2021 assessment and 2022 consumption trends in the non-food sector

In 2021, all the non-food sectors recorded positive growth, except for the textile industry. However, this year of growth could be the last. Rising prices, inflation, and the overall decline in purchasing power are all factors that are holding us back. Research on the consumption trends of French people allows us to anticipate the consumption trends for 2022 and 2023. 52% say that their non-food purchasing budget will remain stable (+9% compared to 2021), while 22% of the French indicate that this budget will decrease (+6% in 1 year).

2021, a good vintage for high-tech

Two years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the high-tech sector still seems to benefit from the “homing” phenomenon among French consumers. Indeed, technical goods for home equipment benefit from a sales growth of around +3.3% between 2020 and 2021. This percentage was 4% between 2019 and 2020. There is, therefore, a slight decline in its growth.

Now let’s look at consumer electronics. The sector is losing 4 points of growth between 2020 and 2021, but if we delve into the details, we see strong growth potential for hi-fi equipment, headphones and accessories, and photo-video. These three product families record growth of between 3% and 6% over the past year.

As for telecom equipment, the sector will increase its sales by 3% in 2021. In terms of product families, smartphones are still in the lead, with solid sales worth €6.9 billion. Wearable technologies (such as connected watches) are other good performers: with a 19% increase in sales volume, the sub-sector pockets some 103 million euros in the space of a year. However, a bad year for fixed-line telephony, which lost another 10 percentage points in turnover this year.

Finally, IT was in the red in 2021. The sector is suffering from a natural rebound effect following the massive purchases of the French in this sector last year. With a change of -4% in its turnover, sales fall to 5.6 billion euros. Among the biggest victims of this loss of speed, we find office automation and its -18% of sales between 2020 and 2021. The shortage of components and the rise in hardware prices will undoubtedly also have something to do with this.

Home furnishings rise from the ashes

2021 marks a remarkable rebound for the home furnishings sector, especially after its low point in 2020. The sector’s turnover is expected to increase by 14.3% between 2020 and 2021 (source: Ipea). Over three years, the sector even reaches a growth rate of 13.2%.

Two product families have exceeded 17% growth: integrated kitchens (+19.5%) on the one hand and sofas, armchairs, and sofas on the other (+17.5%).

Only the decorative furniture family (tapestries, clocks, etc.) is struggling to keep up, with an increase of less than 10% (9.3%). Moreover, this relatively small increase is accompanied by a decline in market share in total furniture between 2020 and 2021: -1.6 points.

In terms of distribution, specialist retailers are on a roll: their sales are up by +24.6% between 2020 and 2021. Their market share is also increasing by +2.3 points. Mass retail is lagging, with a sales increase three times lower than that of specialists: +8.6%, with a loss of market share of 1.8 points.

The toy industry: a nice breakthrough for games and puzzles

Despite the unfavorable health context, the sector is recording a solid annual performance. Total sales in the sector will amount to €3.7 billion in 2021, i.e., +2.9% more than in 2020 and +3.3% more than in 2019.

Specialty stores are big winners

Specialty stores are the big winners with a 9% growth in sales compared to 2020. This will make up for the -4% drop in their turnover between 2019 and 2021. This is enough to make hypermarkets and supermarkets envious, as they are losing 7% of their turnover compared to 2019 and 1% compared to 2020.

Trends by product category

Let’s look at the toy product families. Games and puzzles take the lead in market share (19.1%), thanks to a 12% increase in sales volume compared to 2020. All the signs are also green for building sets: sales are up by 7% year-on-year, and they are in fourth place in the toy total, thanks to their 11.4% market share.

Playmobil’s Special Plus figure assortment was the best-selling toy in 2021. Mattel places three of its toys in the top 10 toys. Moreover, the same company ranks third among the ultimate 5 most significant toy and game manufacturers in France, behind Lego and Hasbro.

Finally, Pokémon and Harry Potter are the two licenses with the highest values in France in 2021. This is in line with the context of loss of speed for licenses. In total, in 2021, they represented only 23% of the game and toy market, i.e., 8 points less than in 2020.

Cultural goods are on the rise

For the first time in 18 years, the cultural goods sector is growing compared to the previous year: +11% since 2020. Its turnover is assessed at 5.5 billion euros.

Books are the sector’s figureheads. They represent 80% of the market share, and their annual growth is 18%. This is a record that pulls the whole sector up.

Physical music is another growth vector (+5% of turnover in 1 year). Unfortunately, this is not the case for video games and physical video. These two sub-sectors are down by 11% and 17%, respectively. Video games had indeed had a record year in 2020, boosted by confinements and the need for home entertainment.

The gardening sector on the rise in 2021

The gardening sector has seen its 2021 turnover increase by 14% to €1.8 billion. The DIY sector is now valued at 9 billion euros (source: Promojardin).

Florists see life as rosy. They have recorded a remarkable +21% increase in business volume. This is enough to catch up with DIY superstores, which have only seen a rise of 13%. Only 6 points of market share now separate them.

By Pierre-Nicolas Schwab Dr. Pierre-Nicolas Schwab is the founder of IntoTheMinds. He specializes in e-commerce, retail and logistics. He is also a research fellow in the marketing department of the Free University of Brussels and acts as a coach for several startups and public organizations. He holds a PhD in Marketing, a MBA in Finance, and a MSc in Chemistry. He can be contacted by email, Linkedin or by phone (+32 486 42 79 42)