IHA MarketScope Report Highlights Consumer Shift Toward Cooking, Entertaining at Home
Several home and housewares categories including kitchen electrics, cookware/bakeware, home comfort + water filtration, and gadgets/cutlery, saw sales gains last year, according to the International Housewares Association’s (IHA) new MarketScope report. MarketScope is the first installment of IHA’s 2026 State of the Industry Report, which was published today on the news platform, HomePageNews.com. This installment provides data and analysis on U.S. market size by category and retail channel.
“There’s no doubt that economic uncertainty made for a challenging year in our industry,” said Derek Miller, IHA president & CEO. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t opportunities. The IHA State of the Industry Report is designed to identify those opportunities and assist companies in making the best strategic decisions for their customers and partners as they plan for the future.”
According to the report, U.S. home and housewares sales totaled $77.12 billion in 2025, down 0.5% from the previous year.
- Small appliance sales amounted to $44.94 billion, up 1% from 2024. Small appliances, as defined by Circana’s “Checkout” consumer-tracking methodology, include kitchen, personal care and home environment electrics.
- Non-electric housewares sales totaled $32.18 billion, down 2.5% as a whole from 2024. This grouping includes categories such as cookware, bakeware, kitchen tools, gadgets, tabletop, home organization and cleaning items.
There are, however, several individual categories within both groups with increases in dollar sales:
- Total kitchen electrics saw a 4% boost as consumers ate and entertained at home more. Growth was led by air fryers, espresso makers, ice shavers/snow cone makers and stand mixers.
- Cookware/bakeware saw a 4% boost, with baking continuing to make gains. For the first time since 1980, Circana data shows that sales of ready-to-eat baked goods declined, while sales of baking ingredients increased.
- Home comfort + water filtration grew 2% as changes in weather patterns created a greater need for products to help people stay cool and breathe cleaner air.
- Gadgets/cutlery increased 2% as consumers ate more at home, but also with a greater focus on convenience and a greater emphasis on protein.
MarketScope data is generated through IHA’s partnership with industry-leading market research and analytics firm Circana. According to Circana vice president and senior home analyst Joe Derochowski, five factors contributed positively to home and housewares sales across all categories in 2025:
- Consumers eating at home more
- Consumers entertaining at home more
- High-frequency-use products hitting the replacement phase
- Changes in weather patterns
- New product innovation
MarketScope also reports that dedicated e-commerce sites and mass merchants represent the top two sales channels for both small appliances and other housewares. However, there is more channel diversification within housewares, where dollar stores, sporting goods stores and specialty home retailers make the top ten.
In total, 40% of all home and housewares goods were purchased in-store in 2025 vs 60% online. That represents a 2% shift from last year’s IHA State of the Industry Report (42% in-store in 2024 vs 58% online).
The 2026 IHA State of the Industry Report is a free resource available to the industry and will be published in three parts:
Part 1: MarketScope — Market sales data on the total U.S. housewares business and key housewares categories, as well as sales by retail channel. Data is made available through IHA’s partnership with market research and analytics firm Circana. (Published May 13)
Part 2: MarketOutlook — A detailed look at consumer purchase intent over the next year, as well as the key product features, benefits and other factors consumers expect to direct their purchase decisions. Features exclusive data commissioned by IHA from Morning Consult. (Available in June)
Part 3: MarketWatch — In-depth analysis of the primary values influencing consumer attitudes and home lifestyle preferences. Features exclusive data commissioned by IHA from Springboard Futures. (Available in July).
Complete data, charts and analysis can be found at www.homepagenews.com/SOI26/MarketScope.
