Market Monitor Residential Building Trades – UK Solar Panel To gauge confidence in the UK resi- sustainability/energy improvements Demand – Europe dential building market and sentiment would see the biggest growth as among trades, Grassroots commis- people look to save money on their sioned interviews with tradespeople heating bills. One source said, “the focused on the residential/home sector that I am in—fitting doors and building market. When asked what windows—is very busy as people are their expectations of the residential/ trying to improve their home insulation. home building market were in general We have a four-month lead time on for 4Q 2022 vs. same period last year, fitting now, which is much higher than it 40% said the market was flat, while was a year ago. So, I think sustainabil- To track demand for solar panels another 40% said it was slowing, 13% ity/energy improvements will do well and types of inverters for residential, said slowing significantly. At the same in 2023, while new builds and larger industrial, and commercial use, time, 47% expect it to slow down in projects will suffer the most.” Grassroots interviewed solar panel in- 2023 vs. 4Q 2022 and 20% expect a 93% of sources said that inflation has stallers throughout France, Germany significant slowdown, while 27% expect affected the way they priced jobs in 4Q and Spain. Current demand for solar it to remain flat. 2022 compared to 1H 2022, and more panel installation vs. the same time The area likely to see the biggest than half who commented said they last year is up by more than 100% in growth in the residential/home build- pass the increase in material costs on Germany, the high double to triple ing industry is repair/maintenance for to customers, and one-third said they digits in Spain, and the high double nearly half of sources who commented pass increased labor costs on. digits in France, led by residential use, as customers look to save money by followed by industrial use and com- just doing essential work, and 40% said mercial use. One source in Germany commented, “we see current demand for residential, commercial, and industrial installations up 300% each. The war in Ukraine and the increasing Online Pharmacies – India power costs have led to an explosion in demand that we find hard to meet, Interviews with consumers in India who platforms is very high, with over despite having put together seven purchase medicine through either online 90% giving ratings of 4 or 5 to their new installation teams. While a or offline (brick-and-mortar) pharmacies most often used platform. Among those higher degree of energy-self-reliance revealed that penetration of online phar- who cited areas of dissatisfaction, “lower is desirable for all customer groups, macies is extremely high, with 85% having discount vs. peers” and “the process bringing down power costs is a used online pharmacies for purchasing of uploading prescriptions” were most question of survival for energy- medicine in the past 12 months. frequently mentioned. intense industries.” Convenience is the top reason for using When asked about discounts, sources Looking ahead, demand for solar online pharmacies, followed by more dis- reported the level of discounts offered panel installation is expected to counts vs. offline channels. Willingness to by major online pharmacies appear to increase in 2023 vs. 2022 by high continue using online pharmacies is very be similar—about 30% said the prices double digits in all countries surveyed, high, with 98% reporting they would do so. are 10%–20% less expensive than offline with residential use continuing to In addition, fast delivery and brand trust channels, while about 26%–31% said lead growth. A source in France said, are the top reasons cited for choosing a the prices are 20%–30% less expensive. “we expect current demand from preferred online pharmacy, with those Assuming discounts from online pharma- homeowners and professionals to that offer fast delivery standing out from cies come off to become comparable continue to trend up 100% and 75%, the competition. Overall, the majority are to offline channels, the majority would respectively, next year. The price of satisfied with the delivery time on their last still prefer to use online pharmacies. In electricity has increased at least 5% order with their preferred platform. addition, 76% of non-users are open to this year, and it is estimated it will using online pharmacies, mainly for the increase between 20% and 25% by Regarding product range and prices, advantage of discounting. 2030 from 18 cents per kilowatt to 25 satisfaction with major online pharmacy cents per kilowatt. We are seeing a (Cont. on page 3) 2