The Paint market is experiencing a variety of breakthroughs and shifts in areas including improved safety, sustainability, and more. With these changes in mind, let’s look into Paint market data over the past year to see how the industry is shifting too — including top brands and retailers, consumer preferences, and key consumer purchase drivers.  

Download the full Paint market infographic below to get even more insights. 

Source: All data in this article was pulled from the Durable IQ platform using the rolling 4Q ending Q1 2024, Total Paint – Per Ticket category. The Total Paint product category is an aggregate of coating types: Interior paint (58%),  Exterior paint (28%), and Primer (14%). The summary that follows is based on data from “per ticket” sales, meaning multiple products/brands could be in a single transaction. For the most recent insights or further dives into the data, please  contact us.   

Which retailers have the highest market share for Paint? 

As of March 2024, Home Depot is the leading retailer for Paint purchases. 

Let’s look at how market share splits out among the top three Paint retailers by units sold and dollar share. 

Top Paint Retailers by Unit Share 

1. Home Depot — 36% unit share
2. Lowe’s — 23% unit share
3. Sherman Williams — 13% unit share

Winning 36% of the total Paint market, Home Depot leads all other outlets based on units sold, up 0.2 points from the same time last year. 

Lowe’s has the next highest unit share at 23%, but is down significantly 0.8 points year-over-year (YOY). 

In third place is Sherwin Williams, winning 13% of the market and gaining 0.5 points YOY — continuing an upward trend seen over the last three years. Sherwin Williams outlets are the only major retailer with a significant increase compared to prior year.

Top Paint Retailers by Dollar Share 

1. Home Depot — 31% dollar share
2. Sherman Williams — 25% dollar share
3. Lowe’s — 20% dollar share

Home Depot also leads all other outlets for dollar share, owning 31% of the Paint market. However, the retailer is down 0.5 points compared to prior year. 

Sherwin Williams comes in second for dollar share with 25%, once again continuing an upward trend, as seen in unit share, with a 1.2 point rise from prior year. 

Lowe’s holds on to third place with 20% dollar share, which is down 0.5 points from this time last year.

Retailer Draw Rates

Draw rate looks at the number of consumers a retailer brought in, regardless of where the consumer ultimately purchased their product. 

In the Paint market, Home Depot has the highest draw rate across all outlets with 46%. Lowe’s had the second highest draw rate at 34%, with a decline YOY of 0.8 percentage points. In third place, Sherwin Williams saw a draw rate of 15%, gaining 0.3 percentage points YOY.

For more market share data by retailer, download our Total Paint infographic.

What are the top Paint brands? 

As of March 2024, the leading Paint brands were Behr and Sherwin Williams. See share breakdowns by units sold and dollars earned below.

Top Paint Brands by Unit Share

1. Behr — 30% unit share
2. Sherwin Williams — 19% unit share
3. Valspar — 8% unit share
4. Glidden — 6% unit share
5. Benjamin Moore — 5% unit share

The most popular brand based on unit share was Behr, winning 30% of the market. Behr is up 0.8 points from this time last year. 

Sherwin Williams, the second most popular Paint brand, continues an upward trend seen over the past three years, gaining 0.7 percentage points since 2023. 

Valspar holds on to third place, however the brand is down significantly YOY with a 1.3 point loss. 

Top Paint Brands by Dollar Share 

1. Sherwin Williams — 31% unit share
2. Behr — 27% unit share

Sherwin Williams comes in as the top brand with 31% dollar share, with a slight increase of 0.1 point YOY — continuing an upward trend seen over the past three years. In second place for dollar share, Behr (27%) is up 0.8 points from last year.

Brand Consideration Rates

Similar to draw rate, brand consideration looks at the number of consumers who considered buying a brand during their shopping process. 

In the Paint market, the most considered brand is Behr at 36%. Behr is followed by Sherwin Williams (24%) and Valspar (11%). Brand considerations for Behr and Sherwin Williams increased 1.0 point and 0.7 points, respectively, from last year. 

The rise in Behr and Sherwin Williams’ brand consideration rates continues an upward trend seen over the last several years.

