A broken washing machine sends someone straight to a website. They want one that fits the gap, can be delivered this week and will be connected by the people who bring it. Most of what decides the sale is not on the spec sheet. It is the delivery date for their postcode, what the installation includes, and whether the new machine will fit where the old one stood.
This guide covers major appliances, such as cookers, fridge freezers and washing machines, and small kitchen appliances such as toasters, kettles and coffee machines. It looks at how they are bought online, where retailers lose money, and what a product page should give the buyer. It uses published figures, labelled with their source and limits, and my own check of UK appliance product pages from October 2026.
How appliances are bought online
On the figures available, online is a major channel for appliances, though those figures come from interested parties. In a 2022 trading update, the online retailer AO cited GfK data putting online at 54% of major domestic appliance sales in February 2022, up from 43% in January 2020. The geography is not stated.
A 2024 guide from MikMak, a commerce analytics vendor, put the UK online share of home appliance purchases at 66.2%, for an unspecified period. It also cited Circana data that 70% of UK shoppers bought a small appliance in the past 12 months. The scope differs from the GfK figure, so the two are not directly comparable.
Many appliance purchases are replacements under pressure. The public summary of Mintel’s 2026 UK major domestic appliances report says 60% of consumers buy a new appliance only when the old one breaks. That is a summary figure with no stated period, so treat it as indicative. A buyer replacing a broken fridge cares about speed and certainty first.
Reliability shapes the decision too. A Which? survey of more than 9,000 people in July 2025, covering nearly 28,000 appliances, found large gaps between brands. For dishwashers, 7% of one brand’s machines developed a fault in their first six years, against 33% of another’s. Buyers who have read figures like these come to a product page with questions about reliability and cover.
My sources have no current figure for appliance return rates or conversion. The only conversion figure I found was 3.4%, from one online retailer’s 2014 results. That is too old, and too specific to one company, to use as a benchmark.
Where appliance retailers lose money
Deliveries that fail at the door
A two-person delivery that cannot get the appliance through a doorway, into a housing or onto its connections is expensive. The crew’s time is lost, the appliance comes back, and the buyer still has no fridge. In typical practice the causes are an American fridge freezer wider than the hallway, an integrated model that does not match the housing, or a missing tap, valve or socket.
Installation that was never clear
Installation options vary widely: connection only, connection with removal of the old machine, or no connection at all. Gas cookers typically need connecting by a Gas Safe registered engineer, and some larger electric cookers may need a dedicated circuit. Check the current regulations or take advice before stating either on a page. When the page does not say what the delivery team will do, the buyer finds out on the day.
Faults and the right to reject
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, buyers generally have a short-term right to reject faulty goods within 30 days. For a large appliance, a rejection means collection, inspection and possibly a write-down. With fault rates varying as widely as the Which? survey shows, range choice can affect after-sales cost as well as margin.
Price comparison on identical models
The same model code is often stocked by many retailers, and many buyers compare by code. When price is level, delivery date, installation terms and clarity decide the sale. Hiding the final price behind a postcode makes that comparison harder for the buyer and easier to abandon.
What 7 UK appliance product pages offered (October 2026)
In October 2026 I checked eight UK appliance product pages from online specialists, a high street electrical chain, a catalogue retailer, department stores and a manufacturer. Seven were readable. To be clear about the sample: two were major appliances (a fridge freezer and a washing machine), two were small kitchen appliances (a toaster and an espresso machine), two were vacuum cleaners and one was a hair styler. It is a small, mixed sample, and a text-based check cannot see script-driven viewers.
| What the page offered | Pages (of 7) |
|---|---|
| Numeric dimensions | 7 |
| Full specification table | 5 |
| Finance mentioned | 4 |
| Contact route | 4 |
| Returns window stated on the page | 3 |
| More than one colour | 2 (both by separate product pages) |
| Video | 2 |
| Lead time stated | 2 |
| Reviews with a rating or count | 2 |
| Size or configuration choice | 0 |
| 360, 3D or AR detected | 0 |
| Configurator, product finder or fit checker for the product, detected | 0 |
Every page gave dimensions, and most had a full specification. None had a fit checker the check could detect, and none offered a size or configuration choice. Delivery and installation information was thin. Only two pages gave a delivery lead time. On another, the final price and stock waited for a postcode. One page offered home delivery options while labelling the same item as in-store only. On another, a “Product Specification” heading had nothing beneath it.
Colour choice appeared on only two pages. One small kitchen appliance came in 14 colours, each on its own product page and linked by swatches.
Appliance pages were also among the slowest in my lab tests. Four UK product pages had a median Lighthouse performance score of 31, covered in appliance website performance.
What an appliance product page needs
- Delivery date and full price early, with a postcode check that adds detail rather than hiding the basics.
- Installation options in plain words. What connection includes, whether the old appliance is taken away, and what each option costs.
- Fit data: overall size, depth with the door open, ventilation gaps, housing size for integrated models and the narrowest doorway the delivery needs.
- Connection requirements: hot or cold fill, plug or hardwired, gas, plumbed water for fridge freezers with dispensers.
- Capacity in real terms: kilograms, litres or place settings, with guidance on household size.
- The energy label and product information sheet, with the class also stated as text.
- Every colour visible from each colour’s page, with its own model code, so buyers can compare shades without searching.
- Warranty, returns and right to reject, stated near the price, separately from any paid cover.
- Matching items for small kitchen appliances sold in colour ranges, such as the kettle in the same shade.
Platform and operations
- Services as line items. Delivery, connection, removal and extended cover should each be a distinct line with its own price, so orders, invoices and crews all see the same thing.
- Delivery slots by postcode. Large appliance delivery typically depends on routes and crew capacity. The platform needs slot logic, which a standard checkout may not include, either built in or through an integration.
- Supplier data. Model codes, dimensions and energy data usually arrive in manufacturer feeds. Check those feeds for missing door-open depths and housing sizes, because the fit questions depend on them.
- Brand-direct and dealers. Manufacturers selling direct often also support retailers. A “where to buy” route and consistent product data keep both channels working.
- Trade and bulk buyers. Landlords, letting agents and developers often buy appliances in quantity. See B2B ecommerce.
For model codes, graded stock and filters, see appliance ecommerce SEO.
Where a configurator fits
Most appliances are fixed models, so a visual builder suits only some of them. Range cookers come in widths, fuel types and colours. Small kitchen appliances are often sold in colour sets. For everything else, the most useful tool is a fit checker or product finder that turns a gap, a household and a connection into a shortlist. The appliance configurator page covers those options, and the appliance configurator demos show image-based examples.
Where to start
Order one of your best-selling large appliances on your own site, as a buyer replacing a broken one would. Note when you first see a delivery date, what installation includes and whether you could tell it would fit. Those three moments are likely where many appliance sales are won or lost. If you would like help, contact me. I reply within two UK working days.
Sources
- AO World plc, Full year trading update, 29 April 2022. Company-authored; online share is GfK as cited by AO.
- MikMak, Ecommerce benchmarks and insights for multichannel home appliance brands, 2024. Vendor-authored; period for the UK online share not specified.
- Mintel, UK Major Domestic Appliances Market Report 2026, publisher’s summary page (not linked; the full report is paid).
- Which?, The most reliable large appliance brands, 19 December 2025. Survey of more than 9,000 people, July 2025.
- Consumer Rights Act 2015, 30-day short-term right to reject: stated as basic general law, not taken from a fetched source.
- AO World plc, Final results, 5 June 2014. Company-reported; used only for the 3.4% conversion figure.
- Retailer product page check: 8 UK appliance product pages, October 2026, 7 readable.