Vaccinated or not, numbers show strong DIY market
Many expected that once vaccinations rolled out, more people would spend time and dollars at the movies, at the boardwalk, at the restaurant – and less at the hardware store.
But as vaccinations accumulate, research from the Farnsworth Group and the Home Improvement Research Institute shows no slowdown in DIY activity. In fact, it’s even picking up.
The latest Covid-19 Home Improvement Tracker for the month of May shows DIY project activity and DIY project intent both continue to ride high. Project activity for May trended up to 68% for all DIYers – up from 63% from April. “That’s the same we saw last May, during some of the peaks of the pandemic,” said the Farnsworth Group’s Grant Farnsworth.
There’s very little difference between vaccinated vs. non-vaccinated DIYers, Farnsworth said. “It’s not until we get to the older generations that we see just a slight difference in non-vaccinated DIYers doing just a little bit more activity than vaccinated,” he said.
“As vaccines rolled out, we expected that home owners would leave some of their project activities around their homes and return to travel or entertainment or turn to hospitality,” Farnsworth said. “So far from a behavioral standpoint, that hasn’t been the case.”
Also counterintuitive, the May Covid tracker showed vaccinated consumers are shopping online more than non-vaccinated consumers. Vaccinated are shopping online for home improvement 10% to 15% more than non-vaccinated consumers.