strongest driver in 2019
- Forecast methodology
-
- Figure 20: Personal care appliances: segment size and forecast (including VAT), 2014-24
- Figure 21: Personal care appliances: segment size and forecast (including VAT), at current and constant prices, 2014-24
Market Drivers
-
- Household appliances enjoy a bumper end of year
-
- Figure 22: Annual % change in all retail sales, electrical household appliance specialists and computers & telecoms equipment specialists, non-seasonally adjusted value series, January 2018 - December 2019
- Electricals volume sales vary widely over past two years
-
- Figure 23: Annual % change in all retail sales, electrical household appliance specialists and computers & telecoms equipment specialists, non-seasonally adjusted volume series, January 2018 - December 2019
- Headline inflation hits a three-year low
-
- Figure 24: Price Inflation: Annual % rate of change in core electrical categories, by month, 2019
- The return of real wage growth
-
- Figure 25: Great Britain average weekly earnings annual growth rate, total pay (real), May 2014-July 2019
- Consumers continue to take on credit
-
- Figure 26: Monthly consumer credit gross lending (excluding student loans), August 2017-October 2019
- Housing transactions look to pick up following a quiet summer …
-
- Figure 27: Number of property residential transactions with a value of over £40,000 completed in the UK, October 2017-October 2019
- … but have cooled down in recent years
-
- Figure 28: Number of property residential transactions with a value of over £40,000 completed in the UK, Financial year 2005/06-2018/19
- A rising proportion of homeowners in England
-
- Figure 29: English households, by tenure, 2012-18
Specialist Sector Size
-
- Specialist market share falls for a third year
-
- Figure 30: Electrical goods specialists’ sector sales (including VAT), 2014-2019
- Figure 31: Electrical goods specialists’ sector sales (including and excluding VAT), 2015-2020
- Black Friday displaces demand from the specialist sector
-
- Figure 32: Average weekly retail sales in the electrical household appliance specialists and computers and telecommunications specialists categories, Jan 2018-Dec 2019
- Specialist sector contracts, but the appeal of stores remains
-
- Figure 33: Electrical specialists’ enterprise numbers, 2008-2018
- Figure 34: Electrical specialists’ number of retail outlets, 2014-2019
Channels of Distribution
-
- Online-only boosts share as specialists and grocers slip
-
- Figure 35: Estimated distribution of spending on electrical goods, 2018 and 2019
The Consumer – What You Need to Know
-
- Nearly three quarters of buyers purchased electricals online in 2019
- Mobile purchasing is on the rise
- Online-only top consumer choice in retailer
- The need for stores is falling among some younger consumers
- How stores can re-engage younger consumers
- Electricals lead Black Friday sales, but there’s an opportunity to boost sales among women
Electricals Purchased
-
-
- Figure 36: Types of electrical products purchased in the past 12 months, November 2019
- Changes in purchasing
-
- Figure 37: Types of electrical products purchased in the past 12 months, November 2017-19
- Repertoire of products purchased in the last year
-
- Figure 38: Repertoire of products purchased in the past 12 months, November 2019
-
How Consumers Purchased Electrical Goods
-
- Online grows its share further
- As pressure on in-store ramps up
-
- Figure 39: How consumers purchased electrical goods, November 2019
-
- Figure 40: How consumers purchased electrical goods, November 2017-19
- In-store retailers can do more to appeal to less affluent consumers
-
- Figure 41: How consumers purchased electrical goods, by socio-economic group, November 2019
- Bringing price and convenience in-store
How Consumers Purchased Electrical Goods Online
-
-
- Figure 42: How consumers purchased electrical goods online, November 2019
- Smartphones challenge laptop/desktops among younger shoppers
-
- Figure 43: How consumers purchased electrical goods online, by age, November 2019
- Websites lead apps in mobile purchasing
-
- Figure 44: How consumers purchased electrical goods via smartphone tablet, November 2019
- What can retailers do to encourage the use of mobile apps?
