The challenging economic environment has affected the purchase of home appliances and electronics as fewer purchases are being made, but when they are, they tend to be more expensive and from well-known brands, and payment solutions that allow for deferred payment are increasingly used, according to Kaido Priimets from home electronics retailer Onoff.
Priimets noted that impulse purchases have become less frequent.
“In the case of home appliances, televisions, and smartphones, there is a trend of purchasing fewer but higher quality and more expensive products from well-known brands. For example, when new phone models are released, the models with the largest memory capacity are the first to sell out, and when buying televisions, the newer and more powerful models are of interest to buyers,” he noted in a press release.
A VAT hike that entered into effect from 2024 affects the purchase of appliances, and a higher volume of sales was observed at the end of last year as a result.
“The impact of the VAT increase has more of an effect in the case of large appliances — for example, the second half of December was very successful for television sales, but the VAT increase will definitely affect television purchases in the coming months and fewer purchases will be made. At the same time, at the end of the year, when it comes to kitchen appliances, customers opted for campaign products with discount prices,” Priimets said.
A consumer survey by Inbank revealed that a third of Estonian residents have used hire purchase or consumer loans in the last three years to finance home-related expenses or the purchase of appliances or electronics. The proportion of those planning to use hire purchase or consumer loans for necessary purchases this year has also increased. Birgit Listmann from Inbank said that the purchase of appliances and electronics is not typically postponed, but payment solutions that allow spreading the interest-free amount over several months are increasingly used.
Source: BNS
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