SharkNinja’s explosive growth in a raft of categories has resulted in it becoming a global brand known to millions – but it’s not satisfied yet.
Walk into many homes in the UK and you’ll likely find a Ninja air fryer sitting proudly in the kitchen or a Shark hairdryer in the bedroom.
The electricals brand SharkNinja designs, manufactures and sells products including vacuums, hairdryers, air purifiers, woodfire ovens, air fryers and grills, and recently unveiled 23 new products set for launch in the coming months.
It sells direct-to-consumer and through various retailers such as John Lewis, Argos, Currys, and Amazon, growing rapidly each year.
Its most recent quarterly results to June 30, 2024, show net sales soared 31.4% year on year to $1.2bn (£900m) and gross profit jumped 51.4% to $600m (£454m).
The brand also boasts star ambassadors, with former footballers David Beckham and Thierry Henry among those championing the brand.
Speaking at the IFA event in Berlin, chief commercial Neil Shah said: “Over the last 15 years, we’ve gone from one category to 34-plus.
“We’ve never exited a single category and we have gained share in every single category.”
With impressive sales in multiple categories, celebrity endorsement and a growing customer demand, Retail Week takes a look at how SharkNinja has become successful and if the momentum can continue.
Customer-tested and customer-focused
First arriving in the UK in 2014, SharkNinja has achieved growth this year by launching into countries such as the UAE, Turkey, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland.
Heading the expansion is SharkNinja EMEA president Tom Brown. He tells Retail Week that to fuel growth, it’s important to listen to consumers in various markets.
“It’s our secret sauce,” he says. “This fast development and constant iteration is based on consumer insight.
“I’m sure all brands say this but we really listen to the consumer. We won’t launch a product unless the consumer gives it a five-star rating and there’s a lot of products that we haven’t launched.”
“We don’t spend time looking at the competition as we only care about the consumer”
Tom Brown, SharkNinja
He is confident the 23 new products are “going to be successful” because they have been tested by local consumers, which gives the brand confidence to keep investing.
SharkNinja also has various retail partners but doesn’t see itself competing with other electricals brands for customer affection.
“We don’t spend time looking at the competition as we only care about the consumer,” Brown matains.
“It’s not arrogant, but we can only figure out what our consumers want by asking them and listening to them.
“What problem are we trying to solve? Do they like it? Do they want it? Can we sell it for the price that the consumer wants to pay, and still make money?”
Problem solvers
To get to where SharkNinja is now, much has been invested in brand awareness and marketing.
Sales and marketing expenses grew 45.5% to $303m (£229m) in the second quarter, with $59m (£45m) attributable to advertising-related expenses.
That is set to continue − Brown says SharkNinja will spend “double” the amount on advertising this year that it did in 2023.
Perhaps its best-known and most advertised product is the Ninja air fryer. While Brown says the air fryer frenzy in the UK has “definitely slowed down”, newer versions such as the double stack have “driven additional sales”.
“This category is still in hypergrowth in Germany, France, the Nordics, Italy and Spain. The UK was just a little bit earlier.”
Rather than focusing on the next big thing, Brown instead says the brand takes a category-by-category approach and looks at how they can innovate using engineers across China, London and Boston.
“We figure out what the consumer problem is, and then we work out what technology we need. Each product comes to solve a new problem”
Tom Brown, SharkNinja
The team reviews every product, every week, “without exception” and adapts to what the customer insight says.
Brown uses the example of Shark’s new power detect vacuum, designed with reverse technology allowing users to now clean both forward and backwards.
The fast churn of products may worry some brands concerned about cannibalisation of sales, but Brown says this isn’t a problem for the brand.
“That’s not the way we operate. We think each new product addresses a different consumer.
“We’re not innovating for the sake of innovating. Some brands have the technology and then they figure out how they are going to put this tech in their products. We would never do that.
“We figure out what the consumer problem is, and then we work out what technology we need. Each product comes to solve a new problem.”
With a new 32,000 sq HQ for its EMEA division on Battersea Power Station’s Electric Boulevard opening this autumn, SharkNinja is set up for plenty more growth in the UK and beyond.
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