Neighbours grow equally strongly

In Austria and in Switzerland, the DIY store industry grew in the pandemic year of 2020 with almost identical growth rates of just over 10 per cent. The industry association BHB, located in Germany, has published the figures.

The boost in the economy which the pandemic in Germany caused for trade in DIY and garden assortments is also noticeable in Austria in a similar form. Slight differences in the steep upward trend are only observable at the start of the coronavirus restrictions in spring - the traditionally (due to the garden assortments) very strong month of May remained - caused by a longer lockdown for DIY and garden stores - at 35 per cent below the sales values of the same month in the previous year. However this was compensated for again by sales peaks, for example in May (+34.9 per cent).
Overall, the DIY and garden store industry in Austria rose by 10.9 per cent (over a comparable area by 9.8 per cent) and achieved overall sales of EUR 2.97 bn. Particularly in demand were the assortments furniture (+23.1 per cent), paint / painting supplies (+23.1 per cent) and tools/machines/workshop equipment (+20.7 per cent). Declines in 2020 were only recorded for the garden furniture assortment with a minus of 16.2 per cent.

The exceptional boom also ensured unusually strong growth for the Swiss DIY and garden stores. Overall, the DIY trading companies there were able to make sales of CHF 3.71 bn, which is an overall increase of 10.2 per cent (over a comparable area +10.5 per cent).
"Other" was the assortment group with the strongest growth in the coronavirus year: +33.5 per cent. But also the segments garden equipment (+17.4 per cent) and leisure/seasonal goods  (+17.3) per cent grew rapidly. Only the automotive segment recorded a minimal decline at -1.6 per cent.