Ecommerce Guide: DIY Industry is Set to Boom

Traditionally a brick-and-mortar business, the DIY market is going digital (1). And recent surges and sales data point indicates DIY pivoting to ecommerce.

The DIY industry aims to help people improve their lives without the need for any extra professional help. In part, the market is driven by the growth of the residential industry and changes in people’s lifestyles.

Notably, the industry had slowed down amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, as people spent most of their time at home, looking for various ways to distract themselves from the isolation feelings, the DIY market experienced a swift increase.

The r/DIY subreddit is closing on more than 20 million members (2). Google searches for “DIY near me” are experiencing a steady rise.

Both investors and consumers have started rolling up their sleeves with the DIY industry with a new focus on online platforms.

Fresh DIY Stats

According to Statista (3), the US is the most mature market for DIY. There are forecasts that the US DIY industry will reach more than 500 billion USD in 2024, most of which are expected to be made in home centers.

In contrast, the DIY and home improvement market is substantially smaller in Canada compared to the US, albeit still witnessing a healthy growth level. Meanwhile, DIY is among the largest markets in Europe, with a huge range of businesses being set up in nearly all European nations.

Notably, other countries like India, which has largely been DIFM, Do-It-For-Me, are now rapidly embracing the DIY models. There is a huge growth potential for the DIY industry in India because of its increasingly growing economy and rising demand for urbanization (4).

All in all, there is plenty of white space in the market and valuable lessons from new players that you can apply to the 760 billion USD industry worldwide (5).

Over the past year, digital DIY platforms have raised some significant funding, with Lick, a UK-based startup raising over 28 million USD (6), and ManoMano of France securing a whopping 355 million USD (7).

Meanwhile, even the ecommerce sales of Home Depot have doubled over the past year to reach more than 20 billion USD (8). Its competitor Lowe has also surged to a similar rate, hitting about 9 billion USD. However, as we said earlier, there is still significant room for growth. These amounts only make up about 14 to 10 percent of the overall revenue, respectively.

Understanding Today’s DIY Shoppers

According to Google ThinkInsights (9), most DIY shoppers are young people who embark on exciting new chapters of their lives, such as purchasing a new house, having kids, etc. It indicates a huge opportunity for businesses to target an expanding group of consumers.

The stats also suggest that most DIY shoppers are high-value customers with a passion for building and not only consuming. It means their purchase decisions are influenced by quality over price.

In addition, DIY shoppers also use different sources online, meaning digital plays a huge role in their purchase journey. More importantly, a major resource to stand out is online video. Meaning, you will need to direct your customers to your online resources to win big. Players who use video as their branding and servicing opportunity will get favorable results.

Statista also seems to be suggesting the same (10). The convenience offered by online stories is one of the major trends in the DIY industry. However, there is still some value in conventional in-store shopping; Often, customers choose to go for buy-online and pick-up in-store options; others start their product search online and purchase the same in physical stores.

Hence, brands can add value to the shopping experience and help their potential customers tackle a DIY project by building online communities such as creating an inspiration channel or tutorial videos.

Not so sure about building online communities? Read our previous story, Strong Brand Community: A Key to Success, to know more.

DIY eCommerce Trends

Constant Growth in User-Generated Content

It makes a difference in the DIY market to have quality user-generated content such as unboxing videos, product reviews, images, and other content produced by real individual buyers.

It remarkably increases the chances of purchase, builds consumers’ trust and brand loyalty. Many of your potential consumers will need more educational materials about your products like helpful reviews, expert help, or tutorials to make the final purchase decision.

Businesses, especially in the DIY ecommerce stores, should not underestimate the importance of user-generated content for their marketing strategies and overall business growth.

A Strong Move Towards Sustainability

As we have mentioned in several of our past stories, the move towards eco-friendliness and sustainability is getting stronger than ever. People are becoming more conscious about the brands they shop with, meaning they tend to choose ethically sourced, eco-friendly products. The same is also true for the DIY industry.

Businesses that help the planet earth and make a positive impact will be seen as more favorable.

