The ‘Goliaths’ of the Replacement Tire Industry Are Getting Bigger. How Can The ‘Davids’ Compete?
When you think of the tire industry in the United States, there are probably three names that come to mind: Goodyear, Michelin, and Bridgestone. Together, these three make up two thirds of the US replacement tire market unit share. In fact, with its recent acquisition of Cooper Tires, Goodyear now owns over 25% of the replacement tire market unit share. What does that mean for competition in the tire industry as a whole? We turn to OpenBrand’s data to find out.
Current State of the Tire Industry
Which brands make up the Big Three in the Tire Industry?
The top three tire manufacturers currently make up almost 64 percent of the entire replacement tire market. Each of the Big Three also encompasses subsidiary brands:
- Goodyear: Goodyear, Cooper Tires, Dunlop, and Kelly
- Michelin: Michelin, BF Goodrich, and Uniroyal
- Bridgestone: Bridgestone and Firestone
Who are other players in the Tire Industry?
The remaining 36 percent of the market includes smaller manufacturers such as Toyo Tire, Kumho, Yokohama, Falken, and Nitto. However, none of these individual manufacturers has more than 5 percent unit market share. The top smaller manufacturers are:
- Continental- 4.6 percent
- Hankook- 4.0 percent
- Yokohama- 3.6 percent
How the industry is shifting
Over the past 10 years, Goodyear, Michelin, and Bridgestone combined have lost over 4 percent market share. This loss may be the impetus behind these industry “Goliaths” acquiring smaller companies. Organic share growth has been challenging. Additionally, the cost of replacement passenger tires has gone up 35 percent in the past 10 years. Maintaining strong revenue streams is critical in this very competitive market.
How Can Smaller Tire Manufacturers Compete?
While market share challenges may seem insurmountable, OpenBrand’s data offers unique insights that smaller tire manufacturers can leverage to become more competitive. There are five specific areas these tire industry “Davids” should focus on:
- Online Sales: While most tire purchases are made in brick-and-mortar locations, online retail is beginning to pick up. Consumers buy tires online from smaller manufacturers at a higher rate than The Big Three
- Census Region: Consumers in the West Census region buy tires from smaller manufacturers at a higher rate than from “the big guys”
- Tire Type: Consumers buy auto/minivan tires from smaller manufacturers at a higher rate than they buy from larger manufacturers
- Price: Price is a more important consideration for consumers when they’re purchasing from smaller manufacturers. As such, lower-income consumers buy tires from smaller manufacturers at a higher rate than they buy from the Big Three.
- Channel: Consumers buy tires from small tire manufacturers at mass retailers at a higher rate than they purchase tires from big manufacturers. Smaller players in the tire industry perform better at retailers such as Discount Tire, Walmart, and Big O Tires but do not sell as well at club retailers such as Costco and Sam’s Club.
OpenBrand’s Market Insights Can Help Manufacturers Succeed
OpenBrand’s Tire Market data is representative of the entire tire industry in the US (as well as Canada). This makes the insights available in OpenBrand’s reports valuable to industry giants and smaller players alike. Whether you’re seeking to enter the market or looking to identify underserved communities who buy your products, OpenBrand’s data can help. For more information, please contact one of our representatives today.
US Furniture Market Infographic
What are the best brands and outlets in the US Furniture market share? – An infographic
OpenBrand answers the “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “why”, and “how” for Furniture market shares. Our quarterly survey will help you understand who’s buying Furniture, where they’re buying it, and what drives their decisions. Our Furniture Market infographic will help you answer the following questions about the market and how it is changing…
Who is leading sales in the Furniture market?
Our infographic will give you greater details, but for now, here’s what you need to know about the market leaders for Furniture:
- Amazon continues to lead for unit share in the Total Furniture market, growing significantly from this time last year (up almost 3 points from 4Q ending December 2020. Amazon leads the unit share category by 9 points.
- The leader in dollar share is Ashley Furniture, about 5 points over the next highest – Amazon and Wayfair.
- Wayfair is down significantly (over 1 point) from this time last year in both unit and dollar share.
How much do consumers spend on Furniture?
When purchasing Furniture, the 2021 industry average price paid is $690. However, the average amount spent at different retailers vary. For example:
- Purchasers at Ashley Furniture spent almost twice the industry average, $1,346.
- Shoppers buying Furniture on Amazon have an average price paid that is significantly less than the industry average ($254).
What demographic is buying Furniture?
Just who buys Furniture? OpenBrand’s census-balanced respondent pool has given us insights like:
- Women make solo decisions on what to buy for 51% of Furniture purchases.
- About 40% of furniture purchases are made by those who have lived at their current address for 5 years or more.
- Over 70% of purchasers don’t have children in household – 47% have two adults with NO children in residence, 25% are single adult households.
Furniture Market – Online Sales Trends:
With almost half of Furniture purchases now being made online (48% of 4Q ending December 2021), it is important to keep track of online sales trends. Here are just some of the trends that OpenBrand has uncovered:
- The percentage of 2021 Furniture purchases made online (48%) is down versus a high of 50% in 2020 –due to more in person shopping because of more positive attitudes toward pandemic concerns.
