Sales of household appliances and electronics fall again, sellers in bewilderment

Since the beginning of 2017, sales of the main types of household appliances and consumer electronics have been reduced both in kind and in monetary terms, the newspaper Vedomosti writes with reference to GFK data. The fall began last December. At the end of 2016, the decline amounted to approximately 10% and affected all the commodity categories, the newspaper told one of the large retailers of household appliances and electronics.

According to analysts, the sales of portable computers, tablets, TVs, phones, refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, kitchen plates, washing machines and other equipment in pieces were in the minus throughout the eight weeks of this year.

This was a complete surprise for retailers. In the first week of January, sales were reduced by 2.1% in annual terms, and by the end of the month the fall accelerated to 11%. It slowed only by the end of February.

The most powerful reduction was on tablets, the fall of sales of which exceeded 20% six out of seven weeks since the beginning of the year. Sales of phones, in turn, "sank" by an average of 4%.

In monetary terms, sales of basic goods and electronics were reduced for three weeks in January and two in February. In late January - early February, a fall in sales reached 11-14%. Only at the end of the seventh week of 2017, sales in pieces decreased by only 0.6%, and even increased in value terms - by 8.3%.

As Initiative experts explained to the publication, consumers made equipment reserves in the midst of the crisis of 2014-2015, and last December they began to save more on electronics, weakening the saving mode on food, leisure and alcohol.

The retailers themselves are "in a misunderstanding of what happens" after the first two months of this year. Not only a check or conversion falls, traffic is reduced in stores and practically does not grow online, one of the sellers of household appliances and electronics says.

One of the explanations why this is happening implies the influence of the ruble strengthening on the formation of consumer expectations, the publication notes. In general, the newspaper writes, the last New Year season was a failure for Russian retailers. Against the backdrop of the falling of real incomes of the population, the retail chains were not able to increase sales, even despite the active marketing and discount policy.

According to Rosstat, the retail turnover has been floating almost without stopping for two years. In 2015, retailers' revenue fell by 10.9% - the maximum value since 1998. The past year was marked by a new recession by 5.1%.