DIY Forum

On April 1, the first day of the MosBuild 2025 exhibition, the DIY Forum will be held at its venue — the largest event in the industry, which brings together key industry participants every year at the beginning of the business season. In anticipation of the forum, we traditionally asked the speakers to talk about the main results of the past year, current market trends and the topics that they will discuss at the DIY Forum.

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Yuri Ksenafontov, Commercial Director of Baucenter

What do you think are the main results of 2024 in the DIY market and forecasts for 2025?

I would point out a number of trends, each of which was of great importance for the industry.

Deferred demand for real estate. Buyer behavior in the DIY market is largely dictated by the situation in the real estate sector. 2024 was marked by an increase in the average base mortgage rate to 26% and, as a result, the unavailability of mortgage loans. There was no collapse in prices, but the number of transactions for the purchase of housing decreased by 25%. Deferred demand is growing, people prefer to renovate their existing apartments, and buyers' interest in the secondary market has increased.

Rising prices for materials for construction and repair. Against the backdrop of rising inflation, which, according to Rosstat, amounted to 9.52%, and in reality, according to our estimates, reached 15%, the growth of purchase and retail prices at the end of the year was recorded at 7.8% and 8%, respectively.

Increase in purchase prices during the year

Increase in costs and expenses . In this area, the main areas were: growth of investments in personnel, primarily the wage fund; transportation costs and logistics infrastructure; acquiring and investments in customer service, to which we pay great attention and consider one of the priority areas of the company's development.

Inaccessibility of credit funds. It is dictated by the high rate of lending to legal entities. If in January-March the lending rate was 19-21%, then at the beginning of February 2025 it reached 24.5%.

Shortage of personnel . A common problem of the market, which all its participants have noted for the second year already.

Growing competition. We see increased competition between the largest players and active development of online sales. According to the results of 2024, their total growth, taking into account marketplaces, was 23%. The advance of marketplaces on the DIY market continues, and this trend will remain mainstream in the coming years. We also note the closure of small players and salons.

In the area of customer behavior, the following were relevant:

// the transition of some buyers to the economy segment;

// reduction in the share of the target audience "Novosely", which is dictated by changes in the mortgage market. Accordingly, the share of decorative and interior goods, as well as goods for repairs, has increased in the composition of the shopping basket, while sales of goods for construction and rough finishing have dropped.

What will we see on the market this year? Inevitably, further growth of marketplaces; an increase in online sales and a focus on the quality of content on the network. We also note interest in private labels and the activation of the Do It For Me approach - consumers increasingly prefer to do repairs not on their own, but to turn to specialists.

In general, the market will be characterized by the development of the B2B segment and the development of individual housing construction.

What are the main results of your company's work?

Baucenter ended 2024 with revenue of 48.8 billion rubles excluding VAT and a growth of 16.7%. Important areas of work for us were: development of sales of Bathroom and KITCHEN projects (51,987 projects; 3.8 billion rubles cost of goods by projects (+33% compared to 2023); launch of a selling mobile application and renovation of the website; development of our own brands and direct import from countries such as China, India and Turkey, opening of the Krasnodar-3 shopping center.

What will you talk about at the DIY Forum and how will these topics help market participants develop their businesses?

Against the backdrop of the results of 2024 and prospects for 2025, the main topics that we plan to cover at the forum will be customer retention and increasing their loyalty, the fight for buyers and, in general, ways to increase competitiveness in the modern market

Why is participation in the DIY Forum important to you and what are your expectations from it?

The DIY Forum at MosBuild is one of the main platforms where you can share your own successes and achievements with your market colleagues, exchange opinions at the start of the business year, discuss the main trends in the development of the DIY industry and trends for 2025.

DIY Forum — the largest business event in Russia dedicated to the do-it-yourself market — will be held at MosBuild 2025 for the 13th time. The forum program includes speeches by the heads of the largest retail chains, marketplaces and manufacturers of construction and finishing materials, discussions of business solutions and fresh market reviews.

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Trend the coming years on market DIY — activation approaches Do It For Me