This year’s HIRI Summit was, like most conferences and events in 2020, held a little differently — though that didn’t take away from the wealth of knowledge the panel of experts imparted.
The HIRI Virtual Summit 2020 event provided attendees access to valuable data and market research on home improvement over a three-day span. The best part was, this year, registrants could attend from wherever they were, at no cost.
The construction industry has seen monumental shifts and significant economic changes in recent years (not to mention the last few months). It’s an understatement to say that business hasn’t been predictable.
It can help to get some perspective — or at least a way to navigate through the changes and trends. A HIRI membership offers its members a glimpse of just that: the bigger picture.
Home-basing is a term coined by Trusted Media Brands and refers to the act of staying home and creating experiences there, as opposed to going out on the town. This trend has become especially popular with quarantines and stay-at-home orders in place around the country this year.
The HIRI 2020 Virtual Summit included a presentation by Nick Grzechowiak, Chief Content Officer at Trusted Media Brands, on this trend. Entitled “Home Basing: Trends and Insights on Your Most Valuable Investment,” it explored the trends in homeowner and DIYer purchasing activity and helped Summit attendees understand the data that current market research reveals around home-basing.
To measure the current economic climate and understand purchasing behavior in home improvement, the COVID-19 Impact Tracker was developed and used to research consumer purchases from home improvement stores by the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) in partnership with The Farnsworth Group.
HIRI and The Farnsworth Group made it a priority to study home improvement shopping behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, the impact of COVID on the behavior of home improvement professionals and DIYers have been significant, and we tracked this information on a regular basis to stay on top of the trend.
When home improvement companies share knowledge and create relationships with others in the industry, everyone wins.
As the only non-profit organization dedicated to home improvement research, we aim to provide our members with fundamental home improvement needed to make the best decisions for their businesses. That’s why we want to be able to answer all the questions both our members and potential members may have about membership. We want to make this process as easy and streamlined as possible.
The Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) and The Farnsworth Group partnered up for the past three months to conduct essential research regarding project requests and closures, homeowner DIY purchases, contractor business, and materials supply trends in the wake of COVID-19.
The home improvement industry has seen significant shifts this year, especially with the rise of DIY projects due to stay-at-home orders. Keeping up with how homeowners and construction professionals make their purchasing decisions is a challenge.
Research is a form of scientific investigation that uses empirical methods to collect data through various methodologies, is topical and always begins with an industry question. The data gathered and/or disseminated is then used to inform industry professionals, such as those in the home improvement industry, so they can make appropriate decisions that are relevant to their own goals.
Not all home improvement research is conducted the same, however. While there are multiple methodologies used in research, the two main research types are primary and secondary research. It’s important for home improvement industry professionals to know the difference between them and what benefits each research type can bring to their knowledge and project execution.
Offered by the Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) in partnership with Kantar Futures, the Future of Home Improvement study aims to identify how consumer trends will influence products and services that homeowners will demand in the next two to five years.
After posting strong market growth last year, the home improvement products market is expected to grow by an additional 5.3 percent in 2018. Housing starts are also projected to grow due to rising demand, lean inventories and rising prices.
The Home Improvement Research Institute (HIRI) partnered with IHS Markit to develop the U.S. Size of Market Report. This report delves into the recent IHS Economics forecast and looks at the forecast for the U.S. market through 2022.
