Epicenter records 4.5-fold increase in demand for charging stations
Based on the results of April, the Epicenter network saw a significant increase in sales of power banks (up 38%) and charging stations (up 350%) in units compared to the previous year, the demand for generators is noticeable in the regions most affected by shelling of the energy infrastructure, the company's press service reported to Interfax-Ukraine.
“According to the results of April, there was a significant increase in sales of power banks (up 38%) and charging stations (up 350%, that is, 4.5 times) in units compared to the previous year. The majority of sales were made up of tenders and wholesale purchases, the main buyers of which are volunteer foundations and businesses,” said Roman Ivashkevych, head of the Consumer Electronics department of Epicenter K LLC.
According to him, in the first week of May there was a decline in sales, which was explained by the holiday weekend, when there were no problems with power supply.
“But already on Wednesday, May 8, we saw a sharp increase in sales due to notifications about possible outages. In the Epicenter mall chain, sales of charging stations doubled compared to last week. However, I note that even more were sold during peak days in April (by 40%), so for now we can talk about a restrained trend,” he noted.
As for generators, compared to the winter period of 2022/2023, there is generally no surge in demand in the country.
According to Serhiy Orlov, head of the Machines, Machine Tools, Equipment department of Epicenter K LLC, targeted requests for these categories are observed in regions where problems with light are more noticeable.
“For example, in Kharkiv we received requests for more powerful generators from 10 kW or more, which are bought mainly by small businesses. This is the type of generators that are few on the market,” he said.
According to him, the situationally low demand for generators at this stage has several reasons. First of all, Ukrainians accumulated a significant stock of energy-generating equipment during the previous crisis period.
“The factor of shelling at the beginning of the winter season played a significant role then. People were afraid of the cold and darkness, but now we have summer, longer days, while the likelihood of power outages does not worry people so much,” Orlov explained.