The Unsurprising Shrinkage of Keyboard Sales

Transcript:The Unsurprising Shrinkage of Keyboard Sales:
The Unsurprising Shrinkage of Keyboard Sales Although total Q2 2020 sales at music/keyboard stores for the six primary keyboard categories decreased less (-5.7%) than the entire music products market (-7.1%), 55.3% of all Q2 keyboard sales were digital pianos and portable keyboards. With most retail sales relegated to the online channel during the pandemic, music/keyboard stores were unlikely to sell many traditional keyboard instruments, such as grand and vertical pianos and home and institutional organs. Actually, Q1 2020 was the worse quarter of the year for keyboard sales, as 5 of the 6 categories recorded double-digit decreases, except, strangely enough, institutional organs, which only decreased 2.4%, but were only 7.1% of all Q1 keyboard sales. Digital and Portable Categories Drive Online Sales With 72% of grand and vertical pianos and 100% of home and institutional organs sold in stores during Q2 2020, digital pianos were 65% and portable keyboards were 70% of their respective categories’ online sales, thus filling the void for many retailers. A retailer in Rockville, MD commented anecdotally his April 2020 digital piano and portable keyboard sales decreased very significantly, but then sales increased for both categories by 30% during May and June. Digital pianos had the best Q2 performance of all keyboards, with just a 1.5% sales decrease. During the last 5 second-quarters, digital keyboard sales increased 11.1%, portable keyboards +2.0% and traditional pianos and organs decreased by double-digits. Fourth Quarter COULD Save Traditional Keyboards If there is any good news for the traditional keyboard categories – grand and vertical pianos and home and institutional organs –, then it’s much of their annual sales occur during the fourth quarter. Sales for all four traditional keyboard categories during Q4 2019 decreased: grand pianos -1.2%, vertical pianos -0.8%, home organs -2.8% and institutional organs -1.8%. Q4 was the worst 2019 quarter for grand pianos, but not for the other three categories. Grand and vertical piano sales have relied on a strong economy, which won’t be the story for 2020, indicating both categories are likely to post larger negative numbers for Q4 2020. 2019 Total Piano Sales Increased Moderately Total piano unit volume (grand, vertical and electronic player) increased just 1.8% for 2019, but retail value increased significantly, at 12.3%. Grand pianos delivered a 9.9% unit volume increase, compared to verticals -1.8% and electronic player 0.0%. As reported in previous Keyboards Market Profilers, Music Trades has eliminated the home