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Press Release

Sewing More Popular Than Playing Football!

The DIY Industry – A Billion Euro Market Moving Towards Digitization



Schenefeld near Hamburg, 28 of October, 2021. 2020 saw a real DIY boom: the German DIY market was worth 1.38 billion euros in terms of retail price, a plus of 17.4 % 1. Has the DIY sector only skyrocketed on the back of Corona? How strong is the market, really? Dr. Andreas Seifert, CEO of The Creative Club, Europe’s leading digital company in the DIY market, gives insights about the current market situation and expands on the digital revolution of this market worth billions of euros.


“The DIY market has evolved from small stationary offline businesses to a multi-billion USD market. In Europe, the market is worth 35 billion USD, according to the Association for Creative Industries, with a global market volume of around 100 billion USD”, explains CEO Andreas Seifert, the strategic mind behind, among others, the German DIY platforms makerist.de and stoffe.de.


Sewing – one of the most popular activities – takes up 10 % of the German market.2 The global sewing sector has a volume of 10 billion USD, with Europe accounting for at least 5 billion USD, and Germany significantly exceeding the 1 billion USD mark.3 Might sound incredible, but it is true: doing DIY projects is even more popular than playing football! About 6.1 million people in Germany knit, crochet or tailor at least several times a month4 , compared to only 4.7 million people playing football as often as that. 4


Focus Market France

Looking across the border, DIY is also a massive trend in France. The French DIY market is currently estimated at 1 billion euros, which is nearly 50 % of the entire leisure industry.5 33 % of the French regularly work on creative projects. On the one hand, to save money (49 %), on the other hand to consume more consciously (38 %) and to protect the environment (37 %).6 Especially the generation of the digital natives has discovered DIY as a hobby for themselves. The biggest DIY fans are between 18 and 24 years old.6 A consumer group totally accustomed to online shopping.


The Digital Revolution

The overall e-commerce consumer goods market grew by 23.2 % in the first half of 2021.7 “Looking at the DIY market, the e-commerce share is currently at 10 %”, according to Seifert who is an expert in that field. “We estimate that we will reach 16 % by 2025, compared to similar consumer markets. The digitization of this market has just begun, and therefore offers huge potential for digital businesses to create a unicorn.”


The entrepreneur from Hamburg takes this opportunity with a strong business model: the digital company The Creative Club (TCC) with 15 online platforms in twelve European countries, offers more than 30 000 DIY products, 70 000 e-learning opportunities and digital community features. This makes TCC the digital market leader in Europe, with an unequalled range of products. By internationalising on a grand scale, TCC aspires to become the global market leader in the digital DIY market. Driving the digitization of the DIY sector, for example with the latest AR technology, is a key factor for achieving that goal.


Editorial Note
Find further information under: The Creative Club.


About The Creative Club
The Creative Club is Europe’s leading digital company on the Do-It-Yourself market. Besides the German creative platforms stoffe.de and makerist.com, the company engages in eleven other European countries and exports to more than 50 countries all over the globe. The range includes more than 30 000 physical DIY products and over 70 000 digital patterns and e-books. The Creative Club employs about 337 people from 35 countries at their sites in Hamburg and Berlin.


Press Contact

The Creative Club

Lisa Ulsamer

Tel.: +49 160 187 2396

E-Mail: presse@thecreativeclub.com


1 Trade association Initiative Handarbeit, measured in retail prices, 2020
2 Market survey by the company with Caspar Feld, 2020
3 Value estimated by the company based on the DIY sector
4 VuMA Touchpoints, 2021, German speaking population over 14
5 harris interactive, 2020
6 Salon des Loisirs Créatifs, 2019
7 bevh – Der E-Commerce-Verband, 2021