- While total 2021 online Furniture purchases have decreased versus 2020, Amazon share of those 2021 online Furniture purchases has increased from 30% in 2020 to almost 37% in 2021 – mostly at the expense of Wayfair and Ikea.
Furniture Market Share Facts:
Curious about other information OpenBrand’s survey has uncovered? Here’s another preview for you:
- The 2021 average price paid for Furniture ($690) is up about 20% compared to last year’s average price ($575).
- 58% of all 2021 Furniture purchases are made by homeowners. Those purchasing Furniture at Walmart and Target are more likely to be renters (57% and 49% respectively).
- The most important reason for purchasing Furniture at a particular outlet in 2021 continues to be “competitive price”.
To see everything we’ve included on our infographic, fill out the form below and download your own copy:
Head-to-Head (to Head): Walmart vs Best Buy vs Amazon
This article was originally published on February 12, 2018. It has been updated to reflect current market trends. You can read the original article here.
It’s time for a good, old-fashioned showdown! We decided to examine how Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy compare with one another in three competitive categories: Consumer Electronics, Small Kitchen Appliances, and Cell Phones. We will look at both total and online-only sales within each category. Online options have become a vital component for shopping due to the ongoing pandemic.
Consumer Electronics:
Encompassing purchases of everything from laptops and e-readers to video game systems and wi-fi routers, American consumers spent an average of $315 per product in the 4 quarters ending September 2021. Here, we break down how consumers shopped at these three retailers.
The Winner:
In unit share, Walmart is slightly ahead of its competitors. The retailer currently wins 21.3 percent of unit share in Q3 of 2021. This most recent quarter was one of significant growth for the retailer. Amazon takes second place with 21.1 percent of the unit share. Best Buy is third with 20 percent. For dollar share, Best Buy’s and Walmart’s positions reverse. Best Buy takes home 27 percent of consumer dollars as compared to Walmart’s 15.1 percent. Amazon takes home 14.8 percent of total consumer dollars.
The Online Winner:
Online, consumers spend an average of $322 per product. Once brick-and-mortar purchases are filtered out, Amazon is victorious. In the 4 quarters ending September 2021, The Everything Store took home 41.6 percent of the Consumer Electronics unit share. In comparison, Best Buy won 13.8 percent and Walmart won 11 percent. Additionally, Amazon and Best Buy tend to gain or lose share at the sake of one another. In the last 2 quarters, Amazon’s share has risen significantly while Best Buy’s has fallen. In the 2 quarters previous to that, their roles were reversed. Some of this change may be due to availability of products, as the consumer electronics industry has been hard hit by chip shortages.
Small Kitchen Appliances:
In the 4 quarters ending September 2021, consumers spent an average of $69 on Small Kitchen Appliances like coffee makers, blenders, toaster ovens, and more. Here’s how Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy stack up when consumers go shopping for Small Kitchen Appliances.
The Winner:
With just under 34.5 percent of the Small Kitchen Appliance unit share, Walmart is the clear winner. But Amazon is gaining ground, coming up 3.6 percentage points year-over-year. In 2021, Amazon wins nearly 21.2 percent of unit share. Best Buy trails behind the other two retailers, winning 2.2 percent of share. In terms of dollar share, Amazon has surpassed Walmart and brings home 25 percent of consumer dollars. Walmart comes in second, with Best Buy much further behind.
The Online Winner:
Online shoppers spent an average of $83 on Small Kitchen Appliances. Amazon dominates online sales in this category. In the 4 quarters ending September 2021, the e-commerce behemoth took home just over half (51 percent) of the online unit sales of Small Kitchen Appliances. Walmart comes in a distant second with just over 12 percent of online unit share. Best Buy’s online-only shares are comparable to its overall unit shares—winning 2.5 percent. This same pattern holds true in dollar shares.
Cell Phones:
The average price paid for Cell Phones, whether through a carrier or from a retailer or manufacturer, is $469. The majority of American consumers buy cell phones from mobile carriers rather than from other outlets. That said, Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy all rank in the top 10 outlets for Cell Phone Purchases.
The Winner:
In terms of unit share, Walmart edges out the competition with 8.5 percent of share in 2021. Amazon comes in a few places behind with 4.4 percent of share, and Best Buy slipped to third with 4.1 percent unit share. In terms of dollar share, Best Buy brings home 5.1 percent of consumer dollars, while Amazon and Walmart trail with almost 3.4 percent and 3.2 percent dollar share, respectively.
The Online Winner:
When shopping online for cell phones, consumers spend an average of $477. Once brick-and-mortar sales are filtered out, Amazon becomes the clear leader among the three retailers. It takes home 12.2 percent of the online unit share and almost 9 percent of dollar share. Walmart and Best Buy take home 4 and almost 3 percent of the online unit share, respectively.
