ACES top sellers telling a story - CLSA Indo

It is always fascinating to learn about the best selling items at our favorite home improvement store Ace Hardware (ACES IJ). In Indonesia, where official data is not always readily available, the top selling items at ACES provide us a nice glimpse of what happens on the ground.

In 2008 and 2009, for example, we pointed out that mini power generator (genset) was the top selling item. It clearly highlighted the situation back then, when power blackouts was the big daily issue.

In 2010 genset was no longer on the top list. We interpreted this as a good indication of better performance from state-owned Power company PLN - Better electricity coverage. But the genset was still the second best selling item at ACES. If PLN transformation continues and more power comes on stream this year and next, I guess we are going to see genset going down ACES’ top selling list further.

Krisbow genset Bucket tornado mop set

Top selling item, 08 & 09 Top selling item in 2010



The honor of top selling item in 2010, interestingly, went to bucket tornado mop set. In case you are wondering, the tornado mop is basically a high-end mop with a quick dry function that goes from soaked to tissue dry in just 10 seconds! (We saw it on TV, so it must be true!). Could this be a good indicator of strong home sales across the country? More new houses = more demand for tornado mop sets.

Check out the link to see this wonder mop in action! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fkv1gr3zbhs

The third best selling item is perfume California car scents, in line with record high car sales in 2010. Another signal of commodity-led prosperity. This appears to be accompanied by improvement in overall security as fire safe, the no 3 best selling item in 2008 and 2009 went down a notch to no 4 in 2010.

The no 5 best selling item in 2010: shelving storage, came out of nowhere (didn’t make the list in previous years). This perhaps is a good indicator of new investment/business start-up/expansion.