Jewson and Bradfords struggle with mobile page speed

Why are so many DIY and construction brands behind on their mobile site speed, and why does it matter? We dive into what issues this could be causing for businesses.

Rob Allen - Home Improvement Specialist

For retailers in the home improvement space, site speed and user experience are the difference between winning a conversion or losing a customer. When your potential customers realise they need last-minute supplies for either a DIY or professional home improvement project, you need to be able to provide an efficient experience that minimises hassle and ensures they can find what they need quickly.

We know that just 1 second can reduce conversion rates by up to 20% and, when you’re catering to potentially time-poor customers who need an item rather than want it, being able to load your page quickly and conveniently is essential.

Which construction retailer has the best mobile site speed?

Looking at the 12 leading home improvement brands we’ve reported on, none of these brands achieved Google’s ‘okay’ score of 50-89. In fact, with Google rating anything below this as ‘bad’, there’s clearly;

1. A lot of room for improvement all-round and,
2. A strong opportunity for individual brands to excel above the competition.

DIY.com and Selco Builders Warehouse secure the highest Mobile Page Speed scores with 45 and 44. With some time invested in their user experience and conversion rate optimisation, they can use this head start to stride ahead of their competition even further.

At the bottom end of the site speed scale are Plumbworld (15), Jewson (11), and Bradfords (11). Though these scores are concerningly low, with the entire sector performing poorly, there’s no reason these businesses can’t also make key changes that rocket them ahead.

How do leading home improvement stores score on mobile site speed?

• DIY.com - 45
• Selco Builders Warehouse - 44
• Travis Perkins - 39
• Wolseley - 38
• Wickes - 36
• Homebase – 28
• Screwfix - 21
• Toolstation - 17
• City Plumbing - 16
• Plumbworld - 15
• Jewson - 11
• Bradfords – 11

Why might construction sites have low Mobile page speed scores?

So, why does page speed seem such an issue for these construction brands? With low scores across the board, mobile page speed is clearly not a key concern when it comes to how these businesses optimise their digital performance. This could be down to them simply seeing comparatively little traffic from mobile users, or these brands preferring to secure in-store traffic rather than online conversions.

However, with mobile searches now outnumbering desktop searches globally, being able to score well on mobile site speed will put you in Google’s good books – regardless of how your users are finding you, or what you want your end goal to be.

GET THE FULL 70-PAGE Q2 2022 REPORT

To get a copy of the full report, please complete the enquiry form. If you want to talk to us about accelerating your digital performance, please call us on call 01543 410014 or schedule a call with Rob Allen.

Photo by Sam Clarke on Unsplash