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Fediyma has just published the World Home Improvement Report that it compiled together with Edra. This market is now worth EUR 594 billion globally, and has grown by 1.1 per cent.
Is that a lot or a little? Did the home improvement retailers do their job well or badly last year? Of course, the question is too general and so it cannot be answered; but what can be said is that a growth rate of 1.1 percent isn't particularly thrilling when inflation is taken into account.
Admittedly, the inflation rate is highly variable from one country to another. In Germany, the biggest individual market in Europe, it was just 1.8 per cent last year. If this is then set against the fact that German home improvement stores experienced growth of 1.6 per cent in 2018 according to their association, BHB, this growth is relativised. An investigation by the German trade journal Dähne Infodienst based on a product-related index has gone back over the last 20 years and come to the conclusion that, in spite of a nominal increase in sales, the home improvement companies in Germany sold no more in 2018 than they did in 1999.
In other countries, the economy and consumers have to deal with completely different inflation rates. In the USA, the world's biggest individual market, it was 2.4 per cent in 2018. In Russia it was 3.7 per cent. And in countries like Argentina it was 34.3 per cent in 2018 and meanwhile is officially galloping at more than 55 per cent.
Once again: have retailers done a good job? This can perhaps be judged better if the figures are put aside and the question is asked whether DIY retailers could have done anything creative with the major trends in their market environment? With e-commerce, for example? And what about the garden category?
E-commerce: yes, they have woken up there and are investing more heavily. Home Depot, the world's biggest home improvement retailer, now gets around eight per cent of its sales via this channel. At the same time, working with their online shops has made it clear to retailers what core competence and sometimes even what a treasure trove they actually have: retail areas that pull in customers when attractively presented - because even in this digital age, surveys show repeatedly that customers still love to go and do "proper" shopping.
Is that a lot or a little? Did the home improvement retailers do their job well or badly last year? Of course, the question is too general and so it cannot be answered; but what can be said is that a growth rate of 1.1 percent isn't particularly thrilling when inflation is taken into account.
Admittedly, the inflation rate is highly variable from one country to another. In Germany, the biggest individual market in Europe, it was just 1.8 per cent last year. If this is then set against the fact that German home improvement stores experienced growth of 1.6 per cent in 2018 according to their association, BHB, this growth is relativised. An investigation by the German trade journal Dähne Infodienst based on a product-related index has gone back over the last 20 years and come to the conclusion that, in spite of a nominal increase in sales, the home improvement companies in Germany sold no more in 2018 than they did in 1999.
In other countries, the economy and consumers have to deal with completely different inflation rates. In the USA, the world's biggest individual market, it was 2.4 per cent in 2018. In Russia it was 3.7 per cent. And in countries like Argentina it was 34.3 per cent in 2018 and meanwhile is officially galloping at more than 55 per cent.
Once again: have retailers done a good job? This can perhaps be judged better if the figures are put aside and the question is asked whether DIY retailers could have done anything creative with the major trends in their market environment? With e-commerce, for example? And what about the garden category?
E-commerce: yes, they have woken up there and are investing more heavily. Home Depot, the world's biggest home improvement retailer, now gets around eight per cent of its sales via this channel. At the same time, working with their online shops has made it clear to retailers what core competence and sometimes even what a treasure trove they actually have: retail areas that pull in customers when attractively presented - because even in this digital age, surveys show repeatedly that customers still love to go and do "proper" shopping.
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