In the last months of 2021, gas prices started rising rapidly in Europe and continued to do so. Since the Russian invasion in Ukraine at the end of February 2022, gas prices have increased even faster. These increased prices affect all markets and industries in some...
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What is going on in the construction, installation and home improvement sectors?
BlogMajor differences in the level of sustainability in projects of electrical installers
Buildings and building construction are major contributors to annual CO2 emissions. That is why sustainability is a hot topic in the construction and especially in the installation sector. One way to make buildings more climate-neutral is to kit them out with more...
Targeting professional handymen through consumer channels
Professional brands of construction and installation products and materials may be reluctant to place their brand in purchase channels for consumers, and for good reason. After all the effort to create the image of a professional brand, that image may be damaged when...
Outsourced home improvement jobs may change brands’ playing field
For years, the share of home improvement jobs being outsourced was growing, while the share of jobs done by homeowners themselves was declining. As we saw in a previous article, that trend of Do It Yourself (DIY) versus Do It For Me (DIFM)turned around after 2018....
Why manufacturers of construction materials need mobile-friendly websites
Despite a pandemic and a trend of digitalisation in the construction sector in general, the media usage of European contractors has not changed much over the past two years, including most digital media channels. Manufacturers’ websites, wholesalers’ websites and...
DIY VERSUS DIFM
More than eight years of continuous research on the European home improvement market has provided us detailed insights on how overarching trends, for instance the ageing of the European population, influence DIY behaviour. Meanwhile, we have gathered substantial...
ONLINE ORDERING OF ELECTRICAL INSTALLATION PRODUCTS IS INCREASING
Digitalisation is affecting the purchasing channels through which electrical installers buy installation products. This trend has even allowed whole new pure online players, shops that only sell online, to enter the market. However, as we saw in a previous...
WHO WANTS SUSTAINABILITY?
In a previous article we saw that in Europe, sustainability is taken into account in 44% of HVAC installation projects on average, regardless whether it concerns projects in the residential or non-residential sector. Looking at specific countries, that share...
MORE JOBS MEANS MORE SHOPS – EUROPEAN HANDYMEN’S PURCHASING BEHAVIOUR
In a previous article we presented an image of the average European handyman based on interviews with 1700 handymen from seven European countries. Their uniting characteristic seems to be diversity, not only because they perform a diverse array of...
Who are the most sustainable installers?
Sustainability is a hot topic in the European installation sector, but its temperature varies from country to country. As we saw in an earlier article, HVAC installers from Poland and the Netherlands report that sustainability is taken into account in more than half...
EUROPEAN CONSUMERS EXPECT TO SPEND MORE ON FEWER HOME IMPROVEMENT JOBS IN 2022
Due to all kinds of restrictions over the past two corona-infested years, people were forced to spend more time at home, had more time on their hands, and were left with budget that would otherwise be spent on going out or holidays. As a result, the amount of home...
DID CONTRACTORS’ USAGE OF DIGITAL MEDIA INCREASE IN TWO PANDEMIC-INFESTED YEARS?
Digitalisation is a major trend that affects the construction sector on several levels. Increasing usage of BIM is changing the construction process, for instance, and the rise of online ordering is affecting purchase channels. Digitalisation also affects the ways...
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Dirk Hoogenboom
