A YEAR IN REVIEW: INDUSTRY COMMENT
“A REASONABLE YEAR DESPITE UNPREDICTABLE WEATHER AND ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTY” Home Hardware chief executive Martin Elliott reviews the year from the perspective of the group’s
“For Home Hardware and our members, 2018 can be split into three periods of four months: The first four months proved very challenging. We experienced a slow start to the year. This, combined with some very unseasonably cold weather in March and April, meant that sales of gardening products were considerably down during this period. We usually find that, when Easter is early, at the end of March, it doesn’t boost sales to the same level that it does when later in April
During the four months, from May through to August inclusive, we experienced an incredibly buoyant trading period. This was due to a combination of catching up on some sales of
members, and what trends independent retailers have seen in the marketplace mutual advantage.
gardening products that had been delayed from April, combined with the excellent summer weather, helping to increase business considerably. Our sales of garden furniture, supported by our usual 64-page outdoor living consumer catalogue, generated exceptional business for our retailers. During July and August, our sales of fly, wasp and moth-killing products reached unprecedented levels, with several lines selling more than five times the average annual sales. Despite this unprecedented demand, we were pleased to be able to maintain good stock availability for our retailers and we really appreciate the
excellent support of our
suppliers to ensure we maximised the sales opportunities to our
Since mid-September, retail sales have been much more challenging, which we believe is due to a lack of consumer confidence, not helped by the prolonged Brexit negotiations and uncertainty, combined with regular media reports
of the
struggle of prominent high street retailers.
Some of our members are experiencing reduced footfall, due to their high streets not being as busy as they once were. This has highlighted the importance of our distributing our various consumer advertising brochures and leaflets, as these significantly increase footfall through attracting new customers, and also highlighting some of their best offers to
existing customers to encourage them to shop more frequently. Overall, we believe we have experienced a reasonable year, considering the significant variations in the weather and the ongoing national economic uncertainty.
ongoing
In terms of 2019, we expect the first few months will continue to be challenging, particularly until there is some clarity over the implications of exiting the EU. With Easter being much later, starting on April 19, we are hopeful that this, combined with some warm spring weather, should lead to a bumper gardening season. We expect the lawncare market in particular to be up considerably following last year’s very dry summer.”
14 DIY WEEK 14 DECEMBER 2018
www.diyweek.net
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
