France’s home improvement market grew by 13 per cent in 2020

In 2020, the French DIY market grew by 13 per cent to a volume of 31 bn euros, by far the strongest growth in the last twenty years. The huge rise is down to the Covid-19 pandemic, as the manufacturers' and retailers' associations Inoha and FMB explained at a press conference aired on the Internet.
The growth in sales of the DIY stores was only half as great at 6.5 per cent, however, although the growth generated by their online business was 111 per cent. Bricks-and-mortar stores realised total sales worth 20.839 bn euros, equivalent to a share of 67 per cent of the market. E-commerce sales came to 938 mio euro, accounting for 3 per cent of the overall market.
With regard to the market shares of the individual DIY store groups, any changes in 2020 were relatively small. Market leader Adeo (9.3 bn euros) fell by one percentage point to 43 per cent due to a decline of one percentage point in the share of its main distribution channel Leroy Merlin to 36 per cent (7.724 bn euros) (also Weldom and Bricoman). Kingfisher's share of 27 per cent (5.7 bn euros) remained the same (Castorama and Brico Dépôt). The three distribution channels of the Les Mousquetaires group (3.2 bn euros, Bricomarché, Bricocash, Bricorama, Batkor) gained one point and thus have a share of 15 per cent. Mr. Bricolage (including Les Birconautes) has retained a share of 8 per cent.
Figures were also presented for evaluating DIY store formats. Stores with a retail area of less than 4 000 m² experienced the highest growth both in total sales (11 per cent) and in sales per square metre (12 per cent). The big boxes covering over 10 000 m² saw increases of 4 and 8 per cent respectively. The poorest-performing stores were the medium-sized outlets, where the increase in sales per square metre of 3 per cent was even below the sales increase of 4 per cent.