Impact of “Work From Home” Culture

Remote work, a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, turned people’s homes into home offices, influencing the DIY market – consumers shop for products to increase their comfort and work productivity.

Repurpose of Existing Things and Spaces

Repurposing existing things and spaces is one of the latest trends in the DIY market. Remodeled and multi-purpose spaces are becoming more popular. People are also using existing items and repurposing them instead of purchasing new ones. This trend should make the DIY industry players think of offering products that add more value and, as we mentioned, satisfy the consumers’ need for sustainable consumption.

Business Opportunities

The Digital-Only Model

New players such as ManoMani and Lick are primarily ecommerce players, and both of these brands use models not fully leveraged worldwide.

ManoMano

For instance, ManoMano, called the “Amazon of all things DIY,” differentiate itself via:

directly listing different retailers for their products, for everything from hot tubs to screwdrivers (we recently talked about the rise of third-party marketplaces) (11)
Recruiting enthusiastic DIYers and retired hardware store employees who assist consumers. Notably, Manodvisors helped more than 2.3 buyers last year (12)
Offering B2B option, which leads to bigger order sizes (13), is responsible for more than 10% of its revenue less than a year after its launch (14, 15)

The platform increased its sales by over 100% last year with 70% growth in unique site visitors to reach 50 million in a month (16).

You can apply a similar model in other markets. Businesses can also leverage existing brick-and-mortar footprints by collaborating with small-scale DIY and hardware stores, acting as storage warehouses and showrooms.

One major way ManoMano managed to outshine other hardware store players is the timely delivery of awkwardly large DIY items. Offering appropriate delivery solutions to new DIY ecommerce platforms is another opportunity for businesses.

Lick

Lick is a trendy niche brand launched in 2020 that offers:

High-end D2C branded products. Notably, Lick paint is about 2.5 times more expensive than a comparable tin of Dulux paint.
It has limited options, blinds, wallpaper, and paint only.
It has a more than 185k strong community of decorators and designers who work with the brand (17).

In its initial eight months, Lick noted a 7 million USD in revenue (18). Businesses looking to niche down in the luxury D2C space can focus on the various DIY markets.

Some growing examples of Subreddits include r/gardening, r/woodworking, r/crafts, r/homeimprovement, and r/homestead.

Used DIY Tools

Tools can be expensive; hence it is understandable to see rising demand for affordable, used options.

You can combine the DIY and thrifting trends with building an online marketplace similar to ThredUp for all things DIY (19). Notably, there is also a rising demand for used furniture (20). You can also create a section for used furniture on your platform with the option to add on tools, paints, etc., needed for refurbishment.

DIY Foods

There is also a rising interest in DIY Food items such as wine, cheese, and beer. Notably, Reddit’s r/HomeBrewing has more than one million members (21).

Other popular subreddits include r/Canning, r/Cheesemaking, r/Winemaking, and r/Charcuterie, r/Dehydrating.

All you need kits for DIY food items are a lucrative business opportunity since there are also subscription services for seasonal options. An example for it can include (22), “make your winter cheese box.”

Other examples, already cashing in on Amazon, according to Jungle Scout, includes:

A DIY hot sauce making kit, about 68k USD a month
Hi Mountain’s sausage kits, about 25k USD a month
Beginner cheese making kits from Standing Stone, 20k USD a month

“Finish It Yourself” is Trending – h3

The FIY trend, “DIY with a safety net,” includes offering the consumer satisfaction of doing things but with limited failure risks.

Businesses can tap into the FIY trend and leverage it in different ways, including:

Bouquet Making: e.g., Bergamotte allows people to become florists on their own at home with self-assemble bouquets
FIY Fashion: Nike already let people customize their sneakers (23), and also the widely popular Crocs Jibbitz (24)
Cake Decorating: You can deliver a freshly baked cake with all the goodies folks will need to ice it off. You can also leverage this trend with cake decorating classes and “cake decorating kits.”
Pottery Painting: Paint your crockery is getting popular in the FIY market (25)
Indoor Smart Gardens: Indoor salad bars such as AeroGarden are getting popular.