Online sales of major home appliances have grown, and growth is being driven by peak holiday promotional weeks between May and December, reports The NPD Group, a leading global information company. In 2016 consumers spent $4 billion on major home appliance online purchases, a 38 percent increase from 2015 sales, according to NPD’s receipt mining service, Checkout Tracking.

In 2016 online sales of every major appliance category experienced year-​over-​year growth. Refrigerators, the largest category at 30 percent of industry sales, gained 40 percent compared to 2015 results. Ovens were the fastest growing category of the year with a 69 percent increase.

Appliance retailers will be glad to know that the most recent AudienceSCAN survey revealed 16.7% of Americans plan to buy major kitchen appliances this year.

“Online shopping has become an important retail channel for all consumer purchases, including large purchases like major home appliances,” said Joe Derochowski, executive director and home industry analyst at NPD. “Shopping online for a major home appliance enables consumers to explore a wide range of feature and pricing options across a variety of retailers in less time and with just a few clicks.”

Getting those SEO and SEM strategies in place is crucial for appliance stores targeting Major Kitchen Appliance Shoppers. 36.6% of them took action based on sponsored search results (like on Google, Yahoo or Bing) in the past month.

Online major home appliance buyers spend about eight percent more during the weeks of Black Friday and Cyber Monday than they do during the rest of the year, and this spend is on the upswing. Sales during the 2016 Black Friday and Cyber Monday weeks were 37 percent higher than results during the same weeks in 2015. These two weeks combined accounted for nine percent of sales for the year.  The next noticeable spikes in sales occurred over the summer holiday weeks of Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. In contrast, President’s Day week only showed a small bump in sales.

Offering promotions and capitalizing on upcoming holidays will help this growth continue for local appliance retailers. The AudienceSCAN study found 44.6% of Major Kitchen Appliance Shoppers took action after watching TV commercials in the past month.

“It’s important for manufacturers and retailers to coordinate their online and in-​store marketing efforts, especially around key holiday promotional periods,” says Derochowski. “While consumers are seeking out the best deals on sizable purchases, like major home appliances, and shopping online offers an added level of convenience, many still want to go to a physical store to see and test the product – marketers who maximize both of these channels will capture the consumer.”

AudienceSCAN data is available as part of a subscription to AdMall for Agencies, or with the SalesFuel API. Media companies can access AudienceSCAN data through the AudienceSCAN Reports in AdMall.