The number of consumers that purchase sealants online is still small across Europe but has seen some steady growth amongst millennials and in countries like Germany and Poland.

The European Home Improvement Monitor (EHIM), which measures online buying and decision making for over 100 home improvement products, has reported that sales of sealants via the internet has been steadily growing in recent years, with some big differences between countries and generations.

Sealants are not a typical product that consumers purchase online. Traditionally most consumers buy this at their local DIY store, according to the EHIM, due to the fact that sealants are, in most cases, part of a larger basket of products that are needed for a home improvement project. Besides that, the product is often needed right away and, therefore, it is easier for most consumers to buy this in their usual DIY shop.

However, some differences have been flagged up between countries, with 7.8% of Polish consumers and 6.3% of German shoppers purchasing sealants online most often. Meanwhile, consumers in the Netherlands and Belgium hardly ever purchase sealants online, at 1.2% and 0.9% respectively. The UK market was above average, with 4.4% of consumers opting to buy sealant produucts online, however, this figure had come down from the 5.6% reported in 2016.
 
Looking at buying patterns of younger consumers, EHIM noted that, in general they have less experience and knowledge when it comes to home improvement, meaning their need for information on this is higher when they start a home improvement project. This is reflected in the share of millennial consumers that research online before purchasing a home improvement product and, in turn revealed that it is twice as likely that consumers in this age bracket would buy a sealant online compared with the 35+ age group.

The EHIM concluded that the group of consumers that that purchase sealants online differs from “the regular consumer” in that they are younger, have fewer skills and less knowledge about DIY products. For retailers looking for success in the category online, informative how-to-videos and social confirmation through recommendations are key in order to close the sealant sale online. 
 
The European Home Improvement Monitor is commissioned by USP Marketing Consultancy, and surveys 26,400 home improvement consumers across 11 European countries to gather key insights about the market and consumer behaviour.