As Spring and the long Easter weekend draw near, DIYers and gardeners are starting to think about what jobs they have on their lists for 2023 and what tools they will need to get them done. But did you know that social proof messaging from Taggstar can help them make the right buying decisions and improve their confidence in getting such projects completed?
This is especially important in the current cost-of-living crisis, where shoppers are more likely to attempt DIY jobs themselves than bring in experts to do it for them. And that means they need all the help they can to buy right the first time – and to buy all the items they need for the project.
It’s a sector that has traditionally relied on in-store expertise, especially for bigger-ticket items. According to Mintel’s DIY Retailing UK 2022 report, in-store (73%) topped online (58%) as the most popular means of purchasing DIY products in the last 12 months.
But such consumer behaviour is changing with the willingness to buy DIY goods online improving since pre-pandemic, the report points out. Proactive retailers use social proof messaging to increase that willingness further, allowing them to harness the DIY and garden spend, whether they are specialists in the sector such as Wickes or Robert Dyas or more generalist retailers such as AO.com, who have all seen the benefits of incorporating social proof messaging within their eCommerce strategies.
So what trends are we seeing in the sector? Unsurprisingly the DIY boom seen during the pandemic has waned. The return to normal life means that consumers don’t necessarily have the time they did during lockdowns to tackle the DIY jobs that might have been bugging them. Meanwhile, home office conversions have been completed, and many are also returning to the office instead. And then there’s the impact of consumers having less cash in their pockets, constraining ambition.
This means that many consumers are more likely to spend on more pocket-friendly, smaller projects – upcycling furniture and freshening interiors with a lick of paint or sprucing up the garden, for example. The Mintel report showed that more than half (58%) of UK DIYers had painted or decorated in the past 12 months in 2022.
Although the cash may not be so readily available, the desire for change is. More than half (55%) of UK consumers say they look for ways to improve their homes now more than they did before the pandemic. Similarly, 46% of consumers are prioritising the home in their spending plans.
Meanwhile, across Europe, around half of consumers say they are now more confident in doing home improvements themselves, and many are focussing their efforts on energy efficiency projects as they look to save cash, with 44% of UK consumers willing to spend on energy-efficiency home products, according to Mintel.
So while the ability to spend may be a little more constricted, customers are still looking for inspiration for their home and DIY projects. When it comes to bigger projects or purchases, they need to be more confident than ever in their online buying decision.
Detailed information is the key to encouraging purchase and can be delivered through social proof messaging. This is especially important when you consider that 80% of customers abandon DIY and gardening baskets online. Highlighting product attributes, the latest popular must-haves or category bestsellers through social proof messaging from Taggstar delivers the extra reassurance customers need, especially for their high-value purchases. Review messaging, meanwhile, can provide added reassurance to buy and ensure conversion rate optimisation for the retailer.
It delivers a powerful ROI too. When DIY retailer Wickes implemented social proof messaging from Taggstar, the increase in sales attributable to social proof messaging covered the cost of the Taggstar solution in only three weeks. At Robert Dyas meanwhile, social proof messaging delivered an ROI of 15.2X, a figure that was so impressive the company signed up for a further two-year contract with Taggstar.
