Jobber, a provider of home service management software, recently unveiled findings from its latest report focused on COVID-19’s economic impact on the Home Service category. Utilizing the company’s proprietary data gathered from 90,000+ home service professionals across 50+ industries, the Home Service Economic Report: COVID-19 Edition analyzes how the category overall, as well as key segments, such as contracting, which is comprised of businesses such as HVAC, construction, electrical, and plumbing, have performed from the start of the year through May 10, 2020.
“This year has been extremely bumpy for home service businesses,” says Sam Pillar, CEO and co-founder of Jobber. “Though the category was not as deeply impacted as others, like clothing stores and restaurants, it still experienced a 30% drop in revenue overall, which is the difference between signing a paycheck, paying off a loan, or buying a new piece of equipment.”
Although the report reveals that the home service market experienced a revenue loss in March and April, early indicators in May, such as new work scheduled, show positive signs that the industry is beginning to recover. The report also compares how the home service category performed in comparison to the U.S. GDP over the last couple of years, and how the category has fared during this recent pandemic compared to other markets such as general merchandise stores, automotive, and grocery stores.
“There’s a lot of data and information out there, but very little is geared specifically towards the home service category and how it has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” says Abheek Dhawan, VP, Business Operations at Jobber. “This report sheds light on the speed and scale of the decline, as well as the recent trend toward recovery that everyone related to the category can look forward to.”
