CRC’s Home Improvement Council is a comprehensive source for market research on the big box homecenters, hardware stores, homebuilders, traditional distribution, Pro & DIY customers, and key building product categories. The depth and breadth of our home improvement retail industry research and data reflects the team’s 25 years of industry experience.
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We have spent over two decades analyzing the retail home improvement and building products industry, specializing in identifying inflections to help you grow more profitably and better navigate the quickly evolving customer path to purchase process. Our research helps companies improve sales, reduce costs, optimize investments across channels, and improve long-term strategic planning. Some of our deliverables include home improvement industry updates, customer surveys, vendor benchmarks, traffic trends and much more.
Each year, CRC’s Home Improvement team hosts the annual industry-leading Summit that provides you with our latest insights to help plan for and capture the upside opportunities in both brick & mortar retail and eCommerce over the next 18-24 months. Home improvement retail market analysts, experts, and guest speakers present the view of how customer dynamics and economic trends will shape the industry outlooks, while helping attendees think differently by learning new, actionable strategies that are transforming the industry quarter-to-quarter.
Aimed at sharing real-time best practices across the home improvement retail industry, we facilitate small-group roundtable discussions every quarter (virtual and/or in-person) with our members to help navigate new challenges and identify best practices.
CRC hosts topical webinars to share key changes and emerging themes in the home improvement industry and the practical implications to help you build stronger strategic business plans and execute measurable tactics.
The home improvement retail shopper falls into two key categories – the DIYer and the Pro. Our team conducts annual shopper surveys to assess inflections in both DIY and Pro shopper behavior including private label engagement, online shopping shifts, inflation impacts, key project intentions, and customer demographics by region. Today’s home improvement shopper is leaning younger with the emergence of the Millennial and Gen Z homeowner as well as increasingly female within the DIY shopper base, creating new targeting opportunities for retailers and vendors.
Today’s retail shopper researches the majority of their home improvement products before purchase and are increasingly looking for items that offer project time savings, new innovation at the right price, environmentally friendly attributes, and Made in the USA manufacturing. Since the onset of the pandemic, we have seen these trends strengthen, with shopping habits, customer preferences, and retailer initiatives established to bring these products into their stores.
Home improvement retail mindshare is higher today than pre-pandemic, with more new customers engaging in home improvement in the last three years. Home Depot and Lowe’s have shown strong share gains the last three years within both DIY and Pro shopper groups, aided by new assortments across the store along with improving online assets. Additionally, new fulfillment capabilities continue to roll out, enabling the homecenters to better service both shopper groups and most home improvement projects. CRC insights help home improvement retailers and vendors maximize the opportunities presented by the homecenter channel, aligning resources and investments to the areas of largest upside.
Looking for ways to win in the home improvement space? CRC’s home improvement market insights go deeper than traditional research providers. Let us help you better navigate the quickly evolving customer path to purchase process. Click to request a sample report and connect with our home improvement experts.