2021 kitchen and appliance trends with Sirius Buying Group

Major buying group of electrical appliance and kitchen retail solutions, Sirius Buying Group, set out its 2021 trends forecast for the KBB industry.

Despite the prospect of a significant adjustment period following the outcome of Brexit and the ongoing pandemic, the amount of innovation in the KBB sector coming on-stream next year suggests that the market will remain healthy: as long as retailers and suppliers rise to the challenge and plan ahead.

Steve Jones, Commercial Director at Sirius Buying Group (pictured) explains: “The most successful businesses are those which move with the times by anticipating consumer needs and changing behaviour, regardless of the macro-economy. This is where independents have a huge advantage with the sheer breadth and depth of product knowledge within their team. People skills are at the heart of retail and as customers become more discerning, you need to ensure that every team member is fully equipped to up-sell features and benefits like home automation, future-proof systems and integrated furniture/appliance design. In fact, the latest report from industry analysts JKMR indicates that whilst fitted kitchens priced at £45k and above make up only a relatively small number of installations, it accounts for almost a third of total fitted kitchen product value at end-user buying price and its performance is a key element of overall market health.”

“The evergreen replacement market is expected to take account for a large proportion of the appliance market in 2021, as the kitchen evolves as a key living area with designed-in appliances regarded as a fundamental part of the room scheme. According to the amount of investment in terms of research and design in the appliance market is phenomenal to help end-users make the most use of their space as well as saving time, effort and energy. In fact, the confluence of sustainable living with the latest technology is something which will continue to grow into 2021 in many areas including high performance cooling appliances which preserve food for longer as well as offering a superb amount of storage space.”

“As end users are increasingly keen to personalise the kitchen and make it a multi-functional room for family use, there are countless opportunities for custom solutions, which can be thoughtfully integrated and carefully maintained by the retail specialist. Alongside products, the independent is also able to sell a ‘lifestyle’, especially as part of a bespoke kitchen and this focus on facilitating ease and comfort will be vital to securing bigger ticket sales during the recovery period.”

“With property buyers and investors also seeking to capitalise on the stamp duty holiday before the end of March 2021, we can anticipate an upsurge in KBB installations as properties are renovated by new owners. Those who are not moving will be seeking to improve and future-proof their homes, which provides an ideal opportunity to talk to the ‘smart-curious’ customer about the options available.”

“As we move into a new digital age where devices are easily synched to each other and can adjust to patterns of usage, selling the virtues of the latest technology to different customer profiles has actually become easier as regardless of age, income or location we are all interested in efficiency – so that we have more freedom to use our kitchens, our way. Having appliances which can effectively ‘think’ for you with automatic cooking times or alerts sent to a smartphone when the correct temperature is reached help to remove some of the mental effort of cooking, especially at a time when more of us are working from home and interior spaces continue to change their roles.”

Mark Veysey, General Manager at Sirius Buying Group adds, “Our suppliers go the extra mile so that all our Approved Members can sell with iron-clad confidence. Video training and up-to-the-minute product specs are always available so it’s easy to refresh your team on the latest additions to established ranges or to cross-train your team on a new strand to your business. As a rule of thumb, for 2021 always assume that people will want more from their kitchens – in terms of capacity, technology and energy and money saved.”