US hardware store sales continue building off of 2020 success

The forecast: Home improvement stores, like The Home Depot and Lowe's, continue to see US sales surge as the pandemic-propelled demand for DIY and home improvement projects continues through 2021.

• We forecast ecommerce growth at The Home Depot will reach 18.0% in 2021 for a total of $21.42 billion in sales.
• Ecommerce sales will have more than doubled at The Home Depot since 2019, when its US ecommerce sales were just under $10 billion.
• Lowe's saw similar growth as its ecommerce sales skyrocketed by 140% from 2019 to 2021.

What’s behind this? A perfect storm of factors influenced this home improvement ecommerce boom, from people hesitating to visit stores in person during the pandemic to bored and homebound US adults taking on transformative DIY tasks. The ecommerce growth was also jump-started by US adults’ stimulus checks, as well as an explosive housing market.

Looking ahead: Home improvement stores still saw smashing growth in the first half of 2021, but as the economy reopens and US consumer behavior is less driven by the pandemic, we may see more normal-paced growth rates for the second half of the year.