Microwave Ovens - UK - April 2003

SUMMARY

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction and Abbreviations

• Definition
• Consumer research

Abbreviations

Executive Summary

• Microwave sales boom bubble bursts?
• Compact solo models continue to dominate market
• Price erosion boosts shares of budget brands
• Main media advertising expenditure persistently low
• Supermarkets increasingly important in retail mix
• Ownership continues to increase
• Simple cooking tasks still dominate
• Future prospects

Market Drivers

• Number of UK households
• Figure 1: UK Households and one-person households, 1997-2006
• Women in work
• Figure 2: UK population in employment, by gender, 1998-2007
• Fragmented mealtimes
• Figure 3: Agreement with the statement We rarely sit down to a meal together at home, 1997-2002
• Popularity of ready meals
• Figure 4: UK indexed retail sales of ready meals, by type, by value, 1997-2002
• Economy and PDI
• Figure 5: PDI and consumer expenditure, at constant 1998 prices, 1998-2007

Market Size and Trends

• Figure 6: UK retail sales of microwave ovens, by volume and value, 1998-2003
• Figure 7: Indexed UK retail sales of microwave ovens, by volume and value, 1998-2003
• Figure 8: UK retail sales of microwave ovens, by type, by volume and value, 1998-2002
• Compact/solo
• Combination
• Grill
• Figure 9: UK retail sales of microwave ovens, by type, by volume, 2002
• Figure 10: UK retail sales of microwave ovens, by type, by value, 2002

Market Segmentation

• Solo/compact microwave ovens
• Figure 11: UK retail sales of solo/compact microwave ovens, by volume and value, 1998-2003
• Combination microwave ovens
• Figure 12: UK retail sales of combination microwave ovens, by volume and value, 1998-2003
• Grill microwave ovens
• Figure 13: UK retail sales of grill microwave ovens, by volume and value, 1998-2003
• Figure 14: Indexed UK retail sales of microwave ovens, by type, by volume and value, 1998-2003

The Supply Structure

Brand shares

• Figure 15: Volume brand shares in the UK microwave ovens market, 2000 and 2002

Companies and brands

• Sharp Electronics UK
• Sanyo UK
• Panasonic UK
• Samsung UK
• Alba/Hinari
• LG Electronics
• DeLonghi UK
• Other companies

New product development

Advertising and Promotion

• Figure 16: Main monitored media advertising expenditure on microwave ovens, 1998-2002

Distribution

• Figure 17: UK retail distribution of microwave ovens, by type of outlet, 1998-2002
• Figure 18: UK retail distribution of microwave ovens, by type of outlet, 2002
• Figure 19: UK retail distribution of microwave ovens, by type, by type of outlet, 2002
• The Internet

The Consumer

• Figure 20: Trends in GB household ownership of microwave ovens, 1998-2002
• Figure 21: Household ownership of microwave ovens, by demographic sub-group, 1998-2002

Exclusive consumer research

• Consumer cooking habits
• Figure 22: Typical consumer cooking habits, December 2002
• Figure 23: Typical consumer cooking habits, by demographic sub-group, December 2002
• Experiment occasionally
• Traditional
• Try new recipes
• Adventurous
• Figure 24: Other typical consumer cooking habits, by demographic sub-group, December 2002
• Cook from scratch
• Easy-to-prepare meals
• Use hob more than oven
• Rarely/never cook
• Figure 25: Further typical consumer cooking habits, by demographic sub-group, December 2002
• Cook more at weekends
• Regularly use a microwave oven
• Enjoy cooking on barbecue
• Cross-analysis
• Figure 26: Cross-analysis of consumer cooking habits, by consumers who regularly use the microwave to cook evening meal, December 2002
• Typical foods cooked in microwave ovens
• Figure 27: Most popular items cooked in microwave ovens, December 2002
• Figure 28: Most popular items cooked in microwave ovens, by demographic sub-group, December 2002
• Jacket potatoes
• Canned foods
• Chilled ready meals
• Frozen ready meals
• Figure 29: Other popular items cooked in microwave ovens, by demographic sub-group, December 2002
• Reheat leftover food
• Defrosting food
• Reheat hot drinks

The Future

• Where now in a saturated market?
• Commodity market in terms of prices
• Signs of market polarisation
• Styling increasingly important
• Growth of the supermarket and non-specialist retailer
• Increase in household numbers good news
• NPD the new to trading up

Forecast

• A troubled market
• Figure 30: Forecast of the UK market for microwave ovens, 2003-07
• Combination ovens best placed to encourage growth
• Factors incorporated in forecasting

Appendix: Research methodology

Index of reports