Demographic Shifts to Drive US Growth in Small Kitchen and Floor Care Appliances

For decades, the tastes and preferences of the largest generational cohort — the baby boomers — have been an important factor shaping key trends in the US small appliances market. This group, noted also for its affluence, is now joined by another even larger generational group: the millennials.

Read on to discover how these two generational behemoths are expected to shape the US market for small electrical appliances over the next few years.
Topics: House & Home Demographics Consumer Electronics Industry Insights The Freedonia Group

Opportunities and Challenges in the Smart Appliances Market

Smart appliances connect to smartphones and tablets to enable alerts and remote control. For example, if you’d like to start the dishwasher or adjust your thermostat while you are at work, smart appliances will give you that ability.

Smart appliances offer many potential benefits to consumers, but will they gain traction in the market? For up-to-date industry analysis, check out the blog post below.

Topics: House & Home Industry Insights

What’s Driving the Demand for Impact-Resistant Windows and Doors

A forecast from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicting a near- or above-normal 2016 Atlantic hurricane season (after years of below-normal activity) throws the importance of impact-resistant windows and doors — sturdy-framed, multi-pane products designed to withstand violent winds and windborne debris — into sharp relief.   

According to Mariel Behnke, a Construction Analyst with The Freedonia Group, impact-resistant windows and doors account for around 10% of the market for window and doors in value terms. And both products are expected to achieve steady, above-average growth through 2020.
Topics: Materials & Chemicals Manufacturing & Construction Industry Insights Heavy Industry The Freedonia Group

MarketResearch.com in the News: August Highlights

In August, MarketResearch.com's publishing divisions appeared in top publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNBC, and a variety of trade journals.

We've included a selection of press highlights below. Read on to learn more about what topics are trending in the media — from ancient grains and frozen foods to home organization products and wine packaging. To access more information about a particular subject, click the link to the report page.

Topics: Food & Beverage Industry Insights Heavy Industry

Storm Damage Generates New Business for Roofing Industry

Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Hailstorms. To most Americans, these extreme weather events are a source of dread (and sometimes fascination). For those in the roofing industry, however, they mean something else: work.

Weather-related repairs play a significant role in the US residential roofing industry, often accounting for more than one-third of total reroofing demand in any given year. While many believe that the landfall of a hurricane or tropical storm is the weather event most likely to cause roof damage, a wide range of other weather conditions can necessitate roof replacement:
Topics: Manufacturing & Construction Industry Insights Heavy Industry The Freedonia Group

Smartphone: E-Commerce Kingmaker

Like it or loathe it, it seems like everyone has one. No, not “an opinion,” a smartphone.

How many people in the US have a smartphone? About 60% of the total population in 2015. No small feat, considering the devices really only gained consumer market traction when Apple introduced the first-generation iPhone in June 2007.

What’s driving smartphone adoption? It certainly isn’t the ability to share meaningful voice conversations with friends and family — you don’t need a smartphone for that. The real value lays in the ever-expanding range of capabilities smartphones possess and the services they can access.

Topics: E-commerce & IT Outsourcing Consumer Electronics Industry Insights The Freedonia Group

The Truth About Wine Packaging: From Bottles to Boxes

Wine incites passion — in winemakers and sommeliers, in world-renowned wine writers, and in people who have the occasional glass with dinner or keep a bottle or two around the house. 

Whether it’s a celebrated vintage from a bygone era purchased at auction or an inexpensive selection grabbed from a display near the cash register for a quick weeknight dinner or Sunday picnic, wine needs to be protected from oxygen. It’s the packaging that does this, and while that packaging doesn’t stir the kind of emotion that the wine inside may, many people are very opinionated about how the wines they drink are packaged. 

Topics: Food & Beverage Manufacturing & Construction Industry Insights Heavy Industry The Freedonia Group

Innovation Stirs Up Change for US Household Cooking Appliances

It is said that sooner or later, all that is old is new again. When it comes to household cooking appliances, all that is old needs to be replaced again — eventually.

The need for replacement is the fundamental driver of demand for US household cooking appliances, which include gas cooking appliances, electric cooking appliances, and microwave ovens. Consumers often buy a new model upon moving into a new home, or when an old appliance becomes nonfunctional or outdated. Of course, purchase decisions are influenced by key trends.

Topics: House & Home Industry Insights The Freedonia Group

eSports Is a Booming Industry with Huge Growth Potential

As the current craze over Pokemon Go demonstrates, the age of electronic gaming has more than arrived. What many don’t know, however, is that the age of eSports has dawned as well. If you are saying to yourself, “What the heck is eSports?” you are not alone, but that does not mean eSports is not big business.

eSports (a.k.a. electronic sports or professional gaming) is a growing market where athletes compete via computers rather than on a field or in a stadium. So instead of watching football, baseball, or basketball, fans of these sports are watching StarCraft II, League of Legends, and Dota2.

Topics: Travel & Leisure Industry Insights

The US Cocktail Culture and the Rising Demand for Spirits

US demand for distilled spirits is forecast rise 2.2% annually, amounting to 580 million gallons in 2020. Even in a country expected to total nearly 335 million people, that’s a lot of booze. 

The distilled spirits industry can thank Don Draper, the alcohol swilling ad man from the retro-themed television show Mad Men, for reigniting a cocktail culture among US consumers, particularly millennials. While Draper might have ordered a simple Old Fashioned (or three?) with lunch, today’s drinkers are more creative; cocktails with exotic inspirations — created, of course, by bartenders refashioned as “mixologists” — are de rigueur at many bars and a growing number of restaurants.

Topics: Food & Beverage Industry Insights The Freedonia Group