PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y.–As the holiday entertaining season gets underway, a recent report from market research firm The NPD Group sheds light on how housewares consumers spend their gift-giving dollars.
Though increasing slightly over the years, less than half of all housewares items sold are purchased as a gift for someone else, NPD said. Gift sales of cookware and dinnerware have both increased in share since last year, and cookware is the largest category with respect to gift-giving dollars within housewares.
In addition, in the 12 months ending October 2012, bakeware dollar sales are up 5 percent, with value packs and casserole, baking dishes and muffin pans driving much of that growth and accounting for more than a third of total sales, according to the NPD report. In cookware, sets and open stock options account for the majority of the category dollars. Highest performing segments of cookware so far this year have been sauce pans, pressure cookers, stir frys/woks, steamers, and PTFE/PFOA free products. In cutlery, category sales are down slightly over last year, but some “notable areas” with double-digit dollar growth, NPD said, are carving/chef knives, cutlery with soft/comfort grips, 10-piece cutlery sets and eco-friendly cutting boards.