Summary
IMRG’s first deep dive in the H&G sector coincides with one of the most turbulent trading periods in recent history.
As lockdowns came into force, home furnishing businesses, like retailers in many other categories, could only trade online. For those focused on DIY and the Garden, there has been a little more latitude in the term ‘essential retail’. Either way, online demand boomed.
Referencing merchant input from the IMRG Merchant H&G retail roundtable in May 2021 and data points from the IMRG Cap Gemini eRetail Sales Index, this report charts key category trends over the last 18 months and provides a few pointers for the near future.