Vacuum Cleaners and Carpet-cleaning Products - US

• The role of "green" vacuum marketing
• Features to highlight to reach key demographic groups, including high-end customers and younger, first-time buyers
• Which product lines and special features have the greatest growth potential, in the short and long term, and relative to specific consumer groups
• The importance of POP advertising and which consumer groups warrant the greatest attention with out-of-store advertising
• What brand strategies are being used and how these might be developed further
• What product innovations are being used to attract consumers and what product areas have the greatest potential for growth

SCOPE AND THEMES

Definition

Data sources

Sales and shipment data

Consumer survey data

Abbreviations and terms

Abbreviations

Terms

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Limited growth in mature market

Professional cleaning services dampen demand for uprights

Largest segment is uprights, stick/handhelds fastest growing

Retail channels: Mass merchandisers dominate diverse retail landscape

Home ownership and housing market crucial to sales

Flooring, allergies, and pets shape product offerings and spur demand

TTI makes major acquisition, Dyson solidifies hold in high-end market

Brands embrace range of qualities from affordable and fun to futuristic

Innovations in “green” products, cordless handhelds and design

Select TV ads highlight branding and marketing strategies

Room for growth in electric brooms; wedding gift growth opportunity

Purchase intent for Roombas high

Average spend of $220 in internet sample

A new vacuum every four years

Consumers seek multi-surface, bagless, and HEPA vacuums

Replacement continues to be the primary reason for purchase

Brand loyalty low

POP the top priority excepting high-end, under-35s, and large families

Key findings

MARKET SIZE AND FORECAST

Key points

Mature market in which replacement sales are core driver

Technology spurs high-end growth, imports drive down prices

Drop in housing market and recession contribute to slow sales

Energy-efficient products offer growth potential

Figure 1: U.S. sales and forecast of vacuums, at current prices, 2003-11

Figure 2: U.S. sales and forecast of vacuums, at inflation-adjusted prices, 2003-11

COMPETITIVE CONTEXT

Key points

Professional cleaning services adversely impact uprights…

…but all other categories not affected adversely

Figure 3: Vacuum cleaner ownership in HHs that use professional cleaning services, September 2008

SEGMENT PERFORMANCE

Key points

Uprights comprise largest segment, stick/handhelds fastest growing

Figure 4: U.S. sales and forecast of vacuums, at current prices, by segment, 2003-11

Figure 5: U.S. sales of vacuums, by segment, 2006 and 2008

SEGMENT PERFORMANCE—UPRIGHT VACUUM CLEANERS

Key points

Bagless technology moves downmarket

Figure 6: U.S. sales and forecast of upright vacuums, at current prices, 2003-11

Figure 7: U.S. sales and forecast of upright vacuumms, at inflation-adjusted prices, 2003-11

SEGMENT PERFORMANCE—EXTRACTORS

Key points

Extractor sales suffer due to lower prices and competition with other segments

Figure 8: U.S. sales and forecast of extractors, at current prices, 2003-11

Figure 9: U.S. sales and forecast of extractors, at inflation-adjusted prices, 2003-11

SEGMENT PERFORMANCE—STICK AND HANDHELD

Key points

Gains being made on hardwood floors with lighter and cordless products

Figure 10: U.S. sales and forecast of stick/handheld vacuums, at current prices, 2003-11

Figure 11: U.S. sales and forecast of stick/handheld vacuumms, at inflation-adjusted prices, 2003-11

SEGMENT PERFORMANCE—CANISTER VACUUM CLEANERS

Key points

Canisters lose market share as department stores, door-to-door sales decline

Figure 12: U.S. sales and forecast of canister vacuums, at current prices, 2003-11

Figure 13: U.S. sales and forecast of canister vacuums, at inflation-adjusted prices, 2003-11

RETAIL CHANNELS

Key points

Mass merchandisers dominate retail market and increase share from 2006-07

Figure 14: Sales of vacuums, by retail channel, 2006 and 2007

Wal-Mart leads, followed by Sears

Figure 15: Sales of vacuum cleaners, by retailer, 2006

Online research confirms Wal-Mart’s hold and diversity of retail landscape

Figure 16: Retailer used in most recent purchase, September 2008

Younger buyers prefer Wal-Mart

Figure 17: Retailer used in most recent purchase, by age, September 2008

Under-$75Ks most keen on Wal-Mart

Figure 18: Retailer used in most recent purchase, by household income, September 2008

