Following years of progressive, moderate growth, the major household appliance category experienced an additional 5.5% gain from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Spending more time at home spurred adults to expand or upgrade their existing inventory and increased appliance usage frequency. These enhanced gains will be relatively short-lived: category sales will begin to fall back to pre-pandemic levels in 2021 as consumers slowly resume out-of-home activities and meals and some cut back on discretionary spending. Still, a powerful indicator for the future industry is that consumers are prioritizing their home and willing to spend on appliances that support their lifestyle needs and interests, namely delivering greater convenience.

• The impact of COVID-19 on consumer behavior and the major household appliance market.

• The impact of past recessions on major household appliance sales.

• Motivations for past and future appliance purchases.

• Approach to shopping the major appliance category.

For the purposes of this Report, Mintel defines the major appliance market as follows:

• Clothes washers

• Clothes dryers

• Refrigerators (refrigerator freezer combinations and refrigerators without a freezer)

• Freezers

• Dishwashers

• Ranges

• Ovens

• Cooktops (stand-alone)

• Microwaves (stand-alone microwaves and built-in microwaves)

Mintel’s economic assumptions are based on CBO estimates released on February 1, 2021. The CBO’s previous forecast for US GDP to fall by 5.8% in 2020 was revised after a stronger second half of the year and the updated estimate indicates negative 3.5% GDP for the year. The CBO forecasts GDP to grow by 4.6% in 2021 and projects unemployment to continue to fall to average 5.7% for the year.

This Report was written January–February 2021 and data was fielded in December 2020, reflecting a pandemic environment. The first COVID-19 case was confirmed in the US in January 2020. It was declared a global health pandemic and national emergency in early March 2020. Across the US, various stay-at-home orders were put in place in Spring 2020, and non-essential businesses and school districts closed or shifted to remote operations. The remainder of 2020 saw rolling orders, as states and local governments relaxed and reinforced guidelines according to the spread of the virus in each region.

Vaccine distribution began in December 2020, and it is expected take anywhere from July to December 2021 for 70-90% of the population to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. Mintel anticipates business operations in the US will remain in a state of flux through 2021 as the vaccine is widely administered.