Bunnings: The Nation’s Favourite Home Improvement Stores

DIY is a favourite pastime here in New Zealand. Long sunny weekends are spent drilling, sawing, sanding, painting, plumbing and more, all in an effort to get our homes looking their best.

And home improvement stores are crucial to this. Not only do they provide convenient one-stop shops for all our home improvement needs, but they are a great place for advice and inspiration. Or even just a sausage sizzle to keep you going!

So whether you’re looking for a new power drill, some outdoor furniture, paints, flatpack cabinets, or even statement lighting, which home improvement store is best?

To find out, we surveyed 3020 Kiwis who had made a purchase from a home improvement store in the past year, to see how they felt about their shopping experiences.

Bunnings: New Zealand’s favourite home improvement store

We asked Kiwi customers to evaluate their shopping experiences over the following categories:

And the results are clear, Bunnings is New Zealand’s favourite home improvement store, and this year’s Most Satisfied Customers | Home Improvement Stores award winner!

In this year’s survey, the Aussie retailer is the only provider to score 5 Stars for Overall Satisfaction. It earns further 5-Star results for Range of Products, Value for Money, and Range of Brands. A testament to the fact that the big green shed has just about everything and anything you could ever need, and at a great price, too!

It earns 4 Stars for Online Store/Catalogue and 3 Stars for Service and Advice.

New Zealand’s favourite home improvement stores

Here are New Zealand’s favourite home improvement stores, based on our survey results.

1. Bunnings
2. Mitre 10
3. PlaceMakers
4. Hammer Hardware

Aside from our standout winner Bunnings, both Mitre 10 and PlaceMakers are also popular choices. Both stores score 4 Stars for Overall Satisfaction, with Mitre 10 even earning two 5-Star results, for Range of Products and Rage of Brands.

Hammer Hardware scores 3 Stars for Overall Satisfaction, although it does score two excellent 5-Star results, for Service and Advice and Online Store/Catalogue

Top-rated home improvement stores

In addition to our 5-Star winner, Bunnings, here is an overview of all the brands rated in this year’s award survey.

Bunnings

Bunnings is one of the biggest retailer of home improvement products in Australasia. Operating in New Zealand for over 20 years, it has 41 stores nationwide.

In addition to a huge range of materials and products, for both everyday consumers and trade, Bunnings offers an extensive collection of in-store and at-home services, from kitchen design to the assembly and installation of purchases.

And Bunning also has its famous price promise, offering to beat a competitor’s lower price on the same stocked item by 15%.

Mitre 10

Mitre 10 has been a part of New Zealand’s home improvement culture since 1974. New Zealand-owned and operated with stores across the country, Mitre 10 is NZ’s largest home improvement and garden retailer, and stocks a huge range of products for every job in every part of the home.

In this year’s award survey, Mitre 10 scores two 5-Star ratings, for Range of Products and Range of Brands; 4 Stars for Overall Satisfaction, Service and Advice and Value for Money; and 3-Stars for Online Store/Catalogue.

PlaceMakers

PlaceMakers is the trading name of Fletcher Distribution Limited, the retail trading arm of Fletcher Building Limited in New Zealand. It is New Zealand’s leading and largest supplier of building materials and hardware.

PlaceMakers has a wide range of building materials, such as cladding, roofing and scaffolding, making it a popular choice with tradespeople. However, there is no shortage of everything else an at-home DIYer might need, too. So whether your job is big or small, PlaceMakers will be able to help.

In this year’s award survey, it earns 4 Stars for Overall Satisfaction and a mixture of 3- and 4-Star results in all other categories measured.

Hammer Hardware

Hammer Hardware is a New Zealand co-operative business group that has been in operation for more than 30 years. It has over 40 stores nationwide, each independently owned and focused on offering great advice and service.

It’s no surprise, then, that Hammer Hardware is the only provider to earn a 5-Star rating for Service and Advice, which almost half of those in our survey (48%) cite as the most important driver of satisfaction. It earns a further 5-Star rating for its Online Store/Catalogue, 4 Stars for Range of Products, and 3 Stars in all other categories measured.

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About the author of this page

This report was written by Canstar Content Producer, Andrew Broadley. Andrew is an experienced writer with a wide range of industry experience. Starting out, he cut his teeth working as a writer for print and online magazines, and he has worked in both journalism and editorial roles. His content has covered lifestyle and culture, marketing and, more recently, finance for Canstar.