Vacuum offerings and online presence

Wal-Mart

Sears

Target

Kmart

Best Buy

Lowe’s

MARKET DRIVERS

Key points

Collapse of the housing market

The impact of home ownership

Figure 19: Vacuum ownership, homeowners vs. renters, February 2007-March 2008

Home sales continue to fall in 2008

Figure 20: Sales of new and existing homes, 2002-07

Figure 21: Seasonally adjusted annual rates for the sales of new and existing homes, January-August 2008

Less time being spent cleaning, men putting in more hours

Figure 22: Hours spent doing housework per week, by gender, 1976 and 2005

Hard surfaces continue to gain in popularity

Figure 23: U.S. wholesale sales of floorcovering products, 2002 and 2007

Those with carpets still own more vacuums

Figure 24: Vacuum ownership, wall-to-wall carpeting vs. floor carpeting, September 2008

Pets, allergies, asthma spur demand for clean carpets

Figure 25: Vacuum ownership in households with allergic residents, September 2008

Figure 26: Features on vacuums owned by households with allergic residents, September 2008

Figure 27: Willingness to pay more for step-up features in households with allergic resdients, September 2008

Figure 28: Willingness to pay more for step-up features in households with allergic residents, September 2008

Pets

Figure 29: Vacuum ownership in households with pets, February 2007-March 2008

Figure 30: Vacuum ownership in internet households with pets, September 2008

Figure 31: Features owned on vacuums in households with pets, September 2008

Figure 32: Willingness to pay more for step-up features in households with pets, September 2008

Suppliers and retailers reach out to pet owners

LEADING COMPANIES AND BRAND QUALITIES

Key points

Changes and trends among largest suppliers

Key points of brand differentiation

Brand ownership

Figure 33: Brands of vacuums owned, by date of vacuum purchase, September 2008

TTI (Hoover, Dirt Devil, Vax, Royal)

Hoover

Dirt Devil

Electrolux

Electrolux

Eureka

Bissell

Black & Decker

Oreck

Dyson

Kirby

iRobot

Matsushita (Panasonic)

Euro-Pro

Smaller players

Aerus

Emer

Metropolitan

Bosch

Sanyo

INNOVATION AND INNOVATORS

Innovations in “green” products, cordless handhelds and design

Bissell: green innovations and marketing

Figure 34: Bissell’s Green Little Green

Bissell: SpotBot and new Wet/Dry set

Dirt Devil: Stylish handless products

Figure 35: Dirt Devil’s BRUM and KWIK

Hoover: cordless system with Lithium ion technology

Dyson: continued technology and style innovation

Figure 36: Dyson’s D16 in pink

Electrolux: the versatile Ergorapido and Oxygen series

Halo: antibacterial products with UV technology

iRobot: new colors, improved robots

ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION

Key points

Dyson

Figure 37: Dyson—Dual Cyclone vacuum, 2008

Figure 38: Dyson—vacuum, 2008

Figure 39: Dyson—the ball vacuum, 2008

Bissell

Figure 40: Bissell—Healthy Home, 2008

Figure 41: Bissell—Pet hair eraser, 2008

Figure 42: Bissell—PROheat 2x, 2008

Figure 43: Bissell—SpotBot, 2008

TTI (Dirt Devil and Hoover)

