Company news

Galaxus DIY range now the largest in Switzerland

8.6.2023

Hardly any Galaxus product category has seen growth as stark as DIY + Garden over the past three years, both in terms of sales and range size. With the range now numbering more than 500,000 products, Galaxus has become the largest DIY store in Switzerland, both online and offline. Said range has doubled within the space of a year, with every fourth franc spent on DIY products coming from the pocket of a professional tradesperson.

DIY is all the rage, but what we think of as DIY today emerged as early as the 1950s. Back then, people began rushing out to buy drills, custom wood and garden rakes. Money was in short supply, so building things yourself was the done thing. These days, DIY isn’t just a question of money (or the lack of it) – it can also be a status symbol. People who’re able to roll up their sleeves and work with their hands are considered self-sufficient and creative by friends and acquaintances. The pandemic reinforced this trend; not being allowed to leave the house meant more time for home improvements.

This is also reflected in the sales figures of Galaxus’s range of DIY products in Switzerland. «The product range has grown immensely,» says Adrian Burger, Category Business Manager at Galaxus in Zurich. «Power tools are highly sought-after. Incidentally, customers are increasingly opting for battery-powered tools – even those working as professional tradespeople.» Be it for homes or construction sites, customers are heading online for supplies, no longer shopping solely at brick-and-mortar DIY stores. «Online retailers have an advantage over brick-and-mortar DIY stores in the form of a wide selection of brands and products,» Adrian says. «If I need a new battery for a tool and have a brand in mind that I trust, that’s enough for me to decide to buy it. I briefly check the brand as well as technical specs such as voltage and capacity, then comes the click.» The massive expansion of its product range in recent years has made Galaxus the largest DIY store in Switzerland, ahead of well-known brick-and-mortar home improvement chains.

B-to-B share increases to 25 per cent: construction pros ordering directly to their workshops

Online retail with business customers has recently gained in importance, with an increasing number of Galaxus orders stemming from corporate customers. In the DIY sector, too, professionals are increasingly turning to online retailers, taking advantage of the wider selection and quantity discounts. Twenty-five per cent of sales in Galaxus’s DIY product category can be traced back to B-to-B customers. «Those in the construction trades work under significant time pressure. So when they’re in a pinch, they can order products such as batteries, drills and saws directly to the workshop by same-day delivery,» says Julia Gerwien, Portfolio Development Manager at Galaxus. «Many SMEs don’t have a purchasing department; it’s the owner or master craftsperson who takes care of procurement. They prefer to place orders as conveniently as they would in their personal lives.»

Where do you buy your tools? What’s important to you when shopping in a DIY store? Is our product range missing anything? Let us know in the comments.