VIEWPOINT
2021: OUTDOOR SPENDING BOOM TO HELP MERCHANTS
Builders’ merchants should be well placed to take advantage of a spending boom says eCommonSense’s Andy Scouthern.
AFTER ENDURING A hard year battling the pandemic, homeowners are looking forward to a huge celebration as we emerge from the gloom. The last year has been a tough one for everyone with limited opportunities for overseas holidays, closed shops, pubs and restaurants.
UK household savings are at record levels and with holiday spending not likely to open up until the summer, people will want to get ready to celebrate at home, most likely earlier than usual due to spare half-term holiday cash going wanting.
According to the Office for National Statistics, more than one- fifth of usual household spending has not been possible during the lockdown. This amounts to £182 per week per household since last March.
This is reinforced by the Institute for Fiscal Studies who say that the closure of businesses has led to ‘forced savings’. Key findings from their analysis of spending habits are the shift away from the high street/physical stores and towards online. Even in August and September when restrictions had been eased, high street spending remained half of the normal levels after having plummeted during the lockdown.
The good news is that the roll- out of the vaccination programme is providing a light at the end of a long tunnel with the expectation that the restrictions will be eased ready for the Easter break. As the weather starts to pick
up and with indoor entertaining likely to be the final restriction to be lifted, many households are planning for a BBQ-style party in their back gardens.
For many, this will involve spending some of their saved cash either on improving their outside spaces with paving or decking, which is likely to include a new BBQ or heaters, to socialise as early in the year as possible. This presents a huge
opportunity for builders’ merchants if they gear up their eCommerce sites to promote items consumers are likely to be searching for. Creating attractive offers and a slick click and collect and delivery service will help persuade new customers to spend with your business.
We have already seen the eCommerce sales results from last year in terms of the demand for garden and landscaping products. The first thing to do is to ensure that your website is up to scratch. It goes without saying that if your website is clunky and hard
Effect of Covid-19 on online sales for the garden sector.
to use, you are not going to be maximising the opportunity. Secondly, you need to make sure that you feature the products that people are looking for, which will be anything related to landscaping and outdoor space enhancement. You need to make sure that you promote your website properly so customers can find what you are offering. This will include social
media promotions, attractively designed web banners on the home page, good PR for your local media as well as posters in branches and in the towns you operate in.
Merchants that get it right will be able to sit back, open a beer, chuck a few sausages on the barbie and join in the mother of all parties. BMJ
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www.buildersmerchantsjournal.net February 2021
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