Survey: Home Depot most popular for home-improvement needs

Columbus, Ohio About 31.5% of consumers choose The Home Depot most often for their home-improvement needs, according to the Feb. 2009 Retail Ratings Report from BIGresearch. Lowe’s came in second place with 25.8% of the consumer share, while Walmart (5.6%) came in third.

Home Depot’s share increased one and a half points among all adults from Feb. 2008 (30%), resulting in a positive Consumer Equity Index of 104.93. Lowe’s has made gains in consumer share as well (23.7% in Feb. 2008), with a CEI of 108.78. Walmart’s overall share is flat from last year (5.5%), giving the discount giant a CEI of 100.53. (CEI measures growth in share of customer preference year-over-year. An index of 100 is flat, while an index of 105 indicates 5% growth.)

“Although Home Depot generally maintains a strong lead across gender and income segments, there is a bright spot for Lowe’s when it comes to the 90-day outlook,” said Pam Goodfellow, senior analyst, BIGresearch. “38.2% of consumers planning to spend more on home-improvement purchases over the next three months shop at Lowe’s most often, compared with 35.7%, who head to Home Depot.”