With an average of 12 weeks of backlog work, paint contractors will continue to be in high demand heading into 2023, according to PPG’s Q3 earnings report. The “do it for me” (DIFM) trend picked up speed in the last year and shows no signs of slowing.
“This consistency indicates that overall demand for professional painting services remains high. As a result of the strong housing market experienced for the majority of 2022, homes in the U.S. have never been more valuable,” says Courtney Deemer, general manager, U.S. stores and The Home Depot organization, for PPG’s architectural coatings business in the U.S. and Canada. “Whether homeowners are looking to increase the value of their home before taking advantage of the ‘sellers’ market,’ or if they’re looking to remodel their current homes because buying a new one is too expensive, pro painters, remodelers and other skilled tradesmen are in high demand to assist with ‘do it for me’ projects.”
As retailers look for additional ways to connect with the professional contractor audience, Deemer says this segment’s sentiment towards utilizing digital platforms has significantly shifted in recent years. The Cleveland Research Company (CRC) 2022 Annual Pro Shopper survey found that professionals today significantly prefer transacting online, even more so than they did three years ago.
The same research reports that in addition to a preference shift towards buying online, professionals’ preferences have also moved toward delivery to a job site versus picking up at a brick-and-mortar location, and professionals now place more value on specialized delivery options, like delivering to a specific location within a job site, than they have in the past, Deemer says.
“To address these evolving preferences of the pro, retailers should consider offering services that make pros’ jobs easier, like digital ordering and job site delivery options,” she says.
See how one paint retail operation caters to its professional customers with a speciality loyalty program here.