- YouTube could become an essential platform for mobile purchasing
-
- Figure 45: Platforms where people have seen influencer content that prompted purchases/activities, April 2019
-
Retailers Used
-
- Online pure players take the top spot
-
- Figure 46: Types of retailers used to purchase electrical goods in-store/online in the last 12 months, November 2019
- Amazon leads the way
-
- Figure 47: Retailers used to purchase electrical goods in the last 12 months, November 2019
Online Retailers Used
-
- Amazon maintains its lead, but multichannel models prove fruitful
-
- Figure 48: Online retailers used, November 2019
- Online grocers can learn from the mass appeal of Amazon and Argos
-
- Figure 49: Online retailers used, by age, November 2019
In-store Retailers Used
-
- Electrical specialists top in-store purchasing, led by Dixons Carphone
-
- Figure 50: In-store retailers used, November 2019
- Online buyers shop around
-
- Figure 51: Repertoire of retailers used to purchase electrical goods in the past year, by In-store and online, November 2019
Attitudes towards Electrical Goods Purchasing
-
- Consumers go online for price comparison
- Multichannel retailers need to press their superior convenience
-
- Figure 52: Attitudes towards electrical goods, November 2019
- But the need for a store is falling among some younger consumers
-
- Figure 53: Attitudes towards electrical goods, by age, November 2019
- What more can stores do?
-
- Figure 54: Agreement with the statement 'shopping in stores with more services would be appealing', by age, November 2019
Behaviours in the Electrical Goods Market
-
- The in-store experience is more important than ever
- Store staff need to keep shoppers engaged throughout the purchasing journey
-
- Figure 55: Behaviours in the electrical goods market, November 2019
- In-store innovations to cater to younger consumer demand
-
- Figure 56: Behaviours in the electrical goods market, by age, November 2019
- Augmented reality technologies could challenge the role of the store
Black Friday 2019
-
- Two fifths of consumers made a purchase during Black Friday
-
- Figure 57: Methods of purchasing items during Black Friday 2019, December 2019
- Electricals are the most popular Black Friday purchase
-
- Figure 58: Electricals purchased during Black Friday 2018 and 2019, December 2018 and 2019
- Household electrical appliances enjoy mass appeal …
- … but total demand was spearheaded by men
-
- Figure 59: Electricals purchased during Black Friday 2019, by age and gender, December 2019
- Men were more likely to impulse buy and treat themselves during Black Friday
-
- Figure 60: Black Friday purchases 2019, by product category, by gender, December 2019
- An untapped opportunity: Black Friday electrical sales among women
-
- Figure 61: Memorable elements in advertising campaigns, October 2018
- Black Friday sees impulse buying, but also displaces demand
-
- Figure 62: Attitudes towards Black Friday 2019, December 2019
Companies and Brands – What You Need to Know
-
- Dixons Carphone headline growth hit by struggling mobile sales
- Amazon continues its charge into electricals
- Dixons Carphone loses share as online makes gains
- Online grows its share of total spending
- John Lewis: a well-regarded brand worth paying more for
- Retailers strive to integrate online and offline channels
- Dixons Carphone heads up adspend, but total expenditure fell in 2019
Leading Specialists
-
- Dixons Carphone hit by struggling mobile sales …
- ... but other specialists see continued growth
-
- Figure 63: Leading specialist retailers of electrical goods: total net revenues; 2014/15-2019/20
-
- Figure 64: Leading specialists, CAGR of net revenues, 2014/15-2018/19
- Outlet numbers fall as specialists look to balance on-and-offline channels
-
- Figure 65: Leading specialists, outlet numbers, 2014/15-2019/20
- Annual sales per outlet
-
- Figure 66: Leading specialists, annual sales per outlet, 2014/15-2018/19
- The repositioning of multichannel specialists has squeezed margins
-
- Figure 67: Leading specialists, annual operating profits, 2014/15-2018/19
-
- Figure 68: Leading specialists, annual operating margins, 2014/15-2018/19
- Sales area and sales densities
-
- Figure 69: Leading specialists, estimated sales area, 2014/15-2018/19
