Suppliers’ direct sales are the regarded as a greater threat to independents’ business than major online operators (such as Amazon), according to the new Retail Barometer, published in Progressive Housewares March/April 2022.
Independent cookshops and housewares stockists were asked about areas of competition in the annual survey. The highest figure to date: an overwhelming 96% said that housewares suppliers that sell online directly to the public are a threat, with 64% going so far to see it as a ‘serious threat’.
Some 91% regard major online operators (such as Amazon) as a threat. While this is same figure as in the previous Retail Barometer, this time 41% stipulate “serious threat” – fewer than last year, when it was half of all respondents.
Slightly fewer than previously, 77% regard supermarkets’ continued expansion into housewares as a threat – with 18% categorising this as a “serious threat,” down from the 35% who thought so previously. With lockdowns now hopefully a thing of the past and the Shop Local trend riding high, some 23% of indies now feel neutral about supermarkets.
The numbers regarding garden centres’ growth in housewares as an adversity have decreased. A total of 59% regard this growth as a threat (compared to 82% in the previous Retail Barometer, when many garden centres sold housewares during lockdowns), with 18% specifying ‘serious threat,’ compared with 29% last time. Far more independents (41%) now feel neutral about their garden centre competitors.
When asked to pick the biggest threat, for the first time, nearly half (48%) of respondents pick suppliers that are selling directly. This is greater than those selecting Amazon and online giants as the biggest threat – comprising a third of independents this time – far less than the 70% in the last Retail Barometer.
To read the full Retail Barometer findings, click HERE.
Top: Online housewares shopping continues to be regarded as the biggest competitive threat to independents. Suppliers’ direct sales are seen as even more significant than online giants in the latest Retail Barometer. Photo by Liza Summer.
