The 17th edition of DIY-orientated B2B exhibition Bricoday took place last week (24-25 Sept) at Fiera Milano Rho.
Bricoday covers the DIY, Technical, Home and Garden sectors, taking up 25,000m ² of halls 22 & 24 at Fiera Milano Rho. Exhibitors included 169 from the “Home” sector, 27 Lighting companies, 196 DIY and Technical brands, 68 Garden businesses, while there were 34 booths dedicated to innovation and digitalisation.
Prior to the show, in the region of 10,000 visitors were expected. Maurizio Casolaro, head of the fair, said: “We are very satisfied with the results achieved. We are recording the presence of new, big names in every sector, the participation of dozens of selected buyers from across Europe, a significant increase in foreign exhibitors, and the growing presence of leading specialised retail chains visiting.”
Post-show, the organiser confirmed it has seen double-digit growth in exhibitors (493 in 2025 from 412 in 2024) and attendees (10,350 in 2025 from 9,000 in 2024).
The DIY and Home Improvement market
The show organiser has collected some interesting stats on the DIY/home improvement markets.
Internationally, (according to the latest Home Improvement Report Retail Worldwide*) the largest national market for the DIY industry in 2023 is the USA (€278 billion), followed by China (€136 billion). In Europe, the sector generated a total of €28.9 billion in Germany, €21.8 billion in France, and €16.7 billion in the United Kingdom.
The Italian DIY market exceeds €13.5 billion (source: Non-Food Observatory), with DIY superstore sales topping €3billion in H1 2025 – a channel which closed 2024 with €6.3 billion). That equates to a slight drop of 0.9% compared to the first half of 2024 – but it shows a much better trend compared to the 8.8% sales decline that marked the first half of 2024 versus the previous year. Key areas are proving to be the entire Garden sector (+6.9%), double-digit growth in several DIY segments (electrical material, walls and flooring, construction, followed by automotive), and at the same time the difficulties of some Home segments (especially sanitary ware and appliances, penalised by their strong 2024 performance).
Meanwhile, the hardware sector is not only worth €17 billion but also undergoing “profound digital transformation”. 20% of the market is online. According to the latest data from the Permanent Observatory on Multi & Omnichannel Hardware OPMF – Bricoday’s partner – in 2024 the value of e-commerce in the sector reached €3.4 billion in Italy, equal to 20% (up from 5% in 2018) of the total volume, which nears €17 billion (Assofermet data).
According to the report, over 33% of hardware stores are online, through proprietary e-commerce or marketplaces. The omnichannel trend is strongly growing, with a projected 17% increase in 2025–2026.
The most active user target is mainly in the 25–45 age group (60%), while the shares of 45–60-year-olds (32%) and very young users are increasing, now at 8% (vs 2% in 2023).
The Brocoday 2025 conference programme took in some of the trends, including one with Gfk–an NIQ Company’s presentation on Italian DIY and Home Improvement market trends. A striking finding from the research is that 60% (up from 54% in the previous survey) of the “core target” of the population is willing to pay more for products that simplify life, 30% (up from 22%) for personalisation, and 31% (up from 19%) consider themselves “early adopters” among their acquaintances.
*Report produced in collaboration with the international DIY trade associations Edra/Ghin, the international manufacturers’ association Hima, and Dähne Verlag.
