Obi, Hornbach and Co.: Customers keep hammering despite rising prices - for the time being

Created: 05/17/2022, 13:32

By: Ines Baur

Obi, Hornbach and Co. can look forward to loyal customers who are willing to buy.

But the industry remains cautiously optimistic. (Iconic image) © Christoph Hardt / Imago

The desire to buy in hardware stores is apparently unchecked - and in the first quarter of 2022 one group of goods was particularly in demand.

Still, the industry is concerned.

Cologne - Even if the published figures give no cause for concern, the Damocles sword of the effects of Ukraine hovers over all forecasts, according to Baumarktbrance.

The worrying price developments in the procurement of goods and the still serious production and supply chain problems pose daily problems.

The start of the year 2022 was actually almost completely normal, writes the trade association DIY, building and garden eV (BHB) in a current press release.

After two years of the pandemic and despite the Ukraine conflict, customers are apparently keen to buy.

Obi, Hornbach and: Co: 30,000 new price tags

However, the operational effort should not be underestimated, they say.

Around 30,000 price tags would have to be adjusted every week, according to the world.

For comparison: In normal times, an average of 3,000 changes is usual at most.

Sometimes this is done manually by specialist store staff, as many suppliers do not have electronic price tags.

The lack of chips made and makes a change difficult.

DIY store industry observes the buying behavior of customers

The industry has reason to be happy in view of the figures at the start of the year - but it is cautious.

The impact of constantly rising prices and world news on customers simply cannot be estimated for the near future.

After all, there are already first signs in other consumer sectors that customers are waiting and putting off larger investments.

The exploding consumer prices in almost every area of ​​life, especially in the energy and food sectors, reduce the overall budget and people's willingness to invest.

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Automotive product group is the "hit"

What is interesting about the numbers: the car remains the Germans' favorite child.

When looking at the ranges compared to the same period last year, there was a clear favorite in Germany's DIY stores.

In the 1st quarter, products from the automotive product group (car accessories) were the best sellers (+103.8 percent), followed by household goods (+88.9 percent) and electrical accessories (+68.8 percent).

Incidentally, no product group slipped into the red.

As a trade association, the BHB represents the interests of the trading companies for DIY, building and gardening from Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

According to the information provided, the total gross sales of DIY stores in Germany reached around 20.33 billion euros last year.

This not only includes products related to the garden, but also from areas such as sanitary, painting accessories and building materials.

The industry giants include Obi, Bauhaus, Hornbach, Hagebau and Toom.