Bathrooms & Kitchens Market Research

Home owners continue to make significant investment in their homes, with the kitchen and bathroom being the most popular rooms to make improvements. This is a dynamic market – our data show that around half of all homeowners have either refurbished or are planning on renovating a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen or other domestic space in the next 12 months.

The number of bathrooms in the average UK home is also increasing, with new homeowners opting for more ensuite bathrooms at the expense of a large ‘family’ bathroom. For renovators, the typical family now take 3-6 months to undertake a project, from the Inspiration Stage through to the Installation phase.

We collect data for tap, showering, sanitaryware as well as broader kitchen, bathroom and bedroom (KBB) brands to help them understand consumer trends, test new product developments and gauge installer preferences. Retailers, trade merchants and retail showrooms also ask us to shine a light on what retail and trade customers are looking for in order to ensure their ranging and channel propositions are fit for purpose.

Who is taking the lead on decision making in the bathroom? Is consumer influence and pre-purchasing growing? DIY or GAMI?

How is the tradesperson role evolving? What products do they purchase and from where? What brands are top of the pile?

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Our bathroom & kitchen market research experience

We've worked with brands and suppliers in the bathroom and kitchen (kbb) market for many years and struggle to believe there are others with more rounded experience. We collect market data on the size and direction of the bathroom and kitchen sectors.

We've worked with leading sanitaryware, brassware and shower brands, as well as kitchen furniture, flooring and appliance suppliers, providing us with an enviable knowledge base in this market.

Using this unique experience, we have developed bespoke research methodologies that enable us to extract better insight than 'standard' research tools. This includes our 'In the Moment' Tool for following consumers in the middle of a bathroom or kitchen improvement project, and a range of fresh ways to engage tradespeople and gain in-depth feedback.

We have worked closely with a showering brand through their New Product Development (NPD) process, ensuring that their new digital shower meets the needs of the modern consumer and doesn’t present any installation headaches for plumbers.

On behalf of bathroom and kitchen brands we have explored key customer relationships and loyalty schemes in merchants. This includes in-depth interviews with kitchen showroom staff for Franke and merchant branch managers on behalf of Polypipe.

Our bathroom and kitchen market research techniques include:

Online surveys and consultations
Telephone interviewing
Face to face for more detailed stakeholder interviews
Focus groups - face to face and online or virtual
Self completion methods, including SMS, POS, self-serve terminals
Ethnographic in-depth research
Mystery shopping

Snapshots of our recent bathroom & kitchen market research

1. Tracking the kitchen market

Monitoring brand awareness and usage in the kitchen category

On behalf of a leading brand in the kitchen market, we set up a dedicated brand tracker to monitor consumer recall and awareness of the brand over time.

The survey audience was targeted at ABC1 social grade homeowners and to either those that had recently completed a kitchen refit or would be completing one in the next 6 months. We also explored which member of the household has the greatest influence over where kitchen products are purchased from.

This also gave the manufacturer a regular opportunity to include tactical questions on an adhoc basis, such as measuring the impact of marketing activities and other consumer touchpoints such as trade shows.

2. Changing consumer tastes in the bathroom market

Using research to create the right bathroom product roadmap

It is critical for bathroom manufacturers to keep their 'finger on the pulse’ when it comes to consumer taste preferences.

Using a range of inspirational images and different sanityware shapes, we collected detailed quantitative insight and data to determine consumers’ style preferences to gauge what is most popular and see whether it reflects our client’s sales and distribution.

We conducted over 350 interviews with homeowners in the ABC1 social grade bracket, earning £50,000+ per year, over 35 years of age. This helped our client make some important ranging decisions in regard to traditional or contemporary styles, including competitor benchmarking and rankings.

Free research reports in the kbb sector

Homeowners need trusted tradespeople for a wide range of maintenance and improvement jobs.

Our latest exclusive report highlights the way that homeowners find installers, plumbers and electricians is changing before our eyes.

Download the FREE report here!

Smart Technology - Eureka Moments - V2.j

Eureka! Research has conducted an exclusive survey with nearly 1,000 UK homeowners to better understand consumer sentiment to smart tech and where they would turn for advice about installation.

Download our FREE report here

Online boiler purchasing - Eureka Moment

Purchasing and installing a new boiler is a large and significant expense for households.

The growth of new online purchasing platforms, such as BOXT, represent a significant disrupter to the traditional route to market, allowing consumers to select, order and arrange installation themselves.

Read our exclusive FREE report

What do our bathroom & kitchen research clients say about us?

Franke

"We have worked with Dave and Richard on a number of important strategic and tactical studies and highly recommend them as the experts operating in our sector.

Down to earth, easy to work with, they are key partners and an excellent source for understanding more about the wider kitchen and homeware sector.

We have undertaken consumer, tradesperson and supplier research through a number of methods; I always recommend Eureka."

Bristan

"In a relatively short space of time, I have become aware that Eureka! Research are the ‘go to’ agency for installer and consumer insight in the bathroom sector.

We had had no hesitation in commissioning Richard and Dave to undertake a significant business-critical piece of bathroom research.

The Bristan team always enjoy working closely with Eureka! and we look forward to continuing this relationship over the coming months and years."