- Figure 70: Leading specialists, sales per square metre, 2014/15-2018/19
Leading Non-specialists
-
- Amazon tops the sector as non-specialists make gains
-
- Figure 71: Leading non-specialist retailers’ estimated sales of electronic goods (excluding VAT), 2014-2019
- Figure 72: Leading non-specialist retailers, CAGR in estimated electrical goods sales, 2014-2019
-
- Figure 73: Estimated Amazon and eBay total GTV/GMV electrical sales, 2015-2019
- Non-specialists boost store numbers
-
- Figure 74: Leading non-specialist retailers of electrical goods, outlet numbers, 2014-2019
Market Share
-
- Dixons Carphone loses share as online makes gains
-
- Figure 75: Estimated market shares of the leading specialist and non-specialist retailers of electrical goods, 2019
-
- Figure 76: Estimated market shares of the leading specialist and non-specialist retailers of electrical goods, 2017-2019
Mobile Phone Specialists
-
- The market
- Phone payment options
-
- Figure 77: Value of mobile network connections, 2014-2019
-
- Figure 78: Type of mobile phone contract, November 2019
- EE and O2 share top billing, but Sky Mobile makes gains
-
- Figure 79: Mobile phone network provider, November 2019
- Estimated store numbers and the big four network providers
-
- Figure 80: Estimated store numbers of the big four network providers, 2019
- Leading network providers
-
- Figure 81: Leading network providers, financials, 2015-2018
- Carphone Warehouse
-
- Figure 82: Dixons Carphone interim 2019/20 financial results, by trading segment, October 2019
-
- Figure 83: Dixons Carphone: key metrics, 2017/18-2019/20
Online
-
- Online grows its share of total spending
-
- Figure 84: Estimated online sales of electrical goods (including VAT), 2015-19
- Figure 85: How consumers purchased electrical goods, November 2019
- Amazon nears a third of total online sales
-
- Figure 86: Leading online retailers’ estimated share of online spending on electrical goods, 2019
Space Allocation Summary
-
-
- Figure 87: Leading electricals retailers, summary space allocation estimates, January 2020
- Detailed space allocation
-
- Figure 88: Currys PC World Gaming Zone, Leyton, January 2020
- Figure 89: Leading electricals retailers, detailed space allocation estimates, January 2020
- Electrical departments in non-specialists
-
- Figure 90: Non-specialists: Estimated electricals space as a percentage of total floor space, January 2020
-
Retail Product Mix
-
- Space allocation
- Sales density
- Sales by broad product category
- Market shares
-
- Figure 91: UK Electricals retailers, space allocation, 2019
- Figure 92: Leading electricals retailers, electrical space, 2018/19
- Figure 93: Leading electricals retailers, estimated sales densities by broad product area, 2018/19
- Figure 94: Leading electricals retailers, estimated sales by broad product area, 2018/19
-
- Figure 95: Leading electricals retailers, estimated market share by broad product area, 2018/19
Launch Activity and Innovation
-
- Currys PC World using webcam tech to offer in-store experience to online customers
- AO fridge plastics recycling plant
- Try before you buy augmented reality experiences
-
- Figure 96: Dixons Carphone Point & Place Augmented-Reality website feature, 2019
- Experiential store concepts
- AO partners with Surfly to make online shopping easier
- Disrupting the B2B market
- Hughes Electrical’s new ‘outlet’ concept store
- Meeting the demand for second-hand electronics
- Failed bricks-and-mortar business relaunches as an online-only brand
- Travel kiosk format offering speed and convenience
Advertising and Marketing Activity
-
- Total advertising spend down 12.7% year-on-year in 2019
-
- Figure 97: Recorded above-the-line, online display and direct mail total advertising expenditure by UK retail advertisers of electrical products, 2015-19
- DSG Retail is the sector’s biggest advertising spender
-
- Figure 98: Leading UK retail advertisers of electrical products: recorded above-the-line, online display and direct mail total advertising expenditure, 2015-19
- Majority of advertising spend channelled through TV
-
- Figure 99: Recorded above-the-line, online display and direct mail total advertising expenditure by UK retail advertisers of electrical products, by media type, 2015-19
- Nielsen Ad Intel coverage
Brand Research
-
- What you need to know
