After what seems like a never-ending winter, Spring is finally just around the corner, and for many consumers, that means tackling a list of home improvement and DIY projects they’ve been putting off for months. For home improvement retailers, this is the moment to make sure your digital experience is working as hard as your shoppers are.
The opportunity is real. The UK home improvement market was valued at £11.2 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach £16.67 billion by 2033. And with 54% of UK consumers intending to make home improvements over the next 12 months, demand is there. But so is the competition, and so is shopper caution.
Why Home Improvement Is Hard to Convert Online
Home improvement purchases are unlike most retail categories. Home improvement products are often large, and when buying online, shoppers can’t assess scale or quality in person. The stakes are higher – a wrong choice means an expensive, bulky return and a delayed project. And the emotional investment is significant since purchases are for personal spaces. As a result, shoppers dedicate more time to researching, comparing, and validating their choices before buying.
That’s the problem conversion messaging and reviews solve. Surfacing trending products, purchase volume data, and aggregated reviews gives shoppers the signals they need to move from browsing to buying faster, and with more confidence.
How Wickes Puts Social Proof and Reviews to Work
Home improvement retailer Wickes knows this dynamic well. The retailer has been surfacing social proof messaging across its site since 2020, displaying messages on the PLP, PDP and basket pages across a large catalogue serving both trade professionals and DIY customers.
Guided by Taggstar, Wickes recognised that its customer reviews could do far more to put shoppers’ minds at ease and guide better purchase decisions if combined with social proof messaging. In 2024, the company implemented review messaging alongside its existing social proof, putting those reviews to work at the exact moments shoppers need reassurance most.
The result: by combining social proof messaging with ratings and reviews, Wickes boosted conversion rates and drove a measurable uplift in revenue.
Want to hear more about how they did it?
Join Our Upcoming Webinar
Hear directly from Wickes about the powerful combination of social proof messaging and reviews. You’ll also get an inside look at how the recent acquisition of Taggstar by Syndigo expands the boundaries of Product Experience Management (PXM), opening up new possibilities for retailers looking to connect product content with conversion signals at scale.
