Starting mid-March, The Farnsworth Group and Home Improvement Research Institute began tracking DIY and Contractor behaviors being impacted by COVID-19 on a weekly basis. Six months later, we have learned several important results.
DIY activity remains above normal but off peak amounts.
The percent of DIYers starting a project steadily increased through the early summer weeks, rising from 60% in mid-March to 74% by the end of May. Since then, DIY activity has come down to 65% at the end of September. This is being impacted by seasonality as we’ve seen the biggest decrease in lawn & garden projects.
Financial concerns remain for some, others have more to spend: Don’t get caught in the middle.
September had the lowest percentage of DIYers that have canceled or decided not to do a project due to COVID. March had over half saying they’ve put some projects on hold or canceled due to COVID, while September was down to 23%. The reason for not doing projects because of COVID was clearly related to DIYer’s financial concerns.
Budget and financial concerns have remained and even grown for a subset of DIYers. Manufacturers and suppliers must monitor this consumer group because it is/will impact on their decisions. It’s important to offer ‘Good’ products for price sensitive DIYers, while also offering ‘Best’ products for DIYers who aren’t concerned and likely have more disposable income to spend on their home. Be careful not to get caught in the middle!
Project intent remains strong going into Autumn.
66% of DIYers are planning to start a project in the coming weeks. While this is down from its peak of 77%, this is an encouraging sign as we typically see much DIY activity slow going into the fall and winter. This would suggest strong DIY retail sales through October.
Online is real, but varies by generation.
Purchases have returned to in-store, but much of the online purchase activity that peaked in May has also remained. Online becomes much more important the younger the DIYer. Over 60% of Gen Y reported buying home improvement products online in the month of September compared to roughly 30% of Boomers. Overall, 25% of DIYers going online do so because products are not available in-store.
Be sure your organization is doing analysis into your customers’ behaviors to understand who is buying where, what they expect and how it varies by demographic. This will inform your product and marketing teams on what YOU must do to meet the needs of various groups.
Concerns remain, but not as strong.
Health and safety remain big concerns of DIYers regarding spikes in COVID in recent months. However, the severity of their concerns is slowly coming down month after month. Their top concern: finances/money. This is followed by concerns about reclosure of business and resuming sheltering in place.
It’s important to understand that continued concerns related to COVID are shaping what projects DIYers tackle, what products they purchase and where they are engaging with products or brands.
SUMMARY
In six months, we’ve seen the DIY market remain strong. There are many indications that DIY activity has been added sales rather than pull forward sales due to increased spend on DIY projects as a result of a shift in disposable income, time at home and new DIY projects stimulated because of COVID. We must continue to monitor health and financial concerns as they will continue to play a role in DIY behaviors.
Thus far, spikes in COVID have not had a negative impact on DIY activity, but seasonality is impacting popular projects. DIYers continue to go online even though they are returning to stores, and this is expected to continue.
Manufacturers and suppliers must determine how consumer behaviors have changed for their category, their market and their projects. The importance of availability, impact of price or other factors may have a greater influence today than we’ve seen over the last few years.
Contact us to discuss how we can help your organization make better strategic decisions about your brand, product and customer through customized research.
Check out the latest results of our COVID Home Improvement Tracker.