Small appliances manufacturers diversify supply in 2014

After equipping the kitchen and the laundry area, the Brazilian consumer starts to run behind other items of desire for other home environments. In this scenario, some brands of small appliances, as Cadence and Philips, bet on niches yet little explored in the country to expand their sales, as the personal care category, which gathers shavers and epilators.
"Consumers took advantage of the IPI reduction [Industrialized products tax] to acquire white line items I needed. Now, we see a cooling in this market. On the other hand, sales of other laptops are growing. They appear as items of desire, and not necessary, as the case of the stove or refrigerator, "says the Manager of the area of Home Life Style & GfK consulting, Oliver Römerscheidt.
With that in mind, the Brazilian beauty segment elected the Cadence as one of the main sectors of activity this year. "Today this category offers more opportunities to expand our portfolio and win more market", says the commercial Director of Cadence, Dirceu Brugalli. For this year, the company invests in a new line of hair modelers.
"This appliance is equipped with a system capable of heat and curl the hair, dropping it automatically after the end of the process," explains Brugalli. The units will be imported from China, where the company maintains a research and development lab.
Modelers, along with the new line of blenders and other releases in the kitchen category, like mini ovens and microwaves, should help the company to achieve the goal of 35% growth in turnover this year. In 2013, the company's revenues surged to 31%. "We project launch at least 62 new products this year. Today, the company's sales champion is the Fryer without oil. Then are the fans, category who suffers a little with the issue of seasonality. We will continue investing in these items, but also bring many new features, "he says.
Another bet of the company consists in the growth of electric kettles line in the South and Southeast of the country, projecting an increase in consumption of this item during the next winter.
Branded laptops giant Walita, the Dutch Philips already invests a few years in the personal care segment and must strengthen the work to increase sales in 2014. According to the marketing director of the Philips Consumer Lifestyle, Alina Asiminei, shavers and epilators is still very small, but offers a great growth opportunity for the future.
"The penetration of shavers and epilators in Brazilian homes is still very low, so we see a great potential for expansion in this category. This is a market that has yet to be discovered ", analyzes Asiminei. One of the latest releases of the company in this segment was the Epilator, pulsed light based titled Lumea.
Between the months of January and August last year, the personal care sector revenues reached the House of $ 698 million, up 17% compared with the same period in 2012, according to figures released by the GfK. However, in the same period, the segment accounted for just 3% of the national market of portable and white line.
Meanwhile, the category of products for the kitchen represented 62% of the total revenue, according to GfK. rate that explains well why the Swedish giant Electrolux continue betting on utensils for the kitchen. "We will launch this year aimed at the portable kitchen. And to stand out in front of the competitors we will focus on the question of functionality and design, "says the Manager of Electrolux products category, Adriana Gimenes.
The Executive said the inns to expand sales is necessary to encourage consumers to get more quality products. "Adding value to the category of laptops is not easy. At Electrolux, we feel that one of the ways that we can follow is to copy what the auto industry did, showing the cost-benefit of the item, which justifies its price, "said Gamal. According to the Executive, the industry has also an impact on the cost of production due to the high prices in some of the main raw materials, like steel. In between the months of January to November 2013, sales of laptops grew by 14.4%, while revenues in the sector had high of 29.7%, compared to the same period in 2012, according to GfK.