Golden homes and gardens: Shift in demand by German consumers due to COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Research background: The COVID-19 pandemic led to a change in consumer demand behavior worldwide. Due to the pandemic, individual sectors and industries experienced enormous demand or significant decreases in demand. Hardly any sector or industry remained unaffected by the influences and consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the many worldwide restrictions of private travel, many German consumers stayed in their home country. German tourists are internationally regarded as world champions in travel, so the lack of private long-distance travel led to implications for other sectors. Another trend that has emerged in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic is the so-called cocooning. Cocooning is the term used by trend researchers to describe a tendency for consumers to increasingly withdraw from civil society and the public sphere into their private lives at home. This combination of a lack of private travel and a retreat into private domestic life has led to enormous growth in the furniture, household goods, garden, and home improvement sectors. Purpose of the article: The pandemic-related shift in demand is examined using secondary market data. These are first systematically researched, reviewed, and analyzed. Then, by using growth figures, the German home and garden market is examined based on sales figures and pandemic-related changes are shown. Furthermore, the individual sales channels, the relevant market players, and market shares under the pandemic’s influence will be analyzed. Methods: Systematic analysis of market information and datasets in the home and gardening sector in Germany. Findings & Value added: Creation of an information base regarding the shift in demand of German consumers in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.