Online orientation for home improvement products differs per country and product group

Consumers often start their orientation for home improvement products online. In fact, online orientation has become so normal that consumers find it useful for every product category regardless of whether they prefer to buy offline or online. That means that even when it concerns products that are mainly bought through offline channels, it can be very lucrative for manufacturers and brands to increase their presence on online information channels.

The trick is to know how consumers orient online for the type of products you offer. That is one of the central topics in the Q2 2021 report of USP Marketing Consultancy’s

European Home Improvement Monitor. We asked 6,800 European consumers from 11 countries what online information sources they use the most for their orientation on eight categories of home improvement products.

Google and Amazon are the most used online sources but not everywhere

When looking at the European averages, Google and Amazon are clearly the most used online sources. Both are used by 42% of European consumers. Websites of DIY stores follow closely though, as 39% of the consumers report using them for their online orientation. Shop websites and brand websites, both used by 28%, share the third place. They are followed by a mix of social media platforms, websites and newsletters, of which YouTube is used the most.

These are the averages of 11 European countries, however, and Google and Amazon do not share the first place in most-used sources in every country. When looking at individual countries, Amazon has a strong presence in Italy, Germany, Spain and the UK, but not in the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland, Denmark and Sweden, for instance. In certain countries, Google or Amazon also have more competition from other sources. In the UK and France, for instance, DIY store websites are used more than Google or Amazon.

Differences per product group and country make the difference

Aside from differences per country, the sources consumers use for online orientation on home improvement products differ per product group as well. European consumers most often use Amazon as a source of information about power tools, for instance, but for information on paint, the websites of DIY stores are used more. Youtube is used the most for roof windows, by 31% of European consumers.

These are just a few examples of the many differences in popularity of online information sources per product group. These differences may seem small at times, but together with the previously mentioned differences per country, they can make the difference between the failure and success of your marketing strategy.

To make sure your brand grasps the attention of consumers early in the orientation phase of their customer journey, it is essential to know which channels and sources consumers use most often for your specific product group in the countries you are active in. For that level of detailed information about online orientation for eight separate product groups of home improvement products in 11 European countries, we refer you to the Q2 2021 report of USP Marketing Consultancy’s European Home Improvement Monitor.