Consumer market: How will Europeans change to professional decoration in China?

As a life attitude, DIY has been popular in Europe and the United States for a long time. The forgotten "market blue sea" of China's DIY market has also been valued and constantly developed in recent two years. According to data released by ChemQuest in 2018, DIY paint consumption accounts for about 30% of the global total demand. DIY paint is widely used in Europe in areas with high labor costs (Europe and North America). But looking at many European countries today, more and more family reformers are turning to DIFM instead of DIY.

Surveys show that in many European countries, more and more family reformers are turning to DIFM instead of DIY by hiring professional painters to decorate and do other work for them. As more and more consumers are no longer obsessed with DIY, the share of professional painters in the field of decorative coatings in Europe is increasing. As a result, paint manufacturers and retailers have to rethink their marketing strategies because they realize that consumers need more help to solve their home decoration projects. Retailers are making some of the biggest strategic changes to this end by readjusting their stores and online distribution channels to provide more help to customers. Kingfisherplc (Cuifeng Group), headquartered in the UK, is one of the largest international retailers of home decoration in Europe. It has large chains in the UK, France and Poland. Now, the group is reorganizing its stores into different categories to meet the specific needs of its customers. Our customers tell us that home decoration can be a nightmare. Our core goal - what we have been doing for the past three years, and what we will continue to do in the future, is to solve this nightmare, "Veronique Laury, chief executive of Cuifeng Group, said at a recent Innovation Day meeting of investors and analysts.

DIY is painful for many elderly people because they can no longer physically complete most of their work. At the same time, young people think they don't have enough DIY experience.

Nissa Patel, an industry analyst and economist at the British Federation of Architects and Businessmen (BMF), said: "For many young people, DIY is no longer popular, nor is it their culture of life; they feel that they do not have the skills of DIY decoration; many of them do not have the time. So, if they can, they will let others do the work." According to a survey by USP, a Dutch marketing consultancy, DIFM's share in the decoration market has increased from 32% in 2014 to 34% in 2018, while DIY's share has dropped from 68% to 66% in the same period. The study covered 11 countries in Europe, including Germany, France, Britain, Italy, Spain, Poland and the Netherlands, the region's largest markets.

Dirk Hoogenboom, USP consultant, said: "There is a clear link between the level of DIFM and the prevalence of DIY in individual countries."

For example, the demand for DIFM in the UK market is relatively strong, while in the USP survey, the respondents'aversion to decorative DIY is very high, reaching 32%. At the same time, 40% of the respondents "very like" or "like" their own decoration work in a very low proportion. In the Netherlands, DIFM decoration is also a new choice for many consumers, and the popularity of DIY decoration has been declining. On the other hand, the DIFM ranking in Italy is relatively low, but 63% of Italian consumers in the survey like to decorate themselves, which is second only to Poland (70%). Hoogenboom explained: "In Italy, DIY is meaningful, because Italy's economic situation has been not good, so many Italians have no choice. Young Italians have more DIY experience than other countries, so it's easier for them and they'll like it." However, professional decorators are becoming increasingly difficult to find in many European countries for household users who are reluctant to rely on DIY. This is mainly due to the aging of the labor force, leading to more individual decorators leaving the industry, but there are not enough young recruits to replace them. In Britain, for example, two-thirds of professional painters will retire within 10 years. Hoogenboom points out, "The transition from DIY to DIFM seems to be less rapid than some people expected. One explanation is that the growth of DIFM is partly hampered by the intensification of labor shortages in the European market. For consumers, this makes it harder for them to find professionals. In addition, due to high demand, full orders and rising prices, outsourcing is less attractive." The demand for DIFM exceeds the supply of decorators in many countries. Paint companies and home improvement retailers are stepping up their efforts to help customers find suitable professionals. Especially paint companies, they have been trying to solve some consumer dislike DIY and deal with the shortage of professional decorators.

AkzoNobel is the leader of the European decoration market. Supported by its well-known Dorothy brand, it has launched the Dorothy Easycare series of durable, durable and washable coatings to ensure the durability of wall coatings. It is also a marketing product of DuluxOnce. After special formulation, only one "coat" can provide consumers with high quality surface treatment.