UK DIY & Gardening Sector Report summary
June 2021
Period covered: Period covered: 02 May – 29 May 2021
Note: This report summary is one or two months behind the current month as standard reporting practice. The content is indicative only and incomplete with certain data undisclosed. Subscribe to access this data or take out a free 30 day subscription trial now.
DIY & Gardening sales growth rose by 00% in May, year-on-year, against a 10.2% rise a year ago.
Consumers had reason to be cheerful in May. The continued rollout of the vaccine, reopening of indoor hospitality (17 May) and larger socialising groups outside (as well as two households being able to mix inside) resulted in greater confidence. According to GfK, confidence rose to the pre-pandemic high of -9 in May.
Sales growth continues to be supported by strong underlying fundamentals from higher levels of discretionary spending and a robust housing market. In particular, the stamp duty holiday, higher levels of savings from wealthier households and ultra-low interest rates drove a 10% increase in house prices in May.
Google Trends data suggests that searches for ‘BBQs’ fell by 26% at the end of May, year-on-year.
Online sales growth remained in positive territory with online Household Goods rising by 00% in May, year-on-year.
Our research shows that 00% of consumers shopped online for DIY and gardening retail items in May, broadly unchanged from the previous period.
Encouragingly, data from the Bank of England showed that around 27% of households who saved more than normal during the pandemic, intend to spend it (March 2021) compared with 10% in September last year.
The big questions is, will consumers still be as confident to spend after the four-week extension to Covid-19 restrictions?
Retail Economics forecasts DIY & Gardening sales to grow by 00% year-on-year in 2021, reaching total sales of £00bn.
Wickes has upgraded its full year profit target following booming kitchen and bathroom orders. The DIY retailer reported sales rose 45.7% year-on-year on a like-for-like basis in the 21 weeks to 22 May.
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Source: RICS
