The background story

Differences in home improvement between countries are not only driven by cultural differences but also by economic growth and the situation on the housing market. The new European Home Improvement Monitor from USP, a Netherlands market research company, was designed to provide manufacturers and retailers with more insight into this situation. At present 12 000 consumers are interviewed per year. The following aspects were monitored in ten European countries or regions: market volumes, the shift from do-it-yourself to do-it-for-me (DIFM), purchasing through traditional channels versus the online channel, and any changes in product orientation USP makes express use of the term ‘home improvement’ instead of ‘DIY’ since the professional sector is included in the survey. This is because a significant proportion of home improvement jobs are done by professionals. “We are not trying to measure how much is spent on specific product types in DIY stores,” says Reinier Zuydgeest, responsible for DIY and Living at USP. “The European Home Improvement Monitor is looking at the size of the market from a broader perspective – the professional market included – and reveals the story behind the hard sales facts.” A comparison between the countries and regions shows considerable differences in the home improvement activities of private households. In the first quarter of 2013 German, Dutch and Belgian consumers were the most active in terms of improving their houses. About half of the households indicate that some change has taken place in their home during the first three months of this year. The survey is particularly interested in the way that jobs are divided between DIY and DIFM. There is also a third option: do-it-together, whereby the consumer makes use of the help of a professional for part of his project. Results for Spain are striking. In the DIY sector it is often said that the Spanish consumer frequently hires a professional for home improvement jobs; however, we do not see this in the results. Perhaps the economic situation has changed this trend and Spanish consumers are now doing more home improvement jobs completely on their own in order to save costs.  Download: