This post is directed toward La Crosse area retailers with the hope of informing them about the importance of tracking E-commerce home improvement trends. The details contained within this post are accredited to Kim McLynn in an article that she wrote on May 9, 2017 for NPD Group, a leading global information company.
Within the article, McLynn states that “…online sales of home improvement products spanning from plumbing and hardware to storage and decor, have grown 41 percent from March 2016 to March 2017 resulting in $10.9B in sales during that time-span.”
The following graph shows where home owners spend most of their money when it comes to investing in their home improvements via E-commerce.
As you can see, roughly 63% of dollar sales, about $2.75B was spent on decor, and with good reason, because a persons home must have that warm, inviting, comfortable, and relaxing atmosphere.
The following table, shows E-commerce home improvement sales via age group.
As you can see here, the biggest investors in home improvement age groups are those between the ages of 35-44 years of age and those even younger at the ages of 25-34.
I believe that La Crosse area retailers could incorporate this information to further pinpoint specific target markets. In studying the graph above, we see that the four most important things to home owners are 1) the decor, 2) lighting, 3) (believe it or not) area rugs, and 4) the “bathroom”. La Crosse area retailer could offer consumers 1) a number of stylish decors, 2) extreme lighting (from the subtle to the intense), 3) flooring that brings warmth to any home, and 4) beautifying the sanctuary that is “the personalized bathroom”.
By utilizing this information and implementing it, I believe that La Crosse area retailers such as Home Depot, Menards, and Lowe’s could dramatically increase sales by appealing to the customer base through their eyes with, beauty, color, and atmosphere.