SUMMARY: 39% of US Adults have home renovations planned and money to spend in the next six months. Marketers should look into influencer marketing, TV advertising, and online innovation to get this groups’ attention.
Spring is in the air, and with it comes home improvement. We looked into U.S. adult consumers who have money to spend on home renovations over the next six months, how much they plan to spend, and ultimately, how and where marketers can target those poised to spend.
We asked the following question to nearly 3,000 U.S. adults.
We’ll focus on those who answered Yes to this question, no matter the amount.
39% of US Adults have a home improvement budget of some kind and plan to use it in the next six months. That’s a promising sign!  However, their outlook on the U.S. economy isn’t what you may think.
When we compared these respondents to their economic outlook, it was an even split three ways among the ‘Yes’ group:
- The economy will get better (34%)
- The economy will stay the same (32%)
- The economy will get worse (34%). Â
It should be encouraging to marketers that among this group, some think the economy will get worse, but still plan to spend their hard-earned cash on improvements to their home. Of course, marketers for retailers shouldn’t just rely on this.
Innovation + internet
No matter the budget amount, consumers with planned home renovations have a few things in common:
- They are more likely to be influenced by social media when it comes to the products they buy
- Shopping online is important to them, all down to the writing of reviews–negative or positive
- Technology is top of mind for these folks as well, and they consider following trends in this space important
Other home improvement stores big and small should follow Home Depot’s footsteps in ramping up innovation efforts to make home repairs/planning renovations a seamless purchasing experience, be it in the store or online. This side of the retailer space has found that investing in technology has paid off. Better order online and in-store pickup systems, better tools when it comes to renovations planning, etc.
While those who have a budget of any kind mostly reside in suburban (48%) or rural (28%) areas, 21% reside in an urban area. Perhaps when retailers are thinking about expanding storefronts, urban expansion is worth considering especially as flipping city homes continues to increase. But if opening a new location is out of the question, thinking of expansion into delivery services or checking stock pre-visit to ensure items are there, for those who may need to travel further distances to come in.
Big potential with smaller spenders
It’s no surprise that the most common budget for renovations among US Adults in the next six months is $5,000 and under. These folks are more likely to earn under $50,000 annually and are concerned about environmental issues and organic food. These are also folks who are more likely to showroom across multiple websites before making a purchase and utilize reviews in doing so.
This is where home improvement retailers have the most opportunity to get renovation buyers into their store by offering specials for spending a certain threshold, buy more save more deals or partnering with other businesses of that group’s interest to offer incentives. Stores should also consider price-matching, order ahead and free shipping/delivery.
Make it easy for people to choose what is convenient to them, and don’t make it compromise their project. Sometimes the hardest part of big (or small) box hardware stores is navigating the store once there. The ability to order online or even see where items are located in-store, all from your browser, may make the in-store experience more pleasant.
Second place is the $15,000 and under group
Retailers can expect this group to make $50,000 – 100,000 annually (maybe this means specials and add-ons to persuade them to spend more.) 35-54-year-olds are most likely to fall into this category. These folks are more likely to be TV news fans and streaming video watchers. Could TV advertising be a key to converting this group? Worth thinking about.
Influence renovations
To recap, it’s encouraging that nearly 40% of US Adults are planning some sort of renovations–and have the budget–in the next six months. While TV ads influence this group more than online ads, purchase persuasion is more likely from the social media space.
Retailers should amp up their influencer marketing on the Instagram (or Pinterest) front–the opportunity to get these in-the-spotlight mavens to show off their new kitchen, bathroom or patio–and get the everyday folk to follow in their footsteps by picking the same store; hopefully planning an order with the click of a computer or tablet. This will be key to convert those with renovations on the horizon.
