N.ew fences, floor coverings and plenty of paint: home improvement has become a national pastime during the coronavirus epidemic as the country has spent more time at home – and gained a passion for DIY upgrades after a decade of decline.
With the closure of pubs, restaurants and sports centers, financial pressures and the need to adapt houses and flats to cope with changed conditions and working from home, this has prompted an increase in DIY and outdoor gardening. years, especially among people aged 18-34 previously shunn such activities.
After years of close sales, store closures and cost cuts at B&Q, the group hopes the tide has turned permanently.
The parent company of the DIY chain, Kingfisher, which also owns Screwfix, hopes to raise money for this move, which has turned years of gradual shifts back to relying on builders. professionals and craftsmen. It invests in digital marketing, home delivery and new products that capture the imagination of the Instagram generation.
“There are a number of customers who have said for the first time in my life: ‘I’m doing DIY, I learned new things from the internet or from my parents and I enjoyed doing it. , ‘”Said Thierry Garnier, the head of Kingfisher.
He hopes that research suggests that many of those who try to do one job will do more justice and that the move is here to stay, even when children have more relaxed options available. under the age of 35.
“We’re changing the way they shop, with Instagram and Pinterest, click and collect and online,” Garnier says, walking around the company’s bright new store in St Albans.
While there are fears that sales will hit next year when jobs are expected to be lost, Garnier says that will not translate into falling sales. “Most people can’t afford it [hire in a builder]; they have to do it themselves. “
Garnier has enough data to prove how consumers fell in love with DIY in 2020.
It started in the spring – by painting fences and ripping up patios, walls or cars. Sales of towels were up 80% at B&Q.
We moved on to gardening, kitchen renovations, creating a home office setting and outdoor entertainment.
The second wave of Covid-19 forced customers to buy early Christmas decorations – so early that lights, trees and baubles were sold at B&Q two weeks earlier than usual.
It has been in the same story in other countries. Demand for fences, decorations and sheds in Europe and the U.S. has put so much pressure on timber supply chains that sawmills and manufacturers are working out to address them.
Paint suppliers to B&Q focus on the most popular shapes, narrowing the product range so they can keep up with the demand for high sizes.
Garnier, who joined Kingfisher just over a year ago from French supermarket Carrefour, where he ran the Asian arm, wants to revitalize the business, which has 1,370 stores across eight countries, including the Castorama chain in France and Poland, and the Koçtaş campaign in Turkey, to attract new domestic and generation Z millennials.
Environmental and social concerns, which younger customers expect to be taken into account, are being given new impetus by partnering with Shelter to improve poor housing, and there is also a commitment to creating more woodlands than is currently the case. using it by 2025, partly through new. scheme with the Rainforest Alliance.
But the big focus is on digital. The Frenchman is heavily influenced by his time in China, where Garnier says rapid change is the norm and all kinds of goods – “from glass to fresh lobster” – can be brought to homes in 30 minutes in most cities.
“I believe the younger generation is looking for distance. You can see that in TikTok and every move.
“I want to be like China. It’s not for everyone but I think the need for distance doesn’t go away. ”
He says stores will remain at the heart of the delivery of these services as only operators like Amazon have the scale to deliver fast delivery from centralized distribution centers.
“It’s a better option than an achievement center. When you have stores, you have the range and the team. If you organize yourself well, you can achieve that [speed], ”Garnier says.
At the time of the pandemic, when demand for home buying declined, B&Q began using its stores to help select and package home delivery – a move that was planned as yes but accelerated. The group now handles 1.5m orders per week – 90% of which are sourced.
Online makes up 17% of group sales, up from 8% before the pandemic, and Garnier wants to expand further.
Other digital plans under consideration include an Amazon-style marketplace, where other brands could sell products.
It also opens up smaller stores in useful locations where online-ordered goods can be picked up, including retail outlets in Asda supermarkets and a nearby click-and-collect Screwfix store. Victoria station in London.
Sign up for Business Today’s daily email or follow Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk
The B&Q in St Albans, which is 5,100sq. Half the size of the largest stores in the group, is home to a design center – similar to something you might find in John Lewis and Ikea – where buyers advice on matching paint and wallpaper. B&Q is also piloting equipment hire, in partnership with specialist Speedy, in 10 stores.
Garnier wants “more services, more trials and more innovations”.
He said: “We need to be comfortable with uncertainty and, importantly in a new world where we are never perfect in our lives, we need to be comfortable with constant change.
“If it’s not Covid, it’s something else – a new contestant or government decisions or a social media way of getting information. ”