Sophisticated white line consumption

The traditional white line market is no longer the same in Brazil. Last year, a change that was being tested in the industry consolidated. In number of units, sales fell, but in value, they have increased-reflection of the sophistication of consumption and incorporation of technology to products from home. According to the German consultancy GfK, between January and October 2014, the number of refrigerators sold, for example, fell 11% in units, in comparison with the same period of the previous year. In real, however, the high was 4.6%.
According to Oliver Römerscheidt, Director of the retail area and GfK technology Brazil, both the change in the profile of the products as inflation contributed to a majority of sales focus on higher price bands. Between 2013 and 2014, for example, the market share of refrigerators of up to r $ 800 price fell from 9% to 2%, considered sales until October, according to GFK.
In the sector of refrigerators and stoves, products that are already present in almost every home births, the trend is that the consumer at the time of return, opt for a product that has more features-according to the manufacturers, the frost-free refrigerator is already a common requirement among consumers.
However, the trend of migration to higher-priced products is also perceived in products such as automatic washing machine, which today is present only in 50% of homes. Products such as ABS, which require that the consumer use the force to wring the clothes are falling into disuse. "We realize that the class C search products more expensive, as the machines wash and dry, since they represent a concrete benefit from time savings," says Kati Days, General Manager of LG household products from Brazil.
Options
As consumers demand more embedded differential on the product, companies like Samsung, LG and Panasonic are betting on your "DNA" technology to conquer a larger share of the market, which is still dominated by two multinationals: the Swedish Electrolux and Whirlpool American (owner of the brands Brastemp and Consul). "The market as a whole really is in slowdown, but the specific niches still growing," said Adelson Cheema, Director of the area of household products from Samsung Brazil.
Despite the recent dollar triggered, which is around R $ 2,60, Samsung and LG will still bet on imports to fill specific niches in the Brazilian market. In the refrigeration segment, for example, both have products that cost around $ 10,000 in retail. The two companies had announced new factories in the country, but ended up backing out of projects.
One of the strategies from Samsung to please consumers with money to spend, according to Cheema, is to reduce the waiting time for the u.s. and European news reach the Brazilian market with appropriate technical adaptations. In addition to innovations in the categories in which already operates in Brazil-as refrigerators and washing machines and dry, Samsung intends to introduce two new lines in the country in 2015: the microwaves and dishwashers.
While the Samsung imports most of its products of white thread, the LG "merges" local production and imports. The Korean company has a factory of lava and drought in Taubaté (SP) and produces microwave in Manaus. Refrigerators and dishwashers are imported. To attract the consumer's attention, the company invests in innovations, like a drawer of the fridge which preserves vegetables for up to 14 days and a "hybrid" of microwave and electric oven, which allows up to bake cakes.
While LG and Samsung launch products imported from niche, Panasonic, which has local production of microwave (in Manaus) and washers and refrigerators (in extreme, MG) also invests in products of higher prices, but still with a chance to reach a wider audience. Sergei Epof, area manager of Panasonic's white line, says that, in the area of refrigerators, for example, the company focuses on products with price around r $ 2 thousand, with specifications as frost-free and separate doors for fridge and freezer.
For the Executive, although the market for refrigerators and washing machines, in particular, is dominated by Whirlpool and Electrolux, the difficulties of Mabe, who was the second runner-up on the market, left a space for new entrants. In the case of Panasonic, the main bets for attracting the consumer, according to the Executive, would be the design and efficiency in energy consumption.