The structure and demographics of Europe’s market for DIY decorative paints is undergoing long-term changes amidst a revival in demand for architectural coatings triggered by a recovery in the construction sector across must of the region.

The changes have been driven by factors like a rising  proportion of elderly people physically incapable of doing  DIY and a growing number of younger consumers disinterested in carrying out home improvements themselves, even relatively simple tasks like painting walls and ceilings.

As a result, there has a been a growing requirement among consumers for professional help either in the form of advice or increasingly to do the actual decorating.
 
In some countries, like the UK, there has been a decline in home ownership in favor of the renting of apartments and houses whose landlords will bring in professional to carry out decoration and renovation work.

For coatings companies, the current DIY trends which in certain countries are likely to become more firmly entrenched over the next several years are necessitating new marketing strategies. 

Even more resources are being channelled into promoting paint products among professionals.  In some Western Europe countries, such as Germany, UK, France, and those in Scandinavia, some of these professionals are migrants from Eastern Europe who are new to the trade.

Despite professionals accounting for a larger proportion of decorative sales, coatings producers are still having to market their paints to consumers because in many cases they are still deciding which paint brands should be used by the professionals.

Just how much the enthusiasm for DIY is waning at the moment among consumers in Europe is difficult to gauge.

A lot of the publicly available sales figures on decorative paints do not differentiate between purchases made by DIYers and by professionals. Across much of Europe the two groups use the same retail outlets.

There are also variations in attitude to DIY not only between countries but also between different social and income groups.

The Germans and French still have high levels of  confidence in their DIY skills  according to a survey last year of 17,000 men and women  by the UK-based  Kingfisher plc, one of Europe largest home improvement retail groups.  This showed DIYers from both countries could tackle complex jobs like buildings an extension or installing a kitchen.

“Expenditure on both DIY and professional home improvement is increasing (in Germany)  but the DIY share is growing,” said Christian Koch, consumer manager, consumer panels, at GfK, Nuremberg, Germany.

A study this year by Euromonitor International Ltd., a London-based market research organization, of the Italy’s DIY market concluded that after cooking, DIY is still the most popular hobby in the country, which has only recently come out of a recession. “It is attracting more and more consumers, who see it as a way to save money and avoid the extra expense of paying third parties to improve their homes,” Euromonitor said.

Economic conditions seem to be a major influence on DIY spending.  In Sweden, whose economy has been performing relatively strongly during the European economic downturn, the share between DIY and professionals sales in decorative paints has been around 50/50, according to the estimates by Tikkurila, the Finnish paint company active in Scandinavia  and neighboring Russia.

But in Finland, whose economy has been doing less well, and in Russia which has been plunged into a recession, the DIY share has been considerably higher.

“Currently there is roughly a 70/30 split between DIYers and professionals  in Finland and Russia,” said Minna Avellan, Tikkurila’s investor relations manager. “With economical conditions  difficult at the moment in both countries, people are eager to do decorating jobs themselves to save money. The longer term trend, however.  is towards professionals doing more of the decorative renovation work as the economies of the two countries improve. This is inevitable as people become wealthier.” 

In the UK, evidence of a switch to use of professionals is most marked among higher income groups.  A survey in the country by Houzz, a U.S.-based internationally-expanding company providing an internet platform for connecting home improvers with professionals, found that 90 percent of UK homeowners  hired a professional for renovation work.

“The 9,500 respondents  in the survey came predominantly from higher income groups with 19 percent having second homes,” explained Andrew Small,  managing director of  Houzz UK.

Despite the overall increase in DIY share in Germany, a similar survey by  Houzz in the country showed 77 percent of homeowners  renovated their homes with professional help last year, with 49 percent hiring painters.

Market researchers and other observers of the European decorative paints market believe, however, that there are underlying factors which in the longer term will lead to decreases in the DIY share of the sector and also transform the social profiles of DIYers themselves.

As males become less willing to do DIY, women are becoming more interested in some countries, like the UK, in doing renovation work themselves which is already helping to maintain existing consumers sales levels of decorative paints.

“(Despite) evidence of consumers accessing the services of professional decorators, the retail DIY market in the UK for paint remains very strong  (with) people  still keen to decorate within their homes themselves,” said Jenny Hall, decorative paints marketing director in the UK and Ireland.

Although there was a boom in DIY sales in many European countries in the 1990s and early 2000s, the next generation has been less committed to doing home improvements themselves with many lacking the requisite skills.

“The shift towards use of professionals or do-it-for-me (DFM) will become much more evident over the next decade because of the increasing numbers of elderly and  large numbers of younger people who have not learned how to do DIY,” said Ralf Rahmede, general manager of  the European Federation of DIY Manufacturers (Fediyma), Cologne, Germany.

As a result of these changes coatings companies have been adjusting their marketing strategies.  “We are stepping up our marketing to professionals because they are becoming more important,” said Avellan.

AkzoNobel has been helping DFM consumers by introducing a service for the accreditation of decorating professionals to ensure that homeowners gain the benefit of the highest standards.

“Our company philosophy is to empower and inspire both professionals and DIYers not only be confident with colour but to apply it skilfully,” said Hall. ”We have therefore developed specific learning aids and tools which help consumers and professionals to visualise colour schemes.  Further, to help decorators build on and improve their skills, we provide training and advice about application techniques and product knowledge.”

Flugger, a Danish-based decorative paints manufacturers, is using its vertically integrated chain of 560 retail stores, half owned by itself and half franchised,  in Scandinavia and Poland,  to provide more specialist knowledge   to both professionals and DIYers.  Already some of its franchised stores are owned by professionals.
“Our priority is to support our products by making greater use of the  expertise of  the store staff,” explained Ulla, Mathiesen, Flugger’s communications manager.

As home improvement, even decorating, becomes more complex because of new technologies and materials,  the provision of specialist knowledge  behind  renovation products will become vital.