Keeping your home clean can seem like an endless cycle, with the dust reappearing almost instantaneously, the clothing mountains growing by the hour, and feeling like you’re chained up to the sink. Unfairly, many of these tasks were deemed feminine, leaving it up to the women of the household. Over the last three years, brands have increased marketing efforts that show consumers how a monotonous cleaning task can be a family affair or a thing of the past. As gap intelligence’s resident vacuum expert our data shows that marketing ramps up annually around Mother’s Day. From the robotic vacuum that cleans floors on its own to washers that allow users to pre-load detergent and start remotely.
Buying Gifts or Investments: Robotic Vacuums Saving You Time
This Mother’s Day saw the promotion of floor care products that aim to making cleaning tasks easier by almost entirely removing the human from the process. Robotic vacuums transform vacuuming into a thing of the past, with the ability to regularly schedule sessions and autonomously vacuum several rooms on a single charge. Since 2018, gap intelligence has had a great vantage point to observe the changes and enhancements entering the robotic segment, from smart mapping technology to mopping capabilities and connectivity to other devices. Of the retailer circulars tracked by gap intelligence, robotic floor cleaners accounts for 41% of the Mother’s Day advertisements with options ranging from entry level to premium, tech-heavy.
So here’s a recap on the robotic deals you might have missed this year & how they compared to last year:
- ECOVACS advertised largest discount for robotic vacuums during Mother’s Day 2020, 43% off
- ECOVACS Deebot N79 SKUs featured larger discount vs. 2019 (43% vs. 36%), achieving same $159 prices
- ECOVACS’s Deebot OZMO 930 is sole product advertised w/ mopping capabilities
- Best Buy & Target were the only retailers in gap intelligence’s panel to advertise for Mother’s Day
- Both retailers advertised ECOVACS’s Deebot N79 SKUs, iRobot’s Roomba e5, & Shark’s IQ R100AE
- ECOVACS targets the entry level, iRobot the mid, & Shark the premium
- This Mother’s Day saw all advertised robotic floor cleaners priced below $500
- iRobot’s Roomba i7 featured the highest price for Mother’s Day 2020, $499
- $200 lower than the priced advertised for Mother’s Day 2019, $699
- In 2019, Home Depot advertised the highest priced robotic vacuum, iRobot’s Roomba i7+ at $1,099
- The robotic vacuums on ad in 2020 offered shoppers a larger avg. discount than 2019, 25% vs. 23%
- iRobot’s Roomba i7 featured the highest price for Mother’s Day 2020, $499
Out with the Old and In with the New
Upright vacuums are a thing of the past for the Mother’s Day holiday, representing the most advertised option in 2019 (28% of floor care ads) yet falling into third in 2020 (7% of floor care ads). The opportunity to step into the holiday was first seized by robotic vacuums, taking center stage among advertised vacuum product types in retailer fliers. Behind robotic, stick vacuums appeared as the second most advertised product type, accounting for 27% of the vacuum ads. I personally can’t imagine not owning a vacuum that requires me to be involved, and I imagine there are many like me out there. And with a stick vacuum, consumers can complete the tasks with a smaller, lightweight option that increasingly features the technology, motorhead sizes, and dust bin capacities offered by upright vacuums.
Shark and Dyson were the sole brands to advertise stick vacuums for Mother’s Day 2020, even gaining notable positions in Best Buy and Target’s digital fliers:
- Dyson led Shark with stick vacuum advertisements, accounting for 73% of the product type features
- Reflects an 11-point increase in advertisements compared to Mother’s Day 2019
- Shark trailed with a 27% share of stick advertisements during Mother’s Day 2020
- Dyson’s V8 Animal carried the largest discount among stick vacuums, 25%
- The model was the top advertised stick vacuum for the period, appearing in 4 advertisements
- Featured the same discount in 2019, resulting in a matching $299 net price
- For Mother’s Day 2020, Dyson advertised the largest savings, $100 off, on 9 stick vacuum ads
- Shark’s advertised savings ranged from $50 – $60, yet achieved lower net pricing, $219 – $249
While the Mother’s Day holiday provided shoppers notable savings on floor care, the category often appears on ad, abounding with one-day deals and week-long savings. If you are seeking less work, bragging rights, or a lightweight cleaning tool, check retailers’ weekly ads online to find some notable savings that will keep your home clean. In fact, the next major event is currently underway for Memorial Day, extending through the start of June. It’s never too late to find a great vacuum at the right price, but it definitely pays to know your holidays.
For more than 17 years, gap intelligence has served manufacturers and sellers by providing world-class services monitoring, reporting, and analyzing the 4Ps: prices, promotions, placements, and products. Email us at info@gapintelligence.com or call us at 619-574-1100 to learn more.
