Not all building materials purchase outlets did equally well during the pandemic. As the responses from our latest Consumer Practices Survey came in, we were able to examine who did well, and in which product categories. With this rich data, Home Innovation is introducing the “Purchase Location for Home Remodeling Projects” report to provide market insight for retailers and suppliers of building materials.
For more than 25 years, Home Innovation has been tracking volume and share of materials purchased for remodeling; Pro vs. DIY purchases; and purchase location and channel for the specific materials. Starting with our new 2021 Consumer Practices Reports, we decided to find out how purchase channel patterns shifted during the 2020 pandemic year. We compared the 2020 share of total purchases for each product category and specific purchase channel to those of 2018 for five important categories related to remodeling — appliances, flooring, decking, roofing, and countertops. Here is a summary of what we found:
Percentage Point Increase (or Decrease) in Share of Category Purchases of Remodeling Materials, 2020 vs. 2018
On balance, home improvement warehouse stores did better in gaining share — averaging about a 2 percentage point gain across the 5 product categories from 2018 compared to 2020. The biggest losses were for specialty stores — those that focus on a specific product category or group of related categories — which lost an average of more than 7 percentage points in share of remodeling purchases. Other channels showing a loss were hardware stores and lumber yards. Toward the middle of the pack, remaining virtually unchanged, were online retailers and discount stores. Some of these changes undoubtedly resulted from the resurgence of the DIY sector in 2020, and DIYers tend to buy more from retail channels than pro channels. However, the lack of growth in online purchases of these building materials is surprising in light of the efforts to social distance over the last year.
Our new Purchase Location for Home Remodeling Projects report reveals place of purchase for each of 36 product categories during 2020. Here is an example of National-Level data from this report for Home Standby Generators.
Source: Home Innovation Research Labs 2020 Consumer Practices Survey
The full Purchase Location Report contains specific place of purchase shares for all the following product categories at National, Census Division, and 50-State levels
Interested in how retail channels performed during the pandemic year by these product categories? Contact us today.