Swiss home electronics market to shrink in 2023
Published: Thursday, Feb 22nd 2024, 10:40
Zurück zu Live Feed
Last year, fewer televisions, laptops and PCs were purchased in Switzerland than in the previous year. In addition, customers increasingly bought their home electronics online, which made itself felt in the stores.
In a press release issued on Thursday, the market research company GfK therefore spoke of a "major structural change in the Swiss home electronics market". Shopping centers, specialist stores and stores in "previously attractive locations" are increasingly struggling with declining customer footfall.
Less turnover
In terms of sales, the market volume for technical consumer goods fell by 3.5% in 2023. Although total sales of just under CHF 5.5 billion were still almost CHF 400 million higher than in 2019, special effects related to the pandemic had ensured record sales in the three intervening years.
Since then, however, digitalization and consumer behaviour have "changed significantly", the study continues. Consumers now shop online much more frequently. Specialized online retailers and specialist retailers in particular are benefiting from this.
As a result, there is an increasing number of store closures in the "home electronics retail landscape". In addition, the high demand for technical consumer goods over the past three years has led to market saturation.
Bleak prospects
Companies in particular had curbed their willingness to invest last year and spent 8.7% or 120 million francs less. However, the reluctance of private consumers is also likely to continue in the current year.
The only ray of hope: Smartphones and games consoles are still in demand. In addition to an increase in sales of over 40% for games consoles, the market volume for smartphones also developed positively, growing by 7%. However, GfK is forecasting a 3% to 5% drop in sales for the entire home electronics market in Switzerland.
©Keystone/SDA
German 
English 
French 
Spanish 
Arabic