Abstract
Introduction
How Britain Shops DIY & gardening 2011 provides a detailed overview of the
shopping habits of consumers. It examines, who shops for DIY & gardening,
where they shop, whether they are satisfied with their current store and what
stores should do to satisfy customers more.
Features and benefits
• Thorough analysis of how customers shop for DIY & gardening. Profiles
of the following retailers: B&Q, Homebase, Focus, Wickes, Wilkinson.
• Visitor and main user share data, conversion rates, customer loyalty
rates and reasons for loyalty/disloyalty.
• Data is segmented regionally and by demographic and socio-economic
group.
• Historic data is provided so trends can be analysed over a five year
period.
Highlights
The number of DIY & gardening shoppers has fallen to 39.9% of the adult
population. To add to DIY retailers' woes of falling house prices, consumers
are struggling with high personal debt, and cutting back on non-essential
spending. This is compounded by the longer term trend of DIY activity falling
out of fashion.
In terms of loylaty drivers, the most striking development has been the
growing importance of convenience.To accommodate this, specialists such as
B&Q, Homebase and Wickes have all enhanced their multichannel credentials.
Service has increased as a driver of loyalty, leading to specialists investing
in customer care and expert services.
With a main user share of 52.5% B&Q remains the DIY market leader. Its
comprehensive range architecture, covering core DIY, home furnishings, and
kitchens and bathrooms, ensures it holds broad appeal and caters for all DIY
shoppers' needs. However, this 2011 report shows visitor and main user share
falling back to 2008 levels.
Your key questions answered
• How Britain Shops is one of the most comprehensive studies of its kind
drawing on a nationwide survey of 6,000 shoppers.
• Use this report to understand what drives the loyalty of your
customers and find out where else they are shopping - and why.
• Channel investment for maximum return by knowing which aspects of your
retail proposition most need improving in the opinion of your customers.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Verdict view
Key findings
DIY retailers hit by waning consumer interest and weak demand;
Increased competition and fickle consumers cause loyalty rates to drop;
Convenience major driver of loyalty;
Specialist credentials, expertise and service will boost loyalty;
Store environment now more important to customers;
Conversion rates remain stable;
B&Q remains leader in more competitive market;
Focus only specialist to gain main user share;
Wilkinson spearheads increased competitive threat from non-specialists;
Only Focus and Homebase see loyalty rates improve.
Main conclusions
DIY retailers hit by waning consumer interest and weak demand
Increased competition and fickle consumers cause loyalty rates to drop
Convenience stays ahead of price (and behind range) as a major driver of
loyalty
Specialist credentials, expertise and service will boost loyalty
Store environment now more important to customers
Conversion rates remain stable
Retailer highlights
B&Q remains leader in more competitive market
Focus only specialist to gain main user share
Wilkinson spearheads increased competitive threat from non-specialists
Only Focus and Homebase see loyalty rates improve
Wickes sees conversion fall
SECTOR SUMMARY
Share of shoppers
DIY continues to struggle attracting consumers
Penetration of DIY & gardening shoppers
Affluent 45-54year olds key age group
Retailer usage
Focus only specialist to gain user share
Main user share by region
Conversion rates
Conversion rates remain stable
Shopping around
Consumers are not shopping around more in DIY
Loyalty
Increased competition and fickle consumers sees loyalty rates drop again
Drivers of loyalty/ disloyalty
Convenience and service increase further in importance as drivers of
loyalty
B&Q
Competitive pressures mount
Suffers from intensifying competition
Improves on already rival beating conversion rate
Loyalty leader
Pricing needs further attention
Visitors
DIY store of choice despite losing share
Main users
Competition erodes share, but B&Q still attracts the majority of DIY shoppers
as main users
Conversion rates
Retains a clear lead over rivals
Loyalty
Retains top loyalty crown
Competitors
Competitive pressures mount especially from Focus, grocers and general
merchandisers
HOMEBASE
Shopper share continues to fall but loyalty is on the up
Visitor and main user shares show further falls
Conversion drops to new low
… yet loyalty rises steadily
B&Q remains main rival, but all around competitive pressures mount
Visitors
DIY & gardening shopper share falls away due to continued diversification of
offer
Main users
Decline in main user share continues
Conversion rates
Staff cuts weaken service levels and hence conversion rates
Loyalty
Rises further
Competitors
Slight decline in shopping around, but competitive pressures mount
FOCUS
Customer satisfaction raises loyalty and conversion rates
Conversion rate continues to improve
Main user share recovers close to 2008 level
Visitor share recovers, but remains behind main specialists
Customer loyalty recovers from low level but remains below rivals
Competition increases
Visitors
Store expansion, convenience factor and better value offer raise visitor
share
Main users
Improved conversion raises main user share back to high level
Conversion rates
Second place to market leader B&Q
Loyalty
Bounces off bottom
Competitors
Competition mounts
WICKES
Suffers in current climate
Main user share slips below levels of past three years
Competition intensifies
After rising for three years, conversion rates fall - but poised for
recovery in line with market
Loyalty hits new low but Wickes moves in right direction
Visitors
Share slips from high level
Main users
Share falls sharply in challenging trading conditions
Conversion rates
Falls dramatically after three years of improvement
Loyalty
Falls to low level but Wickes puts recovery strategy in place
Competitors
Competition increases once more
WILKINSON
Benefits from more austere consumer environment
Continues to close gap on specialists
Main user share benefits from austere consumer mindset
Loyalty continues to fall in fickle consumer environment
Price and range are the biggest drivers of loyalty - and
disloyalty
Visitors
Share rises for third consecutive year
Main users
Sharp rise in main users thanks to store expansion and more austere consumer
environment
Conversion rates
Slight recovery thanks to value-led offer
Loyalty
Increased competition keeps loyalty falling
Competitors
Competition remains intense
APPENDIX
Methodology
Selection of parliamentary constituencies
Selection of enumeration districts
Selection of respondents
Post survey weighting
Further reading
Ask the analyst
Global Retail FreeView
Verdict Research consulting
Disclaimer
