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Last month’s announcement by B&Q that it is to cut 400 jobs could be seen as just another indicator of a current downturn in retail. However the performance of other large DIY outlets and B&Q’s strategy to deal with its problems both point towards another, more positive message about the way the trade is headed.
The changes at B&Q follow Ian Cheshire’s appointment as Chief Executive in June. At the time he was reported as saying: “B&Q is one of the country’s best known brands and is nearly twice the size of its nearest competitor. However we are in a tough retail environment and we need to play to our strengths to improve customer service and grow sales.”
Cheshire’s statement and the subsequent plans for an improved B&Q reflect the fact that the company’s problem’s could in part be due to neglected potential customers that other DIY retailers have already managed to encourage into their stores. B&Q’s plans include changes that will help encourage the growing number of women DIYers into its aisles.
Homebase has already increased its focus on interior design and other elements that appeal to the female market and while B&Q only just managed to maintain its share of the DIY market last year Homebase gained two percentage points on its share.
In fact the growth in female interest in DIY was noticed a while ago, and has been growing considerably over the last decade.
In 2003 a survey carried out by Focus Do-It-All showed that one in three of women do most of the home improvements in their household. The women surveyed gave a number of reasons why they choose to do DIY. One in four said they didn’t trust a man to do the job properly, while one in five said they had to complete jobs a man had failed to finish. Another one in three said they would rather do DIY jobs themselves because of the length of time men take to complete even simple jobs.
Other surveys have also shown that 54% of women hang their own wall paper, as well as selecting it, and 78% believe they are more practical than men. An important figure for anyone in retail is that 74% of women make all the major DIY decisions about the house.
The most significant figures come from a survey by Argus at the end of last year which shows that now eight out of ten women do DIY and a third do most of the DIY work around the home.
This shows why Homebase may have managed to steal a lead on B&Q and why the female part of the market is one anyone retailing DIY equipment cannot afford to ignore. So how does a retailer appeal more to women?
To begin to understand the reasons for the increase is probably a good starting point. One clear reason is that more women, particularly those in their twenties and early thirties, are living alone. Another reason women often give for doing a job themselves is the difficulty in finding a good tradesman who is available to do the job when it is needed to be done. Women also find many tradesmen untrustworthy, likely to patronise them or overquote for a job because they don’t expect a woman customer to know any better.
The range of powertools that is available has encouraged women to try jobs they may have thought they didn’t have the strength for before, this feeling is also increased as powertools become lighter.
Women have also been inspired by programmes like Changing Rooms to try new things, as well as by the need to save money, but one of the main reasons women give for taking up DIY is that they find it a rewarding and empowering leisure activity.
Perhaps it isn’t surprising that the whole subject of women DIYers has already been a hot topic in America for some years.
B&Q versus Homebase in the UK is an echo of what has happened with Homedepot and Lowe in the US, with Lowe finding favour with women. Amongst other reasons women preferred Lowe was because they felt it had a higher level of cleanliness and well as having a preference for its product range, which focused more on interior design among other things. Recently Homedepot have been making an effort to catch up, including making efforts to have more female staff on the shop floor.
If you want to see how women DIYers are approached in the US a visit to be-jane.com is quite revealing. The website is just part of what Be Jane describe as a multimedia network, online community, as well as a licensor of products for the women’s DIY market.
The website features discussion boards, advice and product information, backing up Be Janes ‘mission’ which it describes as:
“To put a public face on the women’s home improvement market and create a trusted and credible source for the do it yourself community.” And to: “Serve the current market of more than 17 million women homeowners in the United States.”
So what lessons can we learn from the experiences of B&Q and the American DIY market to improve the retail environment to attract more women DIYers?
The starting point for retailers is simple, talk to women and find out what they think of your store, what they would like to see and what they don’t like about how you are doing things at the moment.
One of the main criticisms that has come up in the past is that women find they are patronised in DIY shops, and often treated rudely. If possible having female staff available and ready to help female customers is always encouraging.
In the case of Lowe and Homedepot they found that women preferred wider, less cluttered aisles, improved lighting and clearer displays, with products displayed more creatively. It also helps if more information is available, perhaps in the form of fact sheets or as part of the display.
The large warehouse size retailers have found offering women only DIY lessons after hours has helped draw female customers in, but retailers with smaller premises could always offer courses at local evening class venues.
Another idea is putting together tool packs for specific jobs that women commonly undertake (use your research amongst female friends and colleagues to see what these are likely to be) and promote them, possibly at a special price. Areas where women are often keen to do DIY include the obvious, such as interior design and landscaping, but don’t make the mistake of assuming that is all that they do.
In terms of the tools themselves women are not so interested in special ‘pink’ tools but do find the lighter power tools more attractive as well as the basic tools for the kind of household jobs that just crop up - hammer screwdriver and pliers. Manufacturers often have a clear idea of which of their products are popular with the female market and may even have marketing materials to promote them, so have a word with the salesman.
Research has also shown that most women use the internet to investigate jobs they are about to undertake, so if you have a website, a page that focuses on women could be useful, if you want any ideas for that just have a look at Be Jane.
Above all remember that when women make a purchase their priorities are trust, like and price, in that order - exactly the opposite order to men. Trust when it comes to DIY shopping means helpful staff in a non-macho environment.
It is an important sector of the market and once word gets out that a particular retailer is a good place for women shoppers then that retailer will be sure of plenty of loyal customers.
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Airstream Business Communications Ltd