New Housewares Industry Report Highlights Housewares Successes, Future Trends, More

The first part of the International Housewares Association’s (IHA) 2025 IHA State of the Industry report has been released. A market resource for the industry, the report is set to be published in three installments. Part 1: MarketScope is now available and provides data and analysis on U.S. market size by category and retail channel. Available free to the industry, the report can be downloaded online.

“In today’s challenging economic climate, buyers and sellers of home and housewares goods are being asked to navigate a complicated selling environment with many factors out of their control,” said Derek Miller, IHA president and CEO. “The new IHA State of the Industry report provides a wealth of information to help them make the best strategic decisions for their customers, partners and companies.”

The second report – Part 2: MarketOutlook, available in June – will center on 2025 purchase intent and the final installment – Part 3: MarketWatch, available in July – will dive deeper into consumer values and lifestyle trends affecting 2025 and beyond, the IHA said.

Part 1: MarketScope uses data made available through IHA’s partnership with market research and analytics firm Circana, while MarketOutlook will feature exclusive data commissioned by IHA from Morning Consult. MarketWatch will provide exclusive data commissioned by IHA from Springboard Futures.

Now available, MarketScope focuses on 2024 sales of home and housewares products, as measured by various Circana tracking methodologies. It also features expert analysis from Joe Derochowski, Circana vice president, home industry advisor.

On a macro level, MarketScope reports that the home and housewares industry was one of just a few industries across general merchandise that experienced growth in 2024. Dollar sales of housewares and small appliances at retail in 2024 — as measured by Circana retail tracking — registered a 1.2 percent increase over 2023.

According to Derochowski, that growth was driven by 1) consumers eating more at home, 2) consumers entertaining more at home, 3) high frequency products purchased during the pandemic hitting the replacement phase, 4) changes in weather patterns and 5) innovative new products hitting the market.

Key findings by category include:

• Home comfort and water filtration grew 4 percent in dollars as changes in weather patterns created a greater need for products to help consumers cool or warm their homes.
• Floorcare increased 0.9 percent as consumers looked to replace some of these products, seek help with weather-related events and leverage innovations.
• Kitchen electrics grew 0.5 percent as consumers ate and entertained at home more. Espresso makers, ice cream/yogurt makers, slow cookers and rice cookers experienced some of the highest growth.
• In the housewares category, portable beverageware, traditional food storage, kitchen thermometers, non-electric choppers and cooking spoons led growth.

In terms of 2024 dollar share by retail channels, key findings include:

• The top five channels for housewares sales are: e-commerce (43 percent), mass merchants (24 percent), off-price (10 percent), warehouse clubs (5 percent) and dollar stores (4 percent).
• The top five channels for small appliances are: e-commerce (50 percent), mass merchants (24 percent), warehouse clubs (8 percent), home hardware stores (7 percent) and electronics stores (3 percent).
• Overall, 42 percent of spending on housewares and small appliances occurred in-store, while 58 percent of sales occurred online.