The first half of 2020 was unprecedented for all players in the e-commerce market, with consumer habits turned upside down. The home, garden, and DIY sector was no exception!
Shoppers took advantage of the lockdown and unusually hot weather to kit out their homes and gardens. Furniture, decoration, garden, and DIY stores that had already begun their digital transition took advantage of their headstart and gained ground via online sales. This is notably the case for the home and garden categories which saw triple-digit growth at some point during the spring. That demand was obviously being driven by the context: the need to set up a home office, good weather, etc. IMRG's Andy Mulcahy confirmed to
Insight DIY that while it seemed like the trend might run out of steam, it remained very high up to the peak period with little sign of slowing down.
To succeed as a brand or retailer in this fast-changing sector, you need to be able to combine reactivity and agility to adapt your distribution according to the channels, your product categories, and even the weather! Here is all our advice to highlight your
DIY, home, and garden products online
.
Sell under
Amazon
’s Vendor Central model (where Amazon buys and manages your merchandise), or Lengow can accompany you via the Seller Central model (where you sell your products directly to customers on the marketplace). In terms of specialist marketplaces, Leroy Merlin, the European leader in the sectors of DIY/decoration and one of the top 5 most visited French e-commerce sites is now available on Lengow:
Our marketplace offers strong visibility to sellers thanks to the notoriety of our brand, particularly in France, presenting a great opportunity for online brands and retailers in the home, garden, and DIY sector. We are currently seeing exponential growth in traffic in the home categories. Our advice? Customer satisfaction must remain at the core of your sales team's activity, ensuring the same quality across all distribution channels. Customer satisfaction is based on 3 pillars: complete product information, order/shipping management, and excellent customer support to guarantee a positive customer experience.
Roberto Rico — Team Leader - Marketplace Account Management - Leroy Merlin France
Lengow seriously facilitated the distribution of our products on Houzz. Thanks to the flexibility, ease of use, and features provided by the platform, we now have a new quality showcase for our products.
Sarah Alves Jorge — TRAFFIC MANAGER AM.PM
To avoid disappointing your customers, it is key to update your stocks on all your sales channels. A centralized order management platform such as Lengow enables you to save time and remain consistent on all the marketplaces and marketing channels on which you operate.
Lengow is compatible with Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), Cdiscount Fulfillment, and Mano Fulfillment. These shipping services allow you to let the marketplaces take full control of your orders (warehouse storage, product preparation and packaging, order dispatch, customer service, and returns management). Whether small parcels or bulky products: once your orders are accepted, process all your orders with speed for successful
deliveries. Delivery is a crucial step in the online shopping process. Long delays, damaged parcels, or shipping errors are all good reasons for canceling an order. Communicate during each step of the delivery to reassure your customers.