Singaporeans spend nearly USD12m on flat irons and steamers

Nearly 230,000 irons and garment steamers were sold in last 12 months.

According to GfK Retail and Technology Singapore, removing creases from clothes and fabrics is a multi-million industry with Singapore’s consumers spending over USD11.5 million on garment care appliances to do the much dreaded task.

Here's more from GfK:

GfK Singapore retail audit of garment care appliances, namely iron and garment steamers revealed that irons continue to be the preferred choice of tool; making up 9 in 10 of these appliances sold in the last one year.

According to GfK, while the average price of the iron sold at an average price of USD 42, the more advanced garment steamer cost nearly three times more, averaging at around USD116 per unit. Nevertheless, some 25,000 units of handheld, portable and upright garment steamers worth around USD2.9 million were sold in the last 12 months—evidence that consumers here are willing to fork out more for newer technology that offers greater convenience.

The upright garment steamer is the most common type purchased by local consumers, with four out of every five garment steamers sold belonging in this range. Over 17,000, units priced at an average of USD120 were sold in the last 12 months. The festive month of December in particular registered a sharp increase in sales, providing some indication that this type of steam garment may have been a popular Christmas gift item.