April 2022

The Business Pilot Barometer
DOWN - BUT NOT OUT...YET
Neil Cooper-Smith, Senior Analyst at Business Pilot, gathers the data on the first quarter of
2022, and analyses what impact it has had on the sector, before looking ahead to Q2...
Business Pilot Barometer Edition 27: April 2022
It’s a big figure but probably only reinforces
something that retailers have instinctively
known; average order values crashed in the
last month – by more than 50%.
This is consistent with what we have picked
up anecdotally from our customers. Big ticket
items and whole house replacements have been
harder to get across the line, but single items,
replacement doors, distress purchases, have
continued to move.
If they aren’t spending as big, homeowners are,
however, still spending.
Average sales were up almost 15% last month,
leads were also up 14%, reversing the fall
recorded in February on January.
So, what can we take from this month’s figures?
Homeowners are definitely more cautious.
The Government safety net – furlough – has been
pulled from underneath them.
The Stamp Duty breaks aren’t there, and the
housing market has slowed down – at least in
the sense that the number of transactions have
fallen.
Despite this, end-users are still exhibiting a
desire or an aspiration to buy new windows and
doors – their resilience financial or otherwise,
longer term, is more difficult to gauge.
Conversion rates remained flat in March at
around 33%, where they have been hovering all
year. This compares to the 37.7% in summer last
year, a time when the total number of leads was
also 8% higher than last month’s figure.
In summary then, leads are significantly down on
the hiatus of last summer and despite the monthon-month
resurgence seen in March on February
this year, they are harder to convert and coming
in at lower value.
As we have highlighted, Government incentives
have gone – and have been replaced indirectly by
disincentives to invest in home improvements, so
in a sense this shouldn’t be a surprise.
This includes massive increases in energy bills,
which will see average household energy costs
top £2,000 this year, this is on top of inflation
and the uncertainty and volatility created by the
conflict in the Ukraine.
The latter particularly has, in our view,
accelerated the cooling of the market seen at the
start of this year.
As consumers adjust to continuing political and
economic uncertainty, alongside the seasonal
appeal of products, we may see a moderate
return of confidence in the months ahead.
The landscape has shifted
Fundamentally, however, the landscape has
shifted.
We are also still to see the impact of the lifting of
the energy price cap and how consumers respond
to it. While reducing disposable income, it brings
energy efficiency into clear focus, creating market
opportunities for windows and doors.
The Business Pilot Barometer offers a monthly analysis of the key trends defining window and door
retail, drawing on real industry data collated by the Business Pilot customer relationship management
system (CRM). Business Pilot uses cloud-based technologies to give installers complete visibility of every
element of their operation from leads and conversions to job scheduling, cost of installation, service
calls, and financial reporting.
www.businesspilot.co.uk www.businesspilot.co.uk/barometer
12 T I APRIL 2022
PRACTICAL CONTENT FOR THE GLAZING INSTALLER & HOME IMPROVEMENT SPECIALIST