Indonesia, the world’s fourth most populous country, has some 5000 stores supplying home improvement materials to consumers.

And demand is booming as rising income levels allow locals to invest more in upgrading their homes – and a growing population seeks more accommodation.

“As more dwellings are being built to meet the needs of a growing population in and around the major cities of Indonesia, we can certainly anticipate surge in demand for home improvement supplies and a significant expansion in the market in the years to come,” concluded GfK Indonesia MD Guntur Sanjoyo.

The highest concentration of home improvement stores can be found around eight major cities – Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan, Banjarmasin, Makassar, Denpasar and – with the highest – Jakarta.

A recently completed count by GfK Indonesia showed the highest concentration of such stores – three in 10 – are located in Jakarta and the most widely available product, sold in 95 per cent of stores, is paint. Pipes/plumbing and cement products are the next most common items, carried by 91 and 83 per cent of the stores, respectively.

“These products tend to enjoy higher level of distribution as they are fastest moving home improvements supplies in the stores,” said Sanjoyo.

“There are many households which do their own or hire people to carry out minor repairs or upgrading works in their homes, creating an important market for these stores to cater to their needs easily and conveniently.”

GfK also revealed the differing characteristics of these stores across the different areas. In Jakarta, more than 90 per cent of the home improvement supplies stores tend to exhibit the one-stop-shop concept which offers other raw materials such as woods, sands, and bricks, aside from the top three products.

The scenario is rather different compared to other cities such as Medan, where woods, sands and bricks are only available in less than half of the stores.