5 Trends Heating Up the Small Home Appliance Industry

It’s not unusual that as the weather gets colder, the home appliance industry gets hotter. In fact, Amazon’s Small Home Appliance subcategory pulled in a record $591 million in November 2021, the most revenue for any other Kitchen & Dining sector.

Using insights from Shopper Intelligence, our eCommerce solution for Amazon, Walmart, and other online marketplaces, we identify trends heating up the small home appliance industry the record-setting month and provide tips for brands to boil to the top.

1. All about fast, not slow

Small appliances with the most year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth on amazon.com specialize in making food quickly. This includes Mixers and Blenders, for a liquid meal at the click of a button, with 95% and 29% November 2021 YoY growth (the timeframe we’ll be referencing throughout this article unless otherwise stated).

Revenue for the Microwave Ovens and Ovens & Toasters subcategories grew 56% YoY as people opted for a faster solution than large ovens.

Small Appliances Subcategories – Revenue

U.S., Amazon, Desktop, Mobile Web & Mobile App, Nov 2020 – Nov 2021

Fryer revenue reached $13.3 million, up 20% YoY, exceeding the category’s strong performance the prior year. Air Fryers, which fry food with just a drop of oil and circulate air for faster cooking, drove growth.

True to its name, Slow Cookers lagged.

Revenue for the month dove 38% to further indicate lower patience when it came to making a home-cooked meal than when stricter lockdowns were in place.

Even revenue for Instant Pot, the most popular slow cooker brand, fell 24% to illustrate shifting preference.

Takeaway

Shoppers are looking for quick solutions for their cooking needs. Promoting products that offer quick kitchen solutions can pay off.

2. The smaller or the bigger the better?

Search trends for the Air Fryer category indicate that product size is top of mind.

If shoppers don’t want a “small air fryer,” the fastest-growing search term in November YoY, they opt for larger products. “Large air fryer” and “4 qt air fryer,” the gallon version, ranked among the top 10 fastest-growing search terms up 222% and 145%.

High search volume coupled with the category’s strong performance last year, suggests that consumers may be buying multiple air fryers across sizes.

Takeaway

To reflect consumers’ focus on big and small, brands should identify size in their product titles and use Amazon SEO to integrate size-related terms in their product descriptions.

Check out the most searched products on Amazon

3. Rotisserie rings right

Other fastest-growing keywords suggest shoppers are upgrading their fryers with enhanced features.

Searches for “air fryer dehydrator” grew 188%, illustrating cooker cravings for DIY jerky as they french fry.

At the same time, shoppers want to roast. “Rotisserie air fryer,” “air fryer rotisserie,” and “air fryer with rotisserie” ranked among the top 10 fastest-growing searches, growing 161%, 140%, and 130% respectively.

Takeaway

Do your home appliance offerings have special, additional features? Again, make sure they come across on your product listing page and description.

4. Discounts nourish demand

Although supply chain issues made it difficult for brands to discount small appliances this year, those that did reaped rewards.

Ninja AF150AMZ XL and the newer Instant Vortex Air Fryer were the only top Air Fryer products with discounts. Both slashed prices by 17% to cater to deal-hungry consumers driving 300% MoM gains in unit sales. Growth for non-discounted top air fryers did not exceed 125% YoY.

Takeaway

Discounted Instant Vortex earned $2 million more than the historically best-selling COSORI Air Fryer Max XL, indicating that despite increased costs due to inflation and supply chain snags, brands should still discount popular products on shopping holidays.

5. Amazon aces appliances

Small Appliance revenue grew by 25% in November YoY on amazon.com, sharply contrasting 11% and 22% declines for walmart.com and target.com, likely due to shoppers opting for brick & mortar stores. On Black Friday alone visits to Target’s store locator page surged 268% vs. the days leading up to the shopping event.

Although target.com sold just 20,000 more appliances than walmart.com, revenue exceeded the retail giant by nearly $37 million, indicating that shoppers are purchasing less expensive appliances from Walmart at a faster rate.

Takeaway

Pricier kitchen appliance brands may want to prioritize the Target marketplace over the Walmart marketplace in their distribution strategy. Brands with lower-cost products may want to hone in on Walmart.

Walmart vs. Amazon: Get the full comparison

Now, heat up the home appliance industry

We used Shopper Intelligence to put together our appliance industry analysis. To get your own insights to win online marketplaces year-round, schedule a demo today.