The forecast for DIY and garden expenditure has shown a small improvement, thanks to the reopening of DIY chains, according to the latest stats from the British Home Enhancement Trade Association (BHETA).
The predicted figure at the end of April is now minus 10.5%, from £11.4 billion to £10.2 billion compared to 2019. This marked an improvement on the mid-April figure of minus 12.1%, at £10 billion. There has been a subsequent impact on the online spend forecast, dropping to 14% from 16.2% forecast on 15 April, showing the impact of store re-openings. Looking further ahead, 31.1% of consumers expected to buy both food and non-food items more frequently online after the pandemic ends.
BHETA’s marketing manager, Steve Richardson commented: “The commercial situation for DIY and garden in the Covid-19 pandemic is moving extremely quickly and BHETA is committed to providing updates as frequently as new data is available. Working with GlobalData, both financial updates and attitudinal consumer surveys are being made available to members.
“As we have seen DIY and garden retail is in a stronger position than some other areas of home enhancement as consumers focus on home and garden-based activities instead of holidays and trips out. 42.3% of consumers intend to do more gardening because of the pandemic restrictions and 17.6% intend to do more DIY. This includes significant numbers of parents intending to involve their children in home and garden projects, which may be a trend worth considering. Globaldata’s April consumer survey also reveals an increasing preference for products sourced from the UK or Europe as opposed to from further afield.”
BHETA’s weekly Covid-19 updates follow on from its commitment to producing a quarterly economic report pulling together multiple sources of data on all the home enhancement sectors. The BHETA quarterly report, which is a comprehensive document running to around 30 pages is available free to BHETA members. The next issue will be available in June. BHETA is a leading source of market data for its members at no cost or heavily discounted rates, as well as providing regular retailer networking events, export support and training. GlobalData Plc is a data analytics and consulting company that was established in 1999. It uses primary research to make estimates for private companies and independents and cross-references the estimates with secondary sources, to generate a complete view.
More information can be found on the BHETA website www.bheta.co.uk
