According to GfK, the current lockdowns have lead to consumers buying of all manner of CE, from PCs and notebooks to TVs and gaming consoles, as Europeans look for means to both work and play during the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) pandemic.
However, one has to keep in mind many stores are closed, and online sales cannot fully offset the "significant" losses in the big 5 European markets-- Great Britain, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. That said, GfK points out consumers are looking for means to cope with life during this "new normal," and retailers and manufacturers need to understand what purchases are preponed and postponed in order to secure the relevant and essential assortment.
In terms of "extraordinary" sales spikes, working from home has driven up sales of monitor (120% Y-o-Y), printers (68% Y-o-Y), notebooks (62% Y-o-Y) and keyboards (61% Y-o-Y) in the 5 major European markets during the 4 weeks starting from 7 March to 5 April 2020 (weeks 11 to 14 of the pandemic). Webcams see the biggest sales growth at 297% Y-o-Y. Meanwhile the stockpiling of groceries has lead to more purchases of freezers and refrigerators. In Great Britain, freezer sales are up by 317% Y-o-Y, and in Germany such sales are up by 185% Y-o-Y. France also sees freezer sales growth of 44% Y-o-Y.