The Champion(s):
In all three categories—Consumer Electronics, Small Kitchen Appliances, and Cell Phones—Walmart wins the top prize in taking home unit share. Despite this edge, Best Buy gives Walmart a good run for its money and often outdoes its rival for dollar share. For example, the average price paid for Consumer Electronics is $200 higher at Best Buy than it is at Walmart. While a different category mix might tell a different story, it is clear that each retailer has its strengths.
Online, it is still Amazon’s game. The e-tailer comes out on top in all three categories. However, the last 18 months have seen a rapid shift in consumers embracing online shopping. Retailers with responsive sites and product on hand will have an advantage. Want to know how you stack up against other major retailers? Contact the team at OpenBrand today to learn more with industry-wide consumer behavior and competitive insights.
Bathroom Fixture Market Infographic
What are the best brands and outlets in the US Bathroom Fixture market share? - An infographic
OpenBrand answers the “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “why”, and “how” for Bathroom Fixtures market shares. Our quarterly survey will help you understand who’s buying Bathroom Fixtures, where they’re buying it, and what drives their decisions. Our Bathroom Fixtures Market infographic will help you answer the following questions about the US Bathroom Fixtures market and how it is changing…
Who is leading sales in the Bath Fixture market?
Our infographic will give you greater details, but for now, here’s what you need to know about the market leaders for Bathroom Fixtures:
- The Home Depot holds the lead for unit share in the Bathroom Fixtures market,
- Their share has declined significantly from last year.
- Moen is brand leader for Bathroom Fixtures with 16 percent of unit share.
- The Home Depot’s share decrease is largely at the expense of Amazon.
How much do consumers spend on Bathroom Fixtures?
When buying Bathroom Fixtures, the industry average price paid for these products is $111. However, the average amount spent at different retailers can vary. For example:
- Shoppers buying Bathroom Fixtures from Amazon spend $78 on average.
- Shoppers at The Home Depot, on the other hand, spend about $112 on average.
What demographic is buying Bathroom Fixtures?
Just who buys Bathroom Fixtures? OpenBrand’s census-balanced respondent pool has given us insights like:
- In over one third of all Bathroom Fixtures purchases women take the lead (39%).
- 58% bought their Bathroom Fixtures because of Routine Maintenance.
Bathroom Fixtures Market - Online Sales Trends:
With 25% of Bathroom Fixtures purchases being made online, it is vital to keep track of online sales trends. Here’s just some of the trends that OpenBrand has uncovered:
- The percentage of Bathroom Fixtures Purchases made online has increased significantly from this time last year (25 percent this year vs 21 percent in 4Q Ending Q320).
- Possibly contributing to Amazon’s growth, 63.4 percent of Bathroom Fixtures buyers have Amazon Prime.
Bath Fixtures Market Share Facts:
Curious about other information OpenBrand’s survey has uncovered? Here’s another preview for you:
- The average price paid for Bathroom Fixtures ($111) is up almost 9 percent compared to last year’s average price.
- Even though they lead in shares The Home Depot saw significant decreases in unit and dollar shares as well as draw and close rate for Bathroom Fixtures.
To see everything we've included on our infographic, fill out the form below and download your own copy:
How OpenBrand Helps You Perform a SWOT Analysis
A SWOT Analysis is a standard tool used to help businesses determine both how they’re performing and to clarify their position in the market. It can also be a key component of performing a competitor analysis. Conducting regular “SWOT” (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) analyses adds context to your positioning and outlines a path to continue to grow and outperform competitors. To identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, you need data beyond what is available in your own POS. Using analysis, data, and insights from OpenBrand will give you extra information that adds value to your SWOT analysis.
Uncovering Your Strengths
You may be able to identify your company’s or products’ strengths with internal data. But it’s important to look at external data as well, lest you fall prey to confirmation bias. To identify your strengths, ask yourself the following questions:
What are you doing right?
Data such as store comps, revenue growth, and market share will show your company's strengths. Your team may identify additional key performance indicators (KPIs) as strength markers.
What is unique about your business or product?
One of your key strengths is how you stand out in the market. This may be with an enhanced online presence or a feature or price point your competitors don’t have. To help with this step, check out our piece on how to perform a competitive analysis.
Is your message reaching the correct audience?
When laying out the marketing strategy for your products, you probably established buyer personas to identify your ideal customer. Having detailed demographic data about shoppers and purchasers will inform you about how well your message is reaching your ideal customer. If those demographics are different from your target, it may indicate that either your messaging is unclear or it appeals to a group you didn’t expect.
How OpenBrand can help uncover your strengths:
While you may be familiar with using OpenBrand to discover your dollar and unit share in the market, it can highlight much more information about the consumer durables market. Reports that can help enhance the “Strengths” section of your analysis include:
- Draw and Close Rates: Retailers: Are shoppers coming to your stores? Brands: are consumers looking at your products? Are they shopping the stores that carry your brands? More important, do they choose to purchase from you rather than a competitor?
- Price Buckets/Price Quintiles: What price points are you performing well in? How does that compare to your competitors’? Do you have products at price points they’re ignoring?
