Online On-Demand Home Services Market Trend Shows 52% Y-O-Y Growth in 2022

By: Will Housh

What’s Going On with this New Trend?

The statistics are mind-blowing! The global market for online on-demand home services was estimated at $281.9 Billion USD in the year 2020 and is projected to reach $4.1 Trillion USD by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 46.7% through 2020-2027 (per GlobalNewsWire). Home services year-over-year growth is more than 52% even as recession begins to hit the USA (per Yahoo Finance).

Ecommerce sales were $870 billion in the US in 2021. That is a 14.2% increase over 2020 and a 50.5% increase over 2019. E-commerce sales represented 13.2% of all retail sales in 2021 in the US (per Forbes). 

These numbers show us online sales are only continuing to grow. It is only a matter of time before all industries (yes, I am looking at you, home services) are affected and will need to offer online buying options or risk falling behind the competition. 

A recent change in lifestyle in many US households, most likely brought about by people working from home now more than ever before, is fueling tremendous growth within the home services industry across all regions of the country.  Furthermore, a quickly escalating number of home service providers are now choosing to tap into their consumers at home via online stores.

Why Is This Happening?

Many customers don’t want to talk to a person on the phone; phone calls feel like interruptions and they often won’t even answer. Millennials prefer to do their own research, come to their own conclusions about what products to buy, and purchase these products online. 

Online shopping is easy, convenient, and fun. Everyone is starting to realize that when you buy online, you can compare prices, read reviews, and have it delivered right to your door. The reasons for going to a physical store continue to minimize, especially for younger buyers.

Amazon’s growth during the pandemic increased substantially, yet that growth now appears to be sustained even post-pandemic! So, what kind of marketing and advertising is working best for the home services industry? 

What’s Working Best

With so many different platforms available to the home services industry today, which ones work best?

• Open an online store. Customers want seamless buying. This means that they want to shop when it’s convenient for them, without dealing with salespeople. A smart online store gives your customers what they want, when they want it. 

The research tells us that an online store is your single best option for growing company revenue quickly. 

Online stores are also a great vehicle for generating needed revenue to hit your month-end sales goals. Simply run end-of-month specials and watch your revenue soar.

• Grow your organic social media presence. With your online business, you’ll want to take every opportunity to boost your digital engagement. One of the easiest and most effective ways to do this is to make sure your social media channels are stocked with vibrant images and engaging videos. This is a great opportunity for HVAC companies.
• Utilize and keep building your email list. It’s important to have a strong email marketing strategy. Collect as many email addresses as you can from customers, prospective customers, and people interested in your events. When you launch, you’ll be able to send an email to all of those people letting them know your online store is open and ready for business!
• Optimize your website for SEO. Search engine optimization (SEO) encompasses many things and trying to optimize can feel overwhelmed if you’re just starting an online business. A good place to begin is to put yourself in the mind of your user – how does your target audience talk about your products, and what do they want to know? Start there.
• Partner with complementary brands. You can also create partnerships with other brands to cross-promote your products. Find a business with a similar target audience, but a complementary service. That way, each business partner is reaching a new, yet still relevant, audience. For example, if you sell HVAC services, a relevant partnership could be with a brand focused on plumbing. Actual methods for cross-promotion can vary, and there are ways you can do it at every level of the funnel. Large capture (top of funnel) activities can be things like co-sponsoring a home improvement podcast or blog. You could attempt more targeted (down-funnel) promotions like offering a discount on one product with the purchase of another.
• Try Google Ads. Using Google ads for search engine marketing gives you an opportunity to bid on keywords so you can show up first on search engine result pages. Getting the coveted top spot is what search engine optimization is all about. Keep in mind, Google ads will still show up first. Search engine marketing is a great way to advertise your website because it doesn’t require any design and can be effective in driving new traffic. You’ll get results in real-time and can adjust your campaign strategies based on performance as you go. 
• Advertise on social platforms.  Social media is a great place to focus ad spend because you know people are spending time on social platforms. If your audience spends a lot of time on Instagram but not Twitter, be sure to focus your spending on Instagram first.
• Use photos and videos in your ads. A photo ad can be a great way to get your product or service in front of new people. Try simple, engaging imagery of your services and adjust your tactics based on how well your ad performs in the first few weeks.
• Leverage Your Expertise: Participate in webinars, online events, and discussions.  As online communication and events surge, there may be opportunities to increase brand awareness with target communities. Leverage your expertise by participating in webinars or virtual conferences to get the word out about your business

The Content That Resonates

Creating engaging content for people looking for your service is key to bringing traffic to your site and providing helpful information to position your brand as an authoritative voice in your vertical. Here’s how!

• Pay attention to on-page content. On-page content refers to all the content on your site – your service offerings and descriptions, images, and blogs. You will want to make sure the content not only answers your customer’s questions but also naturally uses the language your customers use when searching for related services.
• Case Studies and testimonials. Potential customers want to see reviews and real-life experiences. Case studies and testimonials create trust and credibility within your organization by allowing you to give social proof of your service. Leveraging the relationships with your big-name clients can also help to increase your brand awareness.
• Title tags & meta tags. Title tags are like headlines for a search engine, helping the search engine figure out what each page is about. Each page of your website should have various title tags and headers in order to help with ranking on search engines. Meta descriptions are short summaries of each page. When your site shows up on a search engine results page, users will see your title tags and meta description before anything else.

Remember To Leverage Your Offline Activities

Most people agree that having an online store is a must in 2022 and beyond.  If your brick-and-mortar business has great name recognition and a loyal following, you can use your in-person time with your customers to help drive traffic to your new online store. How do we make this happen?

• Use non-intrusive ways to help customers stay engaged with your brand even after they leave your location or after you leave their home. This can include asking them to sign up for your email list, letting them know about a customer loyalty program or maintenance membership program, and drawing attention to promotions on social media so they can follow and share.
• Consider offering flyers with promotion codes that customers can share with friends and family. Your customers can be your greatest asset to spread your message far and wide.

Next Step for Success

Selling online for the first time or up-leveling your online on-demand presence to become a vital retail channel can seem daunting for many in the home services industry. We are here to tell you it’s more than doable — especially if you take it one step at a time. Stay consistent, be patient, and don’t let yourself get overwhelmed by doing too much at once.

With the trends we’ve been seeing for online shopping and e-commerce, a good place to start is by creating an online store. Without this buying option, you risk losing out on market share in your industry as online shopping continues to grow in all areas of business.  

Here at Contractor Commerce, we have contractor success coaches ready to make your online store implementation process quick and seamless. We can get an online store running on your website in as little as 5 minutes. Request a demo today!

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