Concerns remain strong in the 1st quarter of 2023 for New Housing Industrialists

Sharp drop in sales volumes to GSBs at the end of 2022

In a stable market context in terms of turnover, it is important to note that, according to the study carried out by Inoha among its members at the end of 2022, sales volumes to DIY superstores show a drop of 15% in 2022 compared to 2021. The peak of this drop is in the 2nd quarter (-17%) while the 4th quarter shows a lesser drop in volume (-9%).

With a sales volume of -40% compared to 2021 (i.e. a difference of 36%), the Garden department suffered the most, followed by that dedicated to Tools (-19%), Hardware (-18%) and wood joinery (-16%).

This underlying trend seems to be continuing at the beginning of 2023 even if there are disparities depending on the distribution channels, as evidenced by the checkout data recorded on the Supermarkets and Garden Centers markets, according to the study conducted by GFK for Inoha's INODATA platform.

In GSA, turnover in the DIY-garden department remained stable in January 2023 (-0,1%) compared to the same month in 2022. Building products (+23,9%) and hardware (+9,1 .9,3%) offset losses in decoration (-4,6%) and electricity (-XNUMX%). The Garden section is still limited to the back of the section, before the layouts and promotions planned for February.

On the Garden Centers and Agricultural Self-Services side, the reading is quite different. Turnover from gardening sales fell by 7,7%. All the main categories are down: -4% for plants, -14,4% for garden products, -11,2% for landscaping.

SMEs weakened and still just as worried

These figures only confirm the concern, already expressed last October by all industrial members of INOHA, mainly made up of SMEs. Indeed, even if the latter have increased their prices to partly compensate for those of raw materials, their margin has deteriorated sharply. Added to this, today, is the compression of their order books caused by overstocks observed at distributors and the contraction of the real estate market. The drop in activity associated with sluggish consumption is weakening companies in the New Housing sector and hardly making them optimistic for the months to come.

For Jean-Luc Guéry, President of INOHA: “The market is going through major turbulence which is at the heart of the concerns of our members. Our association remains attentive to the economic situation and the movements of distribution players, such as the announcement of joint purchases between Mr Bricolage and Kingfisher, which will further strengthen the concentration of distribution players. »