- Buyer Demographics: How do actual buyer demographics map to your buyer personas? Are there other groups you can market to who seem interested in your product?
- Product Features: Do your products include the features that customers want? Are you offering something that no one else in the market has thought of?
Identifying Your Weaknesses
Although it can be uncomfortable, when performing a SWOT Analysis, you need to be honest about your weak points. Many of the same analyses you perform to uncover your strengths will help highlight areas in need of improvement.
Where can you make improvements?
As you review your KPIs, take note of where you’re missing the mark.
What are your competitors doing that you aren’t?
Consider what your rivals in the market are doing. What can you learn from their successes? They may have uncovered a demographic niche whose needs weren't met, or they introduced a feature that has proven unexpectedly popular. Pay attention to what your competitors are doing and see what you can improve upon.
What resources are you lacking?
After you’ve identified KPIs where you aren’t performing as strongly and/or taken notes about what the competition is doing, it’s time to uncover what you need to succeed. If a competitor beat you to market with a new feature, maybe it’s time to invest more heavily in R&D. If consumers aren’t aware your product is available in their region, maybe your marketing team needs additional support.
How OpenBrand can help find weaknesses:
Much like OpenBrand’s reports can help pinpoint your strengths, you can also add quantitative data to your understanding of your weaknesses compared to the market or your competitors. Reports that can help you develop the “Weaknesses” section of your analysis include:
- Draw and Close Rates: How do your draw and close rates compare to the top players in your industry? Which of your competitors is most successful at closing sales? Do shoppers consider your competitors more frequently than you?
- Price Buckets/Price Quintiles: What price points are most popular? What price points are your competitors capturing? Do they have products at price points you don’t? Does that fit with your pricing strategy?
- Buyer Demographics: Is your product appealing to your target buyer? Are they looking to other brands and products to fill their needs? Are your competitors succeeding with buyers you aren’t targeting?
- Product Features: Are your competitors offering product features that you don’t? Are the features you’re offering ones that consumers purchase most frequently?
Highlighting Your Opportunities
After you’ve identified your strengths and weaknesses as part of your SWOT analysis, you can discover opportunities to grow your position or maintain your lead in the market. This is an area in which external data will play a much more important role in defining your goals.
What do you want to be doing?
Examine your weaknesses carefully to determine what actions you can take to improve them. This may entail allocating additional resources to a project or perhaps even designing a new project or campaign from scratch.
Who else can you target?
By this time, you have had plenty of opportunity to dig into your buyer demographics as well as those of your competitors. Now find underserved segments who can benefit from your products and services.
What can you do to stand out?
In your analysis, you may discover that there are areas where both you and your competitors have had a blind spot. What can you do to fill empty niches in the market and stand out there? You can use the pricing, features, or demographics data you’ve gathered while finding strengths and weaknesses to become more visible in the market.
Track Threats in the Marketplace
As the pandemic of 2020 has taught us, the threats you identify in your SWOT analysis should go beyond merely listing your current competitors. Here are some of the challenges to consider in your Threats assessment:
Are there internal roadblocks?
Not every threat is external. You may find in your SWOT analysis that there are processes in place that don’t help you reach your goals. Or you may find that there aren’t additional resources currently available for initiatives. While you might be able to clear some of these internal hurdles, you may have to find other ways to work around constraints within your own company.
How robust is your supply chain?
Global supply chains can be fragile. You should note whether you have any redundancies in place in the face of shipping challenges. It takes only one firmly wedged cargo ship to disrupt global shipping patterns after all!
What happens if there are material shortages?
In addition to knowing how you get parts and materials for your products and services, you need to know if those raw materials or parts are available in the first place. If a supplier can’t ship your materials, is there another supplier who can?
How is the market shifting?
Whether it’s the shift to omni-channel and e-commerce or a change in consumers’ perceptions and desires, being caught unawares can give your competitors an advantage. You need trusted sources of market data to stay up to date with how your industry is changing.
Who are your competitors in the market?
You’ve probably already identified your top competitors as you’ve benchmarked your strengths and weaknesses, but look beyond the obvious. Is there a brand or outlet that’s been making a buzz around their products? Is someone growing their market share more quickly than expected? Are there brands operating in similar niches who could potentially compete with you? Identifying these potential threats will help keep you from being caught off guard.
OpenBrand Can Help Your Next SWOT Analysis
Creating your SWOT Analysis is just the first step. Using the data you’ve gathered, look for connections within that data as you create your business strategy. OpenBrand will help you quantify potential ROIs as you explain to stockholders how you plan to succeed and what resources you will need. If you want more information about how to use consumer durables data in your next SWOT analysis, contact us today!
How Club Memberships Are Expanding Their Reach
Consumer club memberships were once primarily the domain of warehouse retailers such as Costco and Sam's Club or automobile associations such as AAA. However, over the last few decades, that fact has changed. With the boom in online shopping, more club memberships have also surfaced. From Amazon Prime to Walmart+, club memberships are now available to consumers from some of the biggest-known retail entities. Today, most consumers have at least one club membership. In fact, an estimated 200 million people belong to Amazon Prime, and 32 million subscribe to Walmart+.
