DIY consumers prefer brick-and-mortar stores

While many Filipinos have embraced online sales platforms of retail categories such as fashion and beauty, the DIY (do-it-yourself) consumers who patronize home and gardening products still largely prefer to make their purchases in-store.

That’s one key finding of global market research firm Euromonitor International in its recently released “DIY Index: Prospects, Potential and Disruption,” a study that analyzes DIY consumer behavior in key markets to provide retailers and suppliers of home improvement, gardening and home furnishing products a snapshot of factors that influence behavior.

The report is authored by Erika Sirimanne, head of home and garden research at Euromonitor International.

The index has three key metrics: market prospects, which looks at countries’ addressable markets, growth factors and house prices; DIY potential, which “investigates category dynamics for home improvement, gardening and home furnishings;” and retail disruption, which measures online sales of these retail categories.

Looking at overall scores, China ranks No. 1 on the index with 62.4 points, which can mainly be attributed to the country’s positive performance when it comes to market prospects—China has a high number of Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers, who are considered the key consumers for DIY home and gardening retail categories (millennials opt for more “do-it-for-me” products, says the report), as well homeowners.

On the other hand, Australia ranks lowest among the 32 countries on the index (30.5 points), as gardening retail sales in the country are expected to decline, as more people choose to live in apartments.

Focusing on the Philippines, the report shows that the country ranks 21st on the index—its score is pulled down mostly because of weak retail disruption in the home improvement, gardening and home furnishing retail categories. Online spend for these kinds of products is very low, at only 1 percent, which gives the market the lowest score when it comes to retail disruption.

Other key takeaways in the report are:

Millennials can be seen as “a source of future demand” for home improvement, gardening and home furnishing products; right now, retailers should be talking to Baby Boomers and Gen X-ers, most of whom are homeowners and not renters, a characteristic that makes them more likely to take on DIY home projects.

DIY demand is also positively affected by rising incomes, as this means households can better afford homes and the products needed to spruce them up and maintain them.

Rising house prices can also drive demand, as those looking to sell would want to secure a favorable price for their properties by improving them—which translates to renovation activities.

While online sales of home improvement and gardening tools globally have seen a steady rise, the home furnishings category enjoys the highest online penetration.

Finally, the report emphasizes that the future of these retail categories lies in mobile.

“Rapid development in smartphone possession and improvements to mobile internet mean that consumers are becoming more comfortable shopping on their smartphones,” the report reads.