Installation services, the next frontier?

Shopping for a fridge is easy. You go to your local electrical retailer and pick a fridge. It gets delivered, and placed where you want it. They even take the packaging with them when they leave. Shopping for home improvements is not so simple, particularly when they leave. Shopping for home improvements is not so simple, particularly for bigger ticket items and projects. The process of planning, ordering, arranging delivery and finally installing the products is long and complicated for Do-It-Yourself - and prone to failure and disappointment. In practice many projects involve tradesmen to some degree as do-it-for-me, which works well if the homeowner knows the tradesmen, or they've been recommended. It's a bit hit or miss if they don't.

Builders' Merhcants have traditionally shied away from installation. Would trade customers see it as competition? Would they be any good at it? A few have dipped their toe in. Almost all have seen it as a diversification of last resort.

But in the US, The Home Depot, which caters unashamedly to homeowners and professional tradesmen, saw home installation services as a major opportunity. And it's proved a hit with homeowners and trade customers, as well as powering the company's revenues and profits. The service varies by product sector from survey, sell and fix, to supply and fit only. Products span decking, garages, insulation, HVAC, flooring, roofing, kitchens, bathrooms, hard landscaping, guttering and windows, and much else besides. Starting in 1979 with three stores, The Home Depot now has over 1,900 stores, 325,000 employees, sales of $78bn and $5bn net earnings. It is the largest home improvement company in the world, and it has plans for the UK.

This strategy has benfited The Home Depot and its trade customers. The rules are clear cut and above bard, so everyone knows where they stand. The Home Depot's independent installers and service providers have an additional source of work and The Home Depot's homeowner customers can choose to do it themselves or get the professional help they need to ensure a happy outcome. Trade and consumers mix comfortably and freely in store without the background resentment or awkwardness you find in many UK Builders' Merchants where the conflicts between trade and retail have never been properly resolved. Many homeowners still feel unwelcome and comfortable in a Builders' Merchant, and the trade often feel they slow things down.

B&Q offers a cut down version of The Home Depot's service, but it has had less success. Perhaps it's a question of implementation. Some Merchants have a recommendation service or allow customers to pin their business cards on a notice board. but that leaves it up to the homeowner to do it all themselves. Today's homeowners are cash rich and time poor. There are still many enthusiastic DIYers, but while they have the interest a growing number don't have the time or inclination to learn the knowledge and skills they need to do a good job themselves.

Done well, experience shows that trade customers welcome the extra business. And partnering, for that is what it is, is having a decisive impact elsewhere in social housing and even major capital projects such as T5 at Heathrow. Could installation services be next?