The question is, how do club members shop compared to consumers who don't hold memberships? Let's take a closer look.
Who Are Club Members?
A variety of factors, including income and education levels, appears to influence whether consumers become club members.
For the most part, every club membership has its own mix of demographics when it comes to participants. The variances can be interesting. Here is a look at a few noteworthy findings from data over the last year:
- Sam’s Club members do the least amount of shopping online
- Costco and BJ Wholesale members are very similar to Sam’s Club members in almost every way
- Their memberships tend to match the overall demographics of club memberships, with just under 30 percent of their members being Gen X and about 36 percent being Baby Boomers
- Amazon Prime members are a relatively "middle of the road" group with a healthy mix of people from all demographics
- AAA has the largest percentage of baby boomers (over 50 percent), the most retirees, and the highest number of homeowners
- Walmart+ members do more online shopping, represent the biggest mix of both Gen Xers and Millennials, and about 80 percent own their first homes
Consumers with no memberships are more likely to be single. Additionally, more than half of this group has an income of less than $35k annually. More people in this group are also likely to have an education level of a high school diploma or less.
The demographics of different groups—both members and non-members—can drive such decisions as which brands to purchase or even which outlets to shop. Therefore, this information can be especially useful in making marketing decisions.
Do Club Memberships Influence What Consumers Buy?
Overall, non-membership holders shop for relatively the same products and product mixes that club members shop for, but with a few differences in buyer behaviors. Over the last year, for example, there have been some minor changes regarding what people buy or where they shop according to what club memberships they have. People who don’t hold club memberships are less likely to have made their purchase online than those who have memberships, especially if that membership is Amazon Prime or Walmart+. AAA members are more likely to buy home improvement products than people who have other memberships. Another example, Walmart+ members purchase more consumer electronics.
One striking fact from OpenBrand’s data on club membership is the sheer ubiquity of these warehouse club memberships. An average of 15 percent of consumers have no membership across all consumer durables purchases. One category where non-member purchases are higher than those of club member purchases is Cell Phones.
Members' vs Non-Members' Buyer Behaviors in a Specific Product Market
To really see how members differ from non-members in what they buy, it is helpful to focus on one product group. For instance, Total Core Majors offers a good, consistent mix of all membership groups (9 percent to 10 percent of products purchased). Let's look at a few noteworthy findings.
Online vs in-store appliances
People with online club memberships, such as Amazon Prime and Walmart+, are more likely to purchase appliances online. By contrast, Sam's Club members are more likely to purchase appliances in a retail store. Those without any warehouse club membership are the most likely to have made their purchase in a brick-and-mortar store rather than online.
Appliance delivery and installation
AAA members are more likely to opt for delivery after purchasing an appliance and for the installation of an appliance with delivery. About 2 out of 3 people who are not AAA members still opt for delivery, but more often than not opt for self-installation. Sam's Club members show similar preferences for installing appliances on their own. Non-membership owners are more likely than those with memberships to do their own installation of major appliances. While the majority of non-warehouse club members have their appliances delivered (as is the norm for most buyers in the US), they are more likely to pick up their major appliance purchases themselves than buyers with club memberships.
Buying appliance service contracts
Even though both club members and non-members are offered service contracts on new appliances at generally the same rate, Walmart+ members seem to be most likely to purchase a service contract with a new appliance.
Smart appliance purchases
Customers who hold a Walmart+ membership show more preference for smart appliances than customers who have other types of club membership. Non-club members who buy appliances are the least likely to purchase a smart appliance.
Today's Shoppers Are Mostly Club Members
Club memberships are popular with today’s consumers. Over the last 10 years, more than 75 percent of all product purchases were made by a consumer who held at least one club membership. In the last few years, that number has grown even more—as high as 85 percent and above. At the same time, the number of buyers who don’t own any club memberships has been steadily decreasing. In 2012, more than 40 percent of consumers were not club members, whereas that number is about 15 percent today.
The impressive numbers should come as no surprise when Amazon Prime has a membership rate that averages better than 60 percent. OpenBrand data indicates that other club membership rates have also remained largely consistent. By getting to know how different club members shop, where they shop, and what they buy, targeted marketing can be even further refined.
OpenBrand offers industry-leading market insights. We have three incredible offerings to help you excel in the major appliance industry. Our quarterly survey offers unmatched market insights and trend data directly from consumers. You can track major appliance industry performance with OpenBrand HPOS™. This system engages world-class data aggregation to calculate the top-selling SKUs and the factors that led to their success. SKU Metrix™ lets you compare major appliance models at the SKU level with a comprehensive, synthesized product database. For more information on how OpenBrand can give you insights into consumer behavior and targeted marketing, contact us today!
