Beyond the big box

Recent TraQline® Durable IQ™ data shows Home Improvement (HI) isn’t just purchased from “Home Improvement” retailers. Amazon has made a space for itself among some of the key categories sold at the big boxes and they continue to grow dollar share in this volatile space.

TraQline has been the leading provider of consumer insights and innovative market research solutions in Durable Goods for over 24 years. Their flagship product, Durable IQ, is the longest-running Durables consumer survey and the most comprehensive market intelligence available for the industry. With over 600,000 consumers surveyed every year, the quarterly survey covers over 270 product categories, more than 2,500 brands, and 1,000+ outlets — delivering data insights that represent 100% of the market. Through this unmatched dataset, Durable IQ measures consumer behavior, preferences, trends, and key growth KPIs such as market share, pricing, demographics, and online vs. brick-and-mortar sales.

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Home Depot (THD) & Lowe’s continue to battle for dollar share lead, a trend seen for the last 10 years. While regularly trading first place spots with only one point or less difference in share, THD’s gains have shown significant growth from 2018-2023. We also see the start of a shift in buying, with Amazon and Walmart beginning to take up space in the Home Improvement space - gaining significant market share year-over-year.

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While many categories remain unchanged for the mantle of top retailer, Amazon has begun to creep into some categories, particularly those where low brand-awareness and a compact form factor prevail.  Looking at the past 5 years of data, TraQline data shows a growth trend in the top retailers by dollar share across high-level Home Improvement categories. Outside those quintessential Home Improvement players, data illustrates that Amazon has made gains in top HI categories like Hardware, Small Appliances, Storage & Home Accessories, as well as “Other” (i.e. Cleaning Chemicals, Garage Door Opener, Furniture, etc.).

The scorecard below reveals the following over the past 5 years: 

Home Depot – leads in 37 of 75;
Lowe’s leads in 6 of 75;
Amazon leads in 13 of 75; and 
Other purchase source leads in 19 of 75.

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Online Dollar Share

Home Depot Outperforms Lowe’s

While the online trend has been growing over time, Covid accelerated the shift to online purchasing. Online purchasing continues to increase, specifically within Home Improvement. TraQline data highlights the breakout of sales by purchase type — online versus in a retail store — to examine how big box retailers are performing. While total share is relatively similar, results indicate that Home Depot outperforms Lowe’s in online sales by 260 bps overall for the last four quarters.