Women Drive Up Kitchen and Bath Sales

Women lead kitchen and bath home improvement spending. Last year nearly half of the U.S. population made a kitchen and bath home improvement purchase either in stores or online. More than half of those purchases were by women.

Kitchen Consumer Market
“According to Checkout information from The NPD Group, women were more likely to buy kitchen and bath products than lawn and garden, paint, hardware, or other home improvement products. Last year, women accounted for nearly 60% of kitchen and bath products sold online, and 52% of in-store sales.” Additionally, women purchased more kitchen cabinets in stores or showrooms, and bought more showerheads and faucets online.

The rise in the home improvement market purchases by women also coincides with higher rates of home purchasing by women in 2020. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), single, female buyers accounted for 19% of the homes purchased in 2020, the highest it’s been in 10 years. The median age of single, female repeat home buyers is 59. According to NPD’s Checkout information, women age 55 and up spent the most on annual kitchen and bath home improvements, while women age 18 to 24 posted the largest annual spending increase.

Continued Home improvement Growth
The pandemic resulted in a boom of home improvement projects. With more people spending more time in their homes, naturally they wanted to make their living spaces more comfortable. Additionally, cooking and baking at home has been another trend inspired by the pandemic, as well as home pampering since spa and massage parlors were closed throughout the pandemic. It only makes sense that homeowners wanted to improve their kitchens and bathrooms in response to these lifestyle trends.

Consumer’s appetite for home improvement is insatiable. Homeowners continue to improve the aesthetics of their homes and yards.  Home improvement contractors and retailers should be targeting the home improvement and restoration buyer with visual ads. According to AudienceSCAN, last year, these consumers acted after receiving direct mail ads (63.7%) and seeing TV commercials (61.2%), ads on social media (54.2%) and outdoor ads (36.9%). They’re also 20% more likely than other consumers to take action after receiving email ads (54.1%).

Source: “Women Lead Kitchen and Bath Improvement Spending in the U.S., reports NPD.” Npd.com. May 2021. Web. Jun. 2021. IAB Taxonomy: Home & Garden, Remodeling & Construction