I like to keep my eye on the ‘Google trends’ application to see the search volume for a number of key search terms. ‘Conservatories’ and ‘Double Glazing’ are the real biggies for companies trying to generate traffic for their websites.
What has been clear in the industry, and is highlighted using this application, is that 2003/2004 was the peak for our industry and it’s been downhill ever since. When you consider that overall search traffic in the UK has increased over the years, the following graph showing the search traffic trend for conservatories, double glazing and uPVC windows has not been positive.
Although, I do not invest in market reports, I assume the data supplied by Palmer Market Research and D&G Consulting will show a similar trend for sales volumes and the effect it has had on our industry.
The biggest decline seems to have been for people searching for ‘conservatories‘, as the following screenshot shows:
When you look at the past 12 months, though, the signs are a bit more positive I feel. Hopefully, things are bottoming out. There’s bound to be the usual dip in interest over the next 2 months as potential customers stop thinking about the products we sell, and start thinking about Christmas. (God – I hate Christmas!)
It is clear to me from these results that stability has returned:
I think it is too much to expect any growth in interest next year, but stability would be nice as the industry consolidates from the aftermath of a recession and saturation in the conservatory, window and door market.
Tags: Conservatories, d and g consulting, Double Glazing, google trends, palmer market research, uPVC Windows
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I think the industry will take a big hit over the winter. I’ve read a couple of articles in two industry magazines both warning that the pick up in trade over the last couple of months is likely to be a false dawn, and that we still have a hell of a hill to climb to get back to any decent levels of growth. Also, the last quarterly figures showing we are still in recession may dampen the spending moods of a lot of people. If we still haven’t come out of recession by the end of the year 2010 could be a tough one.