To see further Paint brand share data, download our infographic.

How much do consumers spend on Paint?

As of March 2024, the total industry average price paid (APP) per ticket in the Paint Market was $76. In 2023, the APP was $74. Let’s see how the average price breaks down depending on where the paint is purchased, as well as what brand is selected.

Average Price by Retailer

Among the top Paint market retailers, Sherwin Williams has the highest average price spent of $139 per ticket — and is the only top retailer with an average spend that is higher than the industry average. The higher average price per ticket at Sherwin Williams retailers is due in part to the quantity purchased. That is, consumers purchasing at Sherwin Williams are more likely to purchase for a larger project (e.g. multiple gallons).

Home Depot and Lowe’s (the largest outlets for unit share) have an average spending price of $65 and $66 per purchase ticket, respectively, coming in at $10 under the average price. 

Average Price by Brand

Of the major brands in the Paint market, the Sherwin Williams brand also has the highest average price per ticket of $126, followed by Benjamin Moore ($102) and Valspar ($68).

Online vs. in-store sales trends in the Paint market

As of March 2024, in-store overwhelmingly remains the top sales channel for Paint purchases, accounting for 95% of all sales. Only 4% of Paint purchases were made online.

Historically, Paint purchases have been almost exclusively made within a physical in-store location. While that remains the case, purchases from retail outlets have trended down slightly over time; particularly during the pandemic, where retail outlet sales decreased about 3 points. Current retail sales have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.

Other notable online vs. in-store insights include: 

1. Of the small percentage of purchases online, 29% have the product shipped to the store for pick up
2. Of those purchasing brick and mortar, only 10% shopped online

Other Paint market insights   

Paint Market Buyer Demographics

Understanding who is buying your products — the makeup of your market, the characteristics of your consumers — can help better inform everything from your business strategy, to your product development, marketing, and more. 

With that in mind, let’s take a look at who the typical consumer is within the Paint market. 

• 85% of Paint purchasers are homeowners; 13% of purchasers are renters
• 65% of homeowners purchasing Paint have been in their residence 5+ years
• 64% of Paint purchasers are married
• 39% of Paint purchases were made with females only involved in the purchase decision; 22% have male only involved in the decision
• Baby Boomers make up 44% of all Paint purchases, followed by Gen X (29%)
  • 20% of purchases are by Millennials
  • Gen Z and Matures generations each make up 4% of Total Paint purchases
  • Gen X and Millennials are the only generations with increases in share of purchases from this time last year, +1.1 points and +1.0 point, respectively

Purchase Drivers 

As seen in previous years, the most mentioned reason consumers purchase Paint products is “Routine maintenance or minor repair,” which has increased 3.5 points from this time last year.

The top three reasons for purchasing Paint products are: 

1. “Routine maintenance or minor repair” (47%)
2. “Redecorated” (29%)
3. “Part of a remodeling project” (17%)

The most mentioned reasons for purchasing at a specific retailer are:

1. “Previous experience with store” (39%)
2. “Good selection of products” (39%)
3. “Convenient location” (38%)
4. “Competitive price” (34%)

The most mentioned reasons for purchasing a specific Paint brand are:

1. “Quality product” (49%)
2. “Good brand name” (36%)
3. “Previously owned brand” (33%)
4. “Competitive price” (33%).

Outlets & Brands Shopped  

When shopping for Paint products, 72% of purchasers shopped at only one store before making a purchase, and 78% shopped only one brand.

Paint Home Improvement Project Insights

How were Paint purchases used in home improvement projects? As of March 2024, here are some key insights related to projects consumers complete with their purchased paint: 

• 66% of Paint purchases were for touch up or smaller projects (1 gallon or less), which is up 1.4 points from this time last year, continuing an upward trend seen over the past four years
• Most coating purchases (88%) were applied by the purchaser, household member, or friend 
• Smaller projects (1 gallon or less) are more likely completed by someone in the household or a friend
• Consumers purchasing at a paint or specialty store (e.g. Sherwin Williams, Benjamin Moore, etc.) were more likely to have larger projects and are therefore more likely to have a person outside the home perform the task