Retailers may be poised to benefit from incentives provided by suppliers for Australian consumers to purchase additional or more technologically advanced appliances this Mother's Day. A compelling reason to buy appliances combined with enticements such as prizes or give-away programs have gained a heightened importance in today's marketplace where consumers appear to be delaying updating basic products by limiting their spend on non-essential items.

The latest statistics from GfK Retail and Technology Australia, for the year ending January 2010 compared to the year ending January 2009, point to significant fluctuations in terms of how each category performed. The results provide a mixed bag that includes several notable sales declines and other standout successes. However, the market for kitchen appliances and home care still enjoyed value rises over the period, at 5.9% and 5.7% respectively, while personal care suffered a small 0.8% decline.

Can openers best performers

Products seen as more a 'want' than a 'need' such as facial saunas suffered during the 12-month period. This category endured a massive 30.3% drop in units sold and 35.3% fall in value while well being products also recorded a significant decline, dropping 10.2% in sales and a further 18.1% in value.

Performing notably in the personal care category was dental care, up 12.4% in units sold and 5.9% in value while shavers rose 18.3% in sales and their value increased 7.6%. Hair stylers fell 9.5% in value but still managed a 1.5% increase in sales.

While television cooking shows are being credited with boosting the turnover of kitchen appliances, the substantial 12.7% jump in sales of personal scales may point to a positive impact in stores from similar programming focused on weight loss.

The 0.2% sales decline for hair dryers and 4.1% fall in value could indicate that consumers waited longer to replace basic items. This is also reflected in the outcome for kettles with a 3.3% fall in units sold although an average price rise led to a 3.3% increase in their value. Toasters suffered a 6.8% decline in units sold but still managed a 0.5% rise in value while food steamers fell a dramatic 36.1% in units sold and 34.6% in value. Interestingly, the performance of can openers is extraordinary. In fact, can openers performed better than any other category in kitchen appliances. Their unit sales were up 57.3% and value rose 52.2%.

Price fluctuations across categories

The other best performing kitchen appliances reflect a trend for consumers to spend more time entertaining in their homes. Slow cookers continued to command a prominent position in the market as their unit sales rose a solid 35.7% and value increased even further to 45.7%, unit sales of choppers rose 33% and their value increased a stronger 55.4% while bench mixers enjoyed a 10.9% rise in sales and a 15.8% value hike. It's interesting to note the performance of the novelty sector, up 16% in sales and 25.4% in value.

Some 16 of the 24 kitchen appliances categories surveyed by GfK revealed falls in unit sold with sales overall down 1.9% but upward price pressures meant only nine segments recorded a drop in value for the period.

That tendency to cocoon at home may have also contributed to the strength of certain categories in the home care segment which demonstrated a consumer willingness to spend more on electric fans. Their value rose 20.3% despite a modest 0.1% sales increase. Electric heaters enjoyed a 10.6% increase in value off a 9.4% jump in unit sales. Vacuum cleaners recorded a modest growth, up 2.2% in units sold and 5.6% in value. Irons, anecdotally regarded as particularly strong, appear otherwise when the data is studied. GfK reveals that sales of irons fell 6.2% and their price declined 2.6%.