Figure 44: Dirt Devil—Broom Vac, 2008

Figure 45: Dirt Devil—KONE, 2008

Figure 46: Dirt Devil—KRUZ, 2008

Figure 47: Hoover SteamVac, 2008

Figure 48: Hoover WindTunnel, 2008

Halo

Figure 49: Halo UVX Ultraviolet Vacuum, 2008

iRobot

Figure 50: iRobot Roomba 500 series, 2008

Oreck

Figure 51: Oreck—XL Ultra, 2008

HOUSEHOLD PENETRATION

Key points

Overall penetration peaks among those aged 45-54

Figure 52: Vacuum ownership, by age, February 2007-March 2008

Tiered pricing warranted to appeal to variety of households

Figure 53: Vacuum ownership, by household income, February 2007-March 2008

Households with two or more members show higher vacuum ownership

Figure 54: Vacuum ownership, by household size, February 2007-March 2008

Married couples own more appliances, especially handheld vacuums

Figure 55: Vacuum ownership, by marital status, February 2007-March 2008

INTENT TO PURCHASE

Key points

Intent to buy highest for handheld, stick and robotic appliances

Figure 56: Ownership and intent to purchase, by type of vacuum, September 2008

Figure 57: Intent to purchase vacuum in next 12 months, by household income, September 2008

Figure 58: Intent to purchase vacuum in next 12 months, by age, September 2008

Targeting families

Figure 59: Intent to purchase vacuum in next 12 months, by children in HH, September 2008

SPEND

Key points

Spending higher for Boomers, wealthier and larger households

Figure 60: Spend on most recently purchased vacuum cleaner, by age, household income, presence of

children, and household size, September 2008

DATE OF MOST RECENT PURCHASE

Key points

Under-35s, those with children and larger households more likely to be acquiring new vacuums

Figure 61: Date of most recent purchase, by age, household income, presence of children, and size of HH,

September 2008

INTEREST IN STEP-UP FEATURES

Key points

Multi-surface cleaning, bagless, and HEPA top features in current machines

Figure 62: Features on currently owned vacuums, by age, September 2008

Antibacterial and germ-killing features for which consumers may pay more

Figure 63: Willingness to pay more for step-up features, by age, September 2008

REASONS FOR PURCHASE

Key points

Replacement and upgrades each motivate about half of purchases

Figure 64: Reasons for buying last vacuum cleaner purchased, September 2008

18-34s more likely to be first-time buyers and to seek added features

Figure 65: Reasons for buying last vacuum cleaner purchased, by age, September 2008

High-income HHs seek more features

Figure 66: Reasons for buying last vacuum cleaner purchased, by household income, September 2008

BRAND ATTITUDES AND CHOICES

Key points

Most consumers look at variety of brands

Figure 67: Vacuum cleaner brand attitudes, by gender, September 2008

Figure 68: Vacuum cleaner brand attitudes, by age, September 2008

Figure 69: Vacuum cleaner brand attitudes, by household income, September 2008

PURCHASING ATTITUDES AND CHOICES

Key points

In-store marketing demands focus as consumers do limited research

Figure 70: Purchasing attitudes and choices, by gender, September 2008

Younger buyers best use of marketing, outreach and design efforts

Figure 71: Purchasing attitudes and choices, by age, September 2008

Over-$75Ks undertake more research, visit more stores

Figure 72: Purchasing attitudes and choices, by household income, September 2008

Those with children do more research and visit more stores

Figure 73: Purchasing attitudes and choices, by presence of children, September 2008

THE IMPACT OF ETHNICITY AND HISPANIC ORIGIN

Key points

Among minority groups, Asians show highest ownership

Figure 74: Vacuum ownership, by ethnicity/Hispanic origin, February 2007-March 2008

Hispanics warrant focus as younger buyers interested in innovation

Figure 75: Vacuum ownership, by ethnicity/Hispanic origin, September 2008

Figure 76: Intent to purchase vacuum in next 12 months, by ethnicity/Hispanic origin, September 2008

Figure 77: Date of most recent purchase, by ethnicity/Hispanic origin, September 2008

Figure 78: Spend on most recently acquired vacuum cleaner, by ethnicity/Hispanic origin, September 2008

Figure 79: Willingness to pay more for step-up features, by ethnicity/Hispanic origin, September 2008

Figure 80: Purchasing attitudes and choices, by ethnicity/Hispanic origin, September 2008

Asians and Hispanics comprise growing young, multiethnic population

Figure 81: Population, by ethnicity and Hispanic origin, 2008 and 2013

APPENDIX: ADDITIONAL CONSUMER DATA TABLES

Ownership in internet study

Figure 82: Vacuum ownership, by household income, September 2008

Figure 83: Vacuum ownership, by age, September 2008

APPENDIX: TRADE ASSOCIATIONS