The High’s and Low’s Of The DIY Sector
As I was searching the internet for articles in relation to home improvements, I came across one particular article that caught my attention from Marketing Week and thought it would be a good idea to blog about it for you to read as some of you may not know about this publication.
According to research seen exclusively by Marketing Week, DIY retailers are responding to the decreasing interest within the housing market by re-vamping their items towards home owners who are looking to improve their home, rather than moving.
The unfortunate downfall of the DIY retail chain Focus, has illustrated the difficult times the sector faces.
Luckily, rivals such as B&Q, Wickes and even the discount chain B&M Retail managed to save 900 jobs out of 3,920 by taking over 55 out of 178 Focus shops. I know it doesn’t sound a lot, but at least they managed to secure some people’s jobs, rather than having all 3,920 employee’s jobless.
Retail consultancy Verdict forecasts that the DIY sector is set to grow 0.9% in 2011, which will increase its sales to £9.37bn. So for every cloud, there is a silver lining, however small it may be.
Matt Piners, who is the senior retail analyst for Verdict has said that retailers in the DIY sector are definitely being affected by the housing market. There are far less young people who are becoming property owners which mean that they are less likely to invest in making big improvements to their homes.
There has been a huge decrease in the number of DIY consumers aged 16 – 24 & 25 – 34 in 2011 compared to 2007.However, older consumers aged 45 and up are now investing more on home improvements in 2011 than they did in 2007.
One key trend which is having an impact in this sector are extended and improved product lines to counteract the downturn of the economy, such as gardening products, fitted kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms.
“Big ticket items are an area where the retailers have been able to prop up their businesses. Some capacity was freed up with the collapse of kitchen retailer MFI in 2008 and we’ve seen Homebase, Wickes & B&Q well placed to develop their own offers. They might not necessarily be high growth markets, but there is still spending to play for.”
This sector has to compete with the growth of grocery and non-specialists into this category, which coincides with rising prices of commodities. Piner says that these grocers and non-specialists are forecast to take a 7% share of this market in 2011 compared to the 4% in 2006.
Marketing directors at B&Q and Wickes are improving on customer service and expert advice, offered not just in-store but also through social media as well, as a tactical move to attract potential customers away from non-specialist competitors.
To read the full report by Marketing Week and for more information, click here.
Anglian Home Improvements, formerly known as Anglian Windows have been trading since 1966. Find out more about EcoGain windows here.
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