Total Builders Merchants August 2021 value sales were up 23.0% compared with the same month last year, with one more trading day this year. Eleven of the twelve categories sold more. Timber & Joinery Products (+51.5%) did best, recording its third-highest ever monthly BMBI sales. Other categories saw good but slower growth, including Heavy Building Materials (+16.9%), Landscaping (+11.5%) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (+11.3%). Only Workwear & Safetywear (-2.7%) sold less this year. Overall average sales a day, which take trading day differences into account and provide a like-for-like comparison, were 17.1% higher than in August 2020.
August 2021 v August 2019
Compared with two years ago, Total Merchants sales were up 18.2% in August 2021, with no difference in trading days. As in July, this growth was mainly driven by two categories: Timber & Joinery Products (+48.4%) and Landscaping (+29.7%). Only three other categories achieved higher 2-year sales: largest category, Heavy Building Materials (+10.1%), Services (+9.7%) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (+2.9%). The other seven categories sold less, including Plumbing Heating & Electrical (-0.6%), Tools (-1.5%) and Decorating (-3.1%).
Month-on-Month
Total Merchants sales were 7.9% lower in August than in July, with no difference in trading days. Only Workwear & Safetywear (+3.1%) sold more. Categories selling less included Plumbing Heating & Electrical (-3.6%), Kitchens & Bathrooms (-6.5%), Heavy Building Materials (-7.2%) and Timber & Joinery Products (-8.6%). Landscaping (-14.4%) was weakest.
Last three months, year on year
Total sales in the three months June to August 2021 were 22.1% up on the same period last year, with one less trading day this year. Eleven of the twelve categories sold more. Timber & Joinery Products (+50.2%) was especially strong, followed by Plumbing Heating & Electrical (+22.8%). Kitchens & Bathrooms (21.4%), Heavy Building Materials (+16.0%), Decorating (+10.9%) also grew strongly. Landscaping increased +4.4%. Only Workwear & Safetywear (-8.5%) sold less. Overall like-for-like sales increased by 24.0%.
Last 3 months v 2019
Compared with two years ago, total sales in the latest three months were 20.9% higher than in June to August 2019, with no difference in trading days. Two categories did particularly well: Timber & Joinery Products (+50.7%) and Landscaping (+36.7%). Five categories grew more slowly, including Heavy Building Materials (+12.2%) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (+3.9%). The remaining five product channels all sold slightly less, with Miscellaneous (-3.3%) weakest.
Last 3 months v previous 3 months
Total sales in June to August were 0.8% higher than in March to May, with two more trading days in the most recent period. Three categories sold more, led by Timber & Joinery Products (+10.8%) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (+7.0%). The remaining nine categories sold less, including Heavy Building Materials (-0.2%), Plumbing Heating & Electrical (-6.0%) and Tools (-11.6%). Landscaping (-12.1%) was weakest. Like-for-like sales across all merchants were 2.4% lower than in March to May.
Year to date, year on year
Total Merchants January to August 2021 sales were up 39.6% compared with Covid-affected January to August 2020 and all categories sold more. There were two less trading days this year. Timber & Joinery (+65.3) was the top-performer, followed by Tools (+41.3%) and Landscaping (+40.2%). Other categories also grew strongly: Kitchens & Bathrooms (+32.8), Plumbing Heating & Electrical (+32.5%), Heavy Building Materials (+31.9%) and Ironmongery (+30.0%). Only Workwear & Safetywear (+4.1%) failed to achieve double-digit growth. Total like-for-like sales were 41.3% higher.
Year to date v 2019
Total sales in the eight months to August 2021 were up 14.0% on January to August 2019, with two less trading days this year. Seven of the twelve categories sold more. Landscaping (+37.6%) and Timber & Joinery Products (+33.4%) did best. Heavy Building Materials (+6.9%) and Workwear & Safetywear (+5.4%) grew more slowly. Of five categories selling less, Decorating (-2.6%) was weakest. Overall like-for-like sales were 15.4% higher this year.
MAT
Total Merchants sales in September 2020 to August 2021 were 27.8% higher than in the same 12 months a year earlier, with no difference in trading days. All categories sold more. Timber & Joinery Products (+46.3%) and Landscaping (+36.2%) dominated. But Tools (+24.6%) and Heavy Building Materials (+22.4%) were also strong. Workwear & Safetywear (+1.7%) had the lowest growth.
Index
August’s overall BMBI index was 139.3, helped by strong performances from Timber & Joinery Products (182.6) and Landscaping (175.3). Seven other categories recorded indices exceeding 100, including Heavy Building Materials (127.0), Ironmongery (120.2) and Kitchens & Bathrooms (118.3). Weakest were Workwear & Safetywear (95.7), Tools (93.6) and Renewables (70.6).
