Home Improvement Market Research

The home improvement and DIY sector is buoyant but in a state of flux, with market disrupters challenging the status quo. Some of the traditional 'giants' in the DIY industry have been struggling to keep up with evolving consumer tastes and channel behaviour. Combined with the increased confidence of the homeowner to get involved in product purchase, many retailers and brands in the supply chain are understandably seeking greater clarity on the size and dynamics of the home improvement market.

The average house renovator now spends £5,000 on a 'whole room' project - from the Dream Room to the Simple Maintenance or Weekend project. Intenders or consumers still at the planning stage typically expect to spend less on product and installation than often proves to be the case. With many UK households now choosing to "improve, don't move", that equates to a very lucrative slice of cake for home improvement brands to target.

We work with bathroom, kitchen, heating, appliance, roofing and flooring 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 the step-by-step purchasing journey market statistics and help them ensure that they are meeting the needs of all their customers.

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 home improvement research experience

We've worked with brands and suppliers in the home improvement and DIY sector for many years and struggle to believe there are others with more rounded experience.

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 home improvement project, and a range of fresh ways to engage tradespeople and gain in-depth feedback.

Whether it's installers, builders, heating engineers, plumbers, roofers, contractors, architects, specifiers, M&E's, or retail consumers ... we've recruited, moderated, interviewed, shopped and drawn valuable insight from all of them.

Our home improvement 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
In-the-moment panels

Snapshots of our recent home improvement research

1. Review of current home improvement market

Growing category analysis with homeowners and tradespeople

Our client, a leader in the product category was seeking to gain an up-to-date review of the current market to deliver a strong evidence base to the development of its strategic and tactical plans.

We developed a qualitative and quantitative approach, speaking with homeowners currently engaged with a specific project and tradespeople with a direct interest in the product category.

The resulting detailed analysis provided this client with a segmentation of the trade audience, allowing them to target marketing efforts appropriately dependent upon their own specific direction of travel.

2. Deep dive into the tradesperson and homeowner dynamic

Everything you ever wanted to know about the tradesperson / consumer relationship

We have been tracking the changing dynamic and responsibility boundaries between homeowners and trade installers for sometime now and this client wished to explore this in greater detail to feed into critical future business planning.

We developed a large qualitative and quantitative research study which included an online community, focus groups, virtual groups and two significant consultations that delivered results above and beyond what had been forecast.

This study delved into the minutiae at a product level as well as taking a holistic approach and delivering top level insight for SMT.

Free research reports in the home improvement 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 home improvement 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."