- Brand map
-
- Figure 100: Attitudes towards and usage of selected brands, November 2019
- Key brand metrics
-
- Figure 101: Key metrics for selected brands, November 2019
- Brand attitudes: Amazon provides great online service
-
- Figure 102: Attitudes, by brand, November 2019
- Brand personality: Argos accessible, John Lewis ethically-minded
-
- Figure 103: Brand personality – macro image, November 2019
- Stylish John Lewis, aspirational Apple
-
- Figure 104: Brand personality – micro image, November 2019
- Brand analysis
- Amazon: An excellent experience and highly recommended by those that have used it
-
- Figure 105: User profile of Amazon, November 2019
- John Lewis: Worth paying more for
-
- Figure 106: User profile of John Lewis, November 2019
- Argos: High brand awareness and good value for money
-
- Figure 107: User profile of Argos, November 2019
- AO.com: Low brand awareness and usage, but users highly recommended it
-
- Figure 108: User profile of ao.com, November 2019
- Apple Store: Innovative and exclusive, but expensive
-
- Figure 109: User profile of Apple Store, November 2019
- Currys PC World: Accessible, but could do more to differentiate itself from the competition
-
- Figure 110: User profile of Currys PC World, November 2019
- Carphone Warehouse: Ranks lowest for trustworthiness and innovativeness
-
- Figure 111: User profile of Carphone Warehouse, November 2019
Amazon
-
- What we think
- Prime: the glue keeping the consumer facing business units together
- Consumer electronics: half of UK households have an Amazon device
- Retail: Will Marketplace become a problem child?
- Company background
- Company performance
-
- Figure 112: Amazon: sales by activity, 2019
- Mintel estimates
-
- Figure 113: Amazon.com Group: Group financial performance, 2015-19
-
- Figure 114: Amazon International: estimated retail sales performance, 2015-19
- Sales of electrical goods
-
- Figure 115: Amazon Europe: estimated sale of electrical products, 2019
- Retail offering
- Product mix
-
- Figure 116: Amazon UK: estimated sales by product, 2018
- Marketing
AO World PLC
-
- What we think
- Scaling back European operations on the back of mounting losses
- White goods rental service targeting cash-squeezed consumers and ‘Generation Rent’
- New strategic partnership with Vodafone
- Partners with Surfly to make online website navigation easier
- Augmented reality lessening the risk of the wrong purchasing decision
- Addressing pollution concerns
- Dedicated B2B division having an immediate impact on sales growth
- Leveraging logistical expertise to deliver third-party online orders
- Company background
- Company performance
-
- Figure 117: AO World Plc: Group financial performance, 2014/15-2018/19
- Retail offering
Apple Retail (Europe)
-
- What we think
- Focusing on growing services revenue as device sales struggle
- Tweaking the store environment and ironing out common frustrations
- Launches a credit card
- Company background
- Company performance
-
- Figure 118: Apple Retail (Europe): Estimated group financial performance, 2014/15-2018/19
-
- Figure 119: Apple Retail (Europe): outlet data, number of stores, 2014/15-2019/20
- Figure 120: Apple Retail UK and Germany: outlet data, 2014/15-2018/19
- Retail offering
Dixons Carphone (UK & Ireland)
-
- What we think
- Weighed down heavily by declining mobile sales
- Store investment with rollout of ‘experience zones’ and ‘gaming battlegrounds’
- Strengthened online proposition driving ecommerce
- Augmented reality experience to help consumers choose the right product
- Travel kiosk format offers on-the-go consumers a faster and more convenient shopping experience
- Company background
- Company performance
-
- Figure 121: Dixons Carphone: Group financial performance, 2014/15-2018/19
-
- Figure 122: Dixons Carphone: Outlet data, 2014/15-2018/19
- Retail offering
E-Square
-
- Company background
- Key figures
- Members
-
- Figure 123: E-Square: membership, 2020
Appendix – Data Sources, Abbreviations and Supporting Information
-
- Data sources
- Financial definitions
- Sales per store, sales per square metre
- Exchange rates
- Abbreviations
- Consumer research methodology
- Brand research
Appendix – Market Size and Forecast
-
- Forecast methodology
- Market size definitions
- Specialist sector size
Back to top