Falling prices inhibit sales

The Netherlands DIY market recorded a sales increase of slightly more than two per cent in the first five months of the current year. According to a survey from GfK, this growth is being carried by the large-format DIY stores alone, whereas the hardware, paint and wallpaper retailers have lost out, along with the small neighbourhood stores. In the eyes of GfK, the fall in prices is mainly to blame for the weak level of growth. Sales of power tools, for instance, may have risen by twelve per cent by volume, but product category sales remained unchanged.