NEWS | Round-up Haier outlines plans for growth in UK


CHINESE APPLIANCE giant Haier has revealed its ambitious strategy to achieve further growth in the UK.


Under the theme ‘dream, believe, achieve,’ the brand – which is also the parent company of Candy and Hoover – used its annual 1 Vision Conference to reveal its worldwide growth to date and outline its aims and objectives to become ‘the UK’s supplier of choice’. “We have been the global no. 1 brand for 14 years,” said Haier Europe’s CEO for the UK and Ireland, David


Meyerowitz. “Our aim is to become the number one supplier in the UK and Ireland by 2027.” He described the company’s worldwide growth to date as ‘phenomenal’ confirming that it now has 170 factories, selling to 160 countries, with one billion customers, 100,000 employees, 4,000 micro-enterprises and 140,000 retail partners.


Online sales revenues slump for 26th month in a row


ONLINE SALES revenues continued


their post-pandemic


decline in July, which makes 26 months in a row of negative or flat growth.


The latest figures from the IMRG Online Retail Index show a decline in online revenues for July of 1.2% compared with the same month in 2022, although they were up by 1.4% on June. Total market traffic was up by 1.9% year on year for the first time in seven months, while compared with May, traffic was up by 5.4%. Online sales in the furniture category dipped by 11.7%, while homewares and decorations fell by 7.7%. Electricals fared very well in certain categories, with major appliances up by 3.8% and small appliances soaring ahead by 47%. However, audio and visual products saw declines of 3% and 9.7% respectively.


IMRG believes that the month-on- month increase in traffic could be attributable to the spell of warm weather in June, which also saw demand for garden products rise by 10% year on year.


Focusing on the dramatic performance


6 of small appliances,


IMRG pointed out that traffic performance does not always equate with revenue performance, evidenced by the fact that this category has seen a decrease in traffic throughout 2023, leading it to speculate that “customers know what type of fryer or kettle they want and are less likely to browse around”.


Commenting on the July figures, IMRG strategy and insight


director


Andy Mulcahy said: “Following the pandemic boom, when lockdowns drove huge surges in online purchases and it appeared possible that its penetration into retail overall had rocketed forward several years, the market has actually been in decline ever since. However, while negative growth has become normalised, the trend lines are heading back toward positive growth again, likely in time for the most important time of the year for retail – Black Friday and Christmas. Provided,


of course, the looming


mortgage crisis doesn’t blow everything off target again.” The IMRG Online Retail Index has been tracking online sales since 2000 and monitors the online sales performance of 200 UK retailers.


• August 2023 Confirming the brand’s aspirations


Yannick Fierling CEO of Haier Europe added: “We have a market share of 17% worldwide with a worldwide turnover of 32 billion. Every one in five fridges, wine coolers, washers, dryers are a Haier product. And despite the challenges we have faced recently with Covid and supply chain issues, we have doubled our turnover making us the fastest-growing smart home appliance company.” During


his address Meyerowitz


explained how the company’s new UK training facility, in Birchwood, is part of its long-term growth strategy, adding that its expertise in connectivity would also help drive sales.


“By 2025, 100% of our sales will be connected appliances,” he said, “and they will focus on the “ultimate user experience.”


Haier Europe also revealed how sustainability is a key focus for the company and announced a new


initiative with Octopus Energy that will enable them to offer “consumers the lowest cost per wash cycle at


just


five pence”. “We want to extend the life of appliances and we will do this by


adding new versions of software through our app,” said Fierling. “Energy efficiency is important for us and being able to tell the customer when the cheapest time is to run an appliance efficiently, is important.”


Three-quarters of consumers unaware of smart home tech potential, Samsung report finds


A NEW trends report commissioned by Samsung UK&I, has found that the benefits of smart home technology remain a mystery for most British and Irish consumers. Samsung partnered with consumer behavioural analysts TrendWatching to produce the report, called ‘Untapped: The Home tech Evolution’, in a bid to understand the current smart-home technology market landscape and how it could evolve.


Over half (66%) of respondents admitted that they weren’t aware that smart tech could be used to remotely track the contents of their fridge, while 61% said that they didn’t know there was tech available that would allow them to switch their oven on from anywhere. To verify its findings, Samsung also conducted a poll of 2,000 UK consumers to offer real-time insights about how we are already using smart technology in modern homes.


Despite revealing a national knowledge gap in understanding the benefits of smart home technology, the report revealed that usage in general is on the up. Nearly two thirds (62%) of those surveyed said that technology has helped them increase their culinary skills, and 17% of those polled admitted that they’d become more confident in their culinary abilities thanks to the use of smart technology in the kitchen. Of the consumers polled, 26% said that they also wanted appliances to blend in with their chosen décor styles.


In light of these trends, the report predicted that consumers will likely soon see augmented reality and virtual reality technology further implemented in the kitchen that can be used to guide them through the process of creating new and more complex meals.


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