The Pandemic-Driven Housewares Purchases & Usage Post-Lockdown Report from market researcher Numerator supports the observation that stay-at-home requirements instituted during the COVID-19 pandemic drove housewares purchases.
In fact, according to Numerator, more eating from home has prompted three in four households to purchase related housewares categories since the onset of the pandemic for an increase of 13% from pre-COVID levels.
Among Numerator’s other findings:
- Most households purchased multiple categories, with 1.8 unique categories purchased per buyer.
- Bakeware, up 29%, cookware, up 26%, and small kitchen appliances, up 17%, saw the most growth across omnichannel household spend.
- Most categories increased as to omnichannel household penetration, with soda makers, juice extractors and air fryers leading the pack from a growth perspective.
- 42% of buyers who purchased housewares during the second and third quarter of 2020 at the pandemic’s start, had not purchased from the product category in the prior year.
- New buyers were typically a younger, single, diverse and urban group and were lower-income, never married and one-person households.
- Social media or browsing online when purchasing housewares influenced 40% of survey respondents.
- Air fryer usage has continued to be strong, as 86% of households still own the product and 31% use it more frequently than during the first six months post-purchase.
- However, 41% of households with juice extractors report that they use it less frequently than during the first six months post-purchase or not at all.
As for acquisition motivation, 35% of consumers purchased new housewares products to ease cooking or beverage making at home, 28% to try something new, 23% to save time and 23% to make healthier foods/beverages, Numerator stated.
