Shopping Trends of 2021 Likely to Continue

Just about this time last year, the home improvement industry was coming off an unprecedented growth arc in a year when many businesses were forced to close at least temporarily. Experts warned of modest, if any, growth for 2021. Low and behold, the housing industry and changing shopping trends bolstered the home improvement sector with another year of double-digit growth. 

So, what’s up for 2022?  

Experts are offering their opinions on everything from the economic forecast – a projection made even harder since COVID-19 hit – to what consumers will be expecting from retailers this year. Here are a couple of stories we thought might interest you. 

Hardware Retailing, from the North American Hardware and Paint Association, presented its view of the Home Improvement Research Institute’s (HIRI) “Year in Review.” It views how the industry has fared since the pandemic started and looks ahead at 2022. 

While the DIYers, forced home by pandemic quarantines, carried the industry to new heights two years ago, and the volatile housing market and professional builders continued that this past year, the report projects “modest” growth in 2022. 

A story from another of our favorite industry sources, Home Improvement Retailer, discusses how customers have changed their shopping habits during the pandemic and how some of those changes will continue to affect how and where they purchase. 

Some of these habits were already developing before the pandemic but were fast-tracked when brick-and-mortar stores closed, online purchases skyrocketed, and shopping just changed. Touchless payments, buy online, pick-up in store (BOPIS) and curbside pickup, and delivery all gained serious traction over the past two years. So much so that Baby Boomers, the generation with the smallest digital footprint, have moved online. 

Those trends will all continue in 2022. We hope that information published in Retail Science helps your stores have a prosperous year. 

brian bullock 

Author