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- With a view from the heat: Russians have become twice as likely to buy popcorn machines
With a view from the heat: Russians have become twice as likely to buy popcorn machines
Gadgets for making popcorn at home have become twice as common in Russia. In 2024, the demand for them increased more than 1.5 times, and in early 2025 - 2.3 times, sellers of household appliances and electronics told Izvestia. They explain this by the fact that people have become less likely to go to theaters, more often watch movies at home and cook air corn to support the atmosphere of "real cinema". Experts also agree: sales of such devices are growing along with the subscriber base of online movie theaters and the volume of sales of widescreen TVs.
Popularity of popcorn machines
Sales of machines for making popcorn in 2024 increased by more than 80% compared to 2023, reported "Izvestia" in the combined company Wildberries & Russ. Sales of semi-finished products for cooking air corn in microwaves increased by almost 60%, its analysts calculated.
- If we compare the January 2025 data with the first three weeks of 2024, the dynamics is even more noticeable: these goods showed growth in 2.3 times, and "raw materials" for home cooking - by 80%, - said the press service of the organization.
The surge of interest in such devices has been observed since the end of last year: in November they were bought 30% more than in October, and in December sales have tripled, they added.
- Such devices are inexpensive and quickly pay off: the average cost on Wildberries is about 1.6 thousand rubles - for this money in stores you can buy only a few packs of ready-made popcorn, not to mention the price of "buckets" in movie theaters, - said a representative of the platform.
Buyers' interest in special glasses for popcorn is also growing, he added. At the same time, according to the marketplace, the demand for ready-made popcorn, on the contrary, has decreased by about a third - and this is despite the overall growth of turnover on the marketplace and a decrease in the average cost of such a product.
From January to November 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, the number of purchases of such gadgets increased 1.6 times in unit terms and 1.5 times in monetary terms, according to the press service of Ozon.
M.Video-Eldorado also noted an increase in interest in home popcorn machines - sales increased by 34% compared to 2023. The range of device models has also grown significantly - by 171%, the press service of the united retailer noted.
Popcorn machines sold best in December 2024. Compared to November of the same year, this indicator jumped nine times, and with December 2023 - almost six times, the representative of the company points out.
According to Avito, in 2024, Russians actively purchased various flavor blends for popcorn - compared to 2023, sales increased by 51%. The average cost is 500 rubles.
- Statistics of sales of these gadgets correlate with the data of experts that Russians are visiting cinemas less and less often and at the same time spend more time on online viewing of films- said the representative of Wildberries & Russ. - This can be explained by the shortage of major, especially foreign, releases in official distribution and, conversely, the increasing number of films and series on digital platforms.
Such a surge is easily explainable: popcorn-making devices have become not only a successful gift, but also an indispensable companion for home movie screenings, said a representative of M.Video-Eldorado.
Demand for goods and services for home movie theater
Along with the sales of air-corn devices, the demand for widescreen TVs comfortable for family watching movies in online cinemas is also growing. From January to November 2024, demand for TVs with a diagonal of 75 inches and larger on Ozon increased more than three times in pieces and almost three times in money compared to the same period in 2023, representatives of the marketplace noted.
Indeed, people have started to watch more movies at home and go to theaters less, and popcorn, from the point of view of many, is one of the attributes of "real cinema," agrees Eldar Murtazin, a leading analyst at Mobile Research Group. Overall, the market for widescreen TVs (from 70 inches) grew 1.5 times last year. People buy not only TVs, but also conventional and laser projectors, the expert notes.
The most popular TV brands on the Russian market in quantitative terms - Haier, Xiaomi, Sber, Samsung, and in monetary terms - Haier, Samsung, Xiaomi and Hisense, told "Izvestia" in "M.Video-Eldorado". They noted the growth in sales of domestic TV sets.
According to a preliminary estimate by TelecomDaily, in 2024 the turnover of Russian online movie theaters exceeded 100 billion rubles - this is about 20% more than a year earlier. Demand for the services of these platforms is growing against the backdrop of the fact that the repertoire of conventional cinemas is now relatively small, said Denis Kuskov, general director of the company.
- But people still want to watch movies on a big screen, in an atmosphere as close as possible to a real movie theater - hence the demand for popcorn and devices for its preparation, - he argues.
Such dynamics can really lead to an increase in demand for related products, says the expert. In addition to televisions, it may be high-quality acoustics, various food and beverages. Perhaps someone even buys more comfortable furniture for the home theater, he does not rule out.
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