US TV Market Infographic
What are the best brands and outlets in the TV market? – An infographic
OpenBrand answers the “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “why”, and “how” for Total TV market share. Our quarterly survey will help you understand who’s buying, where they’re buying it, and what drives their decisions. Our infographic will help you answer the following questions about the market and how it is changing…
Who is leading sales in the TV market?
Our infographic will give you greater details, but for now, here’s what you need to know about the market leaders for Total TV:
- For unit share in 3Q 2021, Walmart and Best Buy continue to be the lead outlets. However, both outlets are down significantly YoY for the rolling 4 quarters ending Sept 2021
- The brand leaders across Total TV are Samsung and LG. Samsung unit share is significantly higher than all other brands but is down versus the R4Q ending 3Q 2020. Meanwhile, LG is flat compared to this time last year
How much do consumers spend?
When buying a TV, the average price for Q3 2021 is $490. However, the average amount paid at different outlets vary: For example:
- While having a much smaller unit/dollar share than top outlets, Costco average price the last few years has been consistently higher than other outlets ($729 for R4Q end Q3 2021)
- Best Buy consistently shows the next highest average price paid with $611
- Walmart consistently has the lowest price paid – $338
Different brands also have a dramatically different average price paid vs. the industry. For example:
- In the past few years, Sony consistently has the highest average price paid ($703 in R4Q end Q3 2021).
- Samsung and LG consistently show the next highest average prices paid, $633 and $628 respectively.
What demographic is buying TVs?
Just who is the typical TV buyer? OpenBrand’s census-balanced respondent pool has given us insights like:
- Most purchases in Q3 2021 are made with a male involved in the decision (82 percent). Around 43 percent of purchases are male-only decision makers
- About 63 percent of purchasers are homeowners – up this year after two years of significant declines.
Online Sales Trends:
The majority of TV purchases have historically been made in a retail store.
- For Q3 2021 that trend continues with retail store purchases at 65 percent, however, that rate has been falling year over year for the past four years.
- Online purchases are up significantly from this time last year.
TV Market Share Facts:
Curious about other information OpenBrand’s survey has uncovered? Here’s another preview for you:
- Walmart draw and close rates are historically at the top of all outlets. While that continues to be the case, both draw and close rates at Walmart are down vs. this time last year. Best Buy is one of the benefactors of this drop at Walmart, with a Best Buy draw rate up significantly from Q3 2020 (2 points).
- The popularity of Ultra HD continues to rise from previous quarters, with 4K or 8K resolution capturing almost half of the Q3 2021 market.
- The main reasons to purchase from a particular outlet have historically been “competitive price” and “good selection of products”. That remains the case, but “competitive price” is trending down, and “good selection of products” is trending up the past few quarters.
To see everything we've included on our infographic, fill out the form below and download your own copy:
Stereo Headphone Market Infographic
What are the best brands and outlets in the Stereo Headphone market? – An infographic
OpenBrand answers the “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “why”, and “how” for Stereo Headphones market share. Our quarterly survey will help you understand who’s buying, where they’re buying it, and what drives their decisions. Our Stereo Headphones infographic will help you answer the following questions about the market and how it is changing…
Who is leading sales in the Stereo Headphone market?
Our infographic will give you greater details, but for now, here’s what you need to know about the market leaders for Stereo Headphones:
- For 3Q 2021, Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart continue to be the lead outlets
- Amazon unit share continues to be the overall leader – significantly higher than other outlets
- As a product aggregate, Stereo Headphones brand leaders continue to be Sony, Apple, Beats, and Bose for Q3 2021. These brands are historically the top players
How much do consumers spend?
When buying Stereo Headphones, the aggregate industry price average is $92 for the rolling 4 quarters ending Q3 2021. However, the average amount paid at different outlets can vary. For example:
- Purchases at Apple Stores are an average price of $168.
- Beats branded headphones have an average price of $150.
- While having the highest unit share, Amazon’s average price is one of the lowest of top outlets at $85 – Walmart dips lower with an average price paid of $63.
What demographic is buying Stereo Headphones?
Just who buys Stereo Headphones? OpenBrand’s census-balanced respondent pool has given us insights like:
- Most purchases are made with a male involved in the decision (63 percent). Around 54 percent of purchases are male only decision makers
- 38 percent of purchasers are single and 49 percent are married
- About 58 percent of purchasers are homeowners
- 65 percent of purchasers do not have children
Online Sales Trends:
The majority of purchases across the product aggregate continue to be made online. However, that percentage has ticked down significantly the last two quarters – likely due to lessening pandemic restrictions.
- Those purchasing online is down to 50 percent for Q3 2021 – from a high of 56 percent in Q1 2021
Stereo Headphone Market Share Facts:
Curious about other information OpenBrand’s survey has uncovered? Here’s another preview for you:
- Amazon draw and close rates are historically at the top of all outlets. That continues to be the case in the R4Q end Q3 2021 with outlet draw at 40 percent and outlet close at 78 percent.
