Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
HomeWorld Business magazine has predicted the hottest housewares products of 2008 in the US.
The US magazine’s report, based on research into consumer buying intentions across 17 housewares categories, says that shoppers will be looking for high-performance products that support healthy living, save time, make the most of space and complement lifestyle trends.
As a result, it identifies the six potentially fastest-growing product categories of the year ahead.
Amongst them will be single-serve coffee makers, which have enjoyed a 24% increase in sales in the US over the past year alone. With a major coffee brand’s introduction of a new single-serve coffee maker this year, the market is now expected to grow even further.
The coffee makers’ popularity is put down to the fact that they can be used to prepare a variety of coffees, teas and chocolate drinks one cup at a time for different guests, and generally require no cleaning.
Cast iron cookware has enjoyed record US sales recently and is also tipped for further growth, with consumers favouring “pre-seasoned” collections that take the guesswork out of product use and reduce maintenance.
In their third consecutive year amongst the fastest-growing housewares are wine accessories, boosted by the popularity of consumer wine-tasting events and vineyard tours, and wine-and-food television programmes. New products being introduced this year include impurity-removing decanting funnels, oxidation-preventing wine pumps, automated vacuum and pressure-seal pumps and wine thermometers.
Tea kettles are another category for which HomeWorld Business predicts a surge in demand, similar to that experienced by coffee products. It attributes the kettles’ growing popularity to the introduction of numerous new tea varieties that claim health benefits, such as stress reduction and headache relief.
The other two products set for success this year, says the report, are upright vacuums and folding furniture.
