More time spent on home improvement
Consumers are spending more time conducting home improvement jobs due to the coronavirus. In May, an average of 25% of European consumers mentioned that they were doing more jobs, compared to 14% of consumers indicating that they conducted less jobs. So a plus of 11%.
Obviously, there are big differences between the 11 countries in this study. A key factor seems to be the severity of the lockdown and the fact if DIY stores were open or closed. For example, in the Netherlands, where DIY stores never closed and people were instructed to work from home as much as possible, 32% of the consumers indicated they did more home improvement jobs and only 8% mentioned doing less jobs due to the corona crisis. On the other end of the spectrum we find Poland, where 18% said more jobs, vs 24% stating less jobs done. Also, there is a difference in age as well. Millennials seem to be doing the most jobs due to the coronavirus compared to other age groups.
Consumers are becoming comfortable with visiting DIY stores again
More and more consumers are also getting more comfortable with visiting DIY stores. Even tough 53% of European consumers still indicated in May that they tend to avoid public places including DIY stores, 37% was perfectly comfortable visiting a DIY store. Compared to April, that was a plus of 17%. It can be expected that this number becomes even higher in the upcoming weeks. This will be further measured on a monthly base during the next three months.