- While Apple draw rate (6 percent) has been mostly flat the past 4 quarters, the Apple close rate for Q3 2021 (77 percent) is up 2 points vs. Q3 2020
- The main reasons to purchase from a particular outlet have historically been “competitive price” and “good selection of products”. That remains the case in Q3 2021. Amazon tends to excel in these why purchase categories, which helps with them be the consistent unit share leader
To see everything we've included on our infographic, fill out the form below and download your own copy:
5 Major Components of Competitor Analysis Explained
No matter how big or small, each company functions in a unique market. You have customers whom you need to convince to buy from you in this market. You also have competitors who want to convince those same customers to buy from them instead. There are many elements to a successful go to market strategy. Some elements include understanding the consumer, timing your entry into the market, and defining your sales and marketing plan. Another critical component of success is understanding the competition so you can perfect your competitive strategy.
When you gather information about your competitors, you can examine the methods they use and the customers with whom they achieve their greatest success. By analyzing how competitors operate, you can delve into their strategies in a way that helps you discover how to best approach the market through your own company. Below, we focus on 5 key elements you need to know to develop your competitive strategy. These elements will help you succeed with both your own customers and theirs.
Competitor Analysis Element #1: Identify Your Competitors
The first step to unravel your competitors’ strategy is to identify your competitors. This process is more than a Google search for other companies that provide similar products and services. You need to know your competition’s market positioning: how are consumers already solving the problem your product solves?
Understanding your competitors means asking questions about the market, and then drilling down to:
Who Is Selling What You Sell?
You think of your product or service as unique. But if people have functioned without it up until now, either someone else has something similar, or alternatives have served the market up to this point. You need to understand what those market alternatives are, and who is selling them. For example, nobody knew they needed an iPod before they bought one. After its introduction, portable CD players and the Walkman became obsolete.
What Is the Geographic Competition?
If you are selling from a brick-and-mortar store, you should study other businesses in the area. Who are they and how do they operate? Online retailers need to be included in your competitive strategy as well. You cannot ignore e-commerce and omnichannel retailers in your competitor analysis. Make sure you use solid and representative marketplace intelligence to understand who the key competitors are in your category.
What Price Points Exist in the Market?
Pricing might seem more like a customer component of your competitive strategy. But it is also a key part of a good competitor analysis. Being able to differentiate on price eliminates certain competitors from the market. For example, Rolls Royce is not likely to see a sub-compact car manufacturer as a threat. Understanding the pricing across many products in the market may help you to identify areas where competition is weak and gain a foothold in the industry.
The Harvard Business Review suggests using a positioning map to identify who is in the market and what price points they occupy. This provides a nice visual that places you in the context of your competitors within your market. Understanding how and where your competitors operate helps you situate yourself within that map. You may even decide to scale features up or down to fit within a particular competitive price point.
Competitor Analysis Element #2: Who Are Your Competitors Targeting?
Once you identify your competitors, you can start to develop a picture of their market demographics. Based on your price point and product specifications there are two possible outcomes. A) a competitor might be after customers very different from the ones you seek or B) you may be preparing for a fierce battle over the same people. A solid competitive strategy involves understanding not only who IS buying the product, but who is LIKELY to buy the product. By doing your research into target demographics and overlaying that on your competitors’ demographics, you will discover gaps to exploit. Understanding the following components of your competitors’ strategy is another key to success.
- Age Brackets: You may be (or will be) focusing on a particular age group or generation in your marketing. If your competitors concentrate elsewhere, your preliminary research may show that they are missing a key segment. Or this may suggest that you have an opportunity to fill a market gap—or that you are misdirecting your efforts.
- Gender Differences: Do your competitors sell more to men or women? These distinctions can significantly impact how you should direct your efforts and messaging.
- Income Levels: Some products or services fit better with different income levels. This may be a matter of pricing strategy or a matter of social norms. Understanding the relative affluence of your customers and your competitors’ customers helps you find those most likely to purchase. Combining the income level of the consumers purchasing with your price point data in Element #1 will help you optimize the price and demographics.
- Online or Storefront: Having your product in a physical store carries higher costs as it relates to distribution, POP, etc. but it may be the price of entry into your market. Understand where your competitors are selling, and you may find additional opportunities and revenue streams.
Competitor Analysis Element 3: What Are Your Competitive Features?
In element #1, we mentioned the importance of aligning your pricing and your features on your product. Your ability to compete in any market will depend in part on your ability to either better address an existing unmet need or create a new need in the market. Accordingly, your analysis should always look at the actual products and services with which you are competing. Most successful companies differentiate themselves not only through clever marketing, but by meeting specific needs. By first understanding the existing marketplace, you can work towards fulfilling customer needs through innovation or better featurization of your new product or existing portfolio.
When identifying the competitive features, ensure you take the following steps:
- Do your research: Once you understand the key players, find a list of their key features. Many websites have feature comparisons you can use for this task, but don’t overlook the value of having the product in hand. You may find that build quality, “fit and finish”, and other features can’t be determined from a webpage. Go to the store and buy the product. Many companies will do so and disassemble their competitors’ products.
