DIY and gardening: retail brand choice of consumers in the UK 2020

The retail brand of choice of UK consumers in the DIY and gardening sector is ‘B&Q’, with 54 percent of respondents stating this is their preferred brand in 2020. The retailer ‘Wilko’ came in second place, with 48 percent of respondents stating this is their preferred DIY and gardening brand. Surprisingly, the well-known DIY home furnishings retailer ‘IKEA’ came in sixth out of fourteen retailers when it came to DIY and gardening projects.

DIY stores continue to close

The e-commerce industry in the UK has grown exponentially over the past few years, with many now shopping online rather than in-store. However, in the DIY and gardening sectors, it seems that physical shops still reign supreme. A recent survey asked UK consumers what they would do if the DIY and gardening store they normally shopped at closed. More than half of those polled stated they would buy from a different retailers’ physical store. Whereas only 24.1 percent stated they would shop online with the same retailer. Despite this finding, the number of physical DIY stores in the UK have continued to decrease over the years. For example, since the financial year 2015/2016, the retailer B&Q decreased its physical stores in the UK and Ireland from 330 to 296.

Online search term increase in gardening 2019

The increased interest in online shopping for gardening and DIY is reflected in online search behavior of consumers. In 2019, the online search term increase for the plant “Japanese maple” increased by 52 percent compared to the same period the year prior. “Compost” as well as “indoor/outdoor plants” also increased by 35 and 31 percent respectively.