A study carried out by leading data provider, GlobalData has discovered that a large proportion of DIY and gardening customers prefer to buy products from a physical store rather than shopping online. 

When asked what they would do if their preferred home improvement store shut down, 64% of consumers said that they would simply go to another retailer’s store rather than resort to online shopping. 

The results of the study suggest that, even in a world where online shopping is really starting to take off, there is still a strong preference for bricks-and-mortar retailers and that convenience is valued higher than loyalty. 

GlobalData estimates the value of the UK DIY market at £7.04 bn in 2019 and is forecast to reach £7.17 billion in 2020, representing a growth rate of 1.8%.  It also predicts that UK gardening expenditure will reach £4.43 billion in 2020, an increase of 1.6%. 

David Hibbert, joint managing director at Stax Trade Centres said: “As the DIY and Gardening industries continue to perform extremely well, these statistics from GlobalData confirm that DIY consumers still prefer to shop at brick-and-mortar stores as opposed to online competitors.”