- Feature Matrix: Develop a competitive feature matrix to help you to compare products at a glance. Be sure to include both tangible and non-tangible features. For example, while two TVs may both offer Ultra HD resolution, one may still have a higher quality picture.
Competitor Analysis Element #4: Where Are They Successful?
Once you have looked at who your competitors are and what they offer, you can start to break down how they succeed. Reasons that customers choose a particular product or service — and reasons that they do not select another — can go a long way toward helping you understand why and when those successes occur. Customers have motivations across the spectrum: from ease of purchase to careful analysis of their individual needs. Those motivating factors help create the successes and failures of each of your competitors. This type of information is available in various sources, most notably through qualitative data collected from the consumer after their purchase.
Again, this information can reveal trends among segments of the population. Individual variances will always enter the equation, but you can still look for ways in which groups gravitate toward and away from particular locations, companies, product features, and service offerings. The more in-depth your competitor analysis models delve into the available data, the more you can glean about the customer behavior relevant to your company.
Competitor Analysis Element #5: Determine Where You Can Add Value
The elements above organically lead to identifying the gaps in the marketplace. Whether identifying key gaps in price points or identifying an underserved segment of the market, each of the elements above should be leading to one question: Where can you add value where the competition doesn’t? This more thorough analysis provides the key to identifying your best opportunities for success in the market. If business success relied solely on your being better than your competitors at doing the same thing, a bull-headed drive to win would be the only path to success—and that success would come infrequently and fleetingly.
Competitor Analysis Strategy Overview
Look at your competitive analysis to identify gaps — in marketing, service, product features, or any other element. You can find openings into which your company can fit. While you may choose to, you do not have to butt heads with larger or more established companies. Instead of fighting battles over the same customers, you can use competitive analysis to fill an existing unmet need or create a demand in the market for a product that does not yet exist. Thorough investigation, followed by targeted action in the available market, gives you the best opportunity for success.
The consumer insight and market research provided by OpenBrand is a key tool that can inform your strategy with data and insight. When you are ready to take a data-driven approach to surpass your competitors, contact our market research experts.
Contact us to learn more about our competitive offerings.
Kitchen & Bath Fixture Market Infographic
What are the best brands and outlets in the Kitchen & Bath Fixtures market? – An infographic
OpenBrand answers the “who”, “what”, “where”, “when”, “why”, and “how” for Kitchen & Bath market shares. Our quarterly survey will help you understand who’s buying, where they’re buying it, and what drives their decisions. Our Kitchen & Bath infographic will help you answer the following questions about the market and how it is changing…
Who is leading sales in the Kitchen & Bath Fixture market?
Our infographic will give you greater details, but for now, here’s what you need to know about the market leaders for Kitchen & Bath Fixtures:
- Home Depot and Lowe’s continue to significantly exceed other outlets for unit share and dollar share. However, unit and dollar shares at Home Depot continue to steadily decline from Q3 2020. Home Depot share of sales are down significantly from this time last year.
- Amazon, while 3rd in outlet unit share behind Home Depot and Lowe’s, is at almost 9 percent unit share (up 2 points from this time last year).
- As a Kitchen & Bath Fixture product aggregate, Moen, Kohler, and Delta show a very similar unit share for the current quarter and are significantly higher than all other brands. All three brands increase slightly from this time last year. Kohler, however, has a clear lead over other brands for dollar share.
How much do consumers spend?
When buying Kitchen & Bath Fixtures, the aggregate industry price average is $195. However, the average amount paid at different outlets can vary. For example:
- Purchases at Home Depot and Lowe’s (the top outlets) show a similar average price paid. Average price at Home Depot is $155 and Lowe’s is $152 across the product aggregate.
- Amazon has the one of the lowest average prices paid at about $111 across the product aggregate.
What demographic is buying Kitchen & Bath Fixtures?
Just who buys Kitchen and Bath Fixtures? OpenBrand’s census-balanced respondent pool has given us insights like:
- Two-thirds of purchasers are married (66 percent).
- 88 percent own their home.
- Of those shopping for Kitchen & Bath Fixtures, both men and women are involved in the purchase decision 33 percent of the time. Only women are involved in the process 37 percent of the time.
Online Sales Trends:
Most purchases across the product aggregate continue to be made in a retail store (69 percent). However, that percent has been steadily declining the past few years.
- Online purchases for rolling four quarters ending June 2021 are up significantly from the previous three periods.
Kitchen & Bath Fixture Market Share Facts:
Curious about other information OpenBrand’s survey has uncovered? Here’s another preview for you:
- The Amazon draw rate (12 percent) is significantly lower than Home Depot (47 percent) and Lowe’s (42 percent). However, the Amazon close rate (71 percent) is a little higher than Home Depot (70 percent) and significantly higher than Lowe’s (64 percent).
- The top outlet purchase drivers are “Competitive price” and Good selection of products”. Amazon excels at these two purchase drivers which partly explains a YoY increase in Amazon purchases.
To see everything we've included on our infographic, fill out the form below and download your own copy: