Whether customers are renovating a home, furnishing a new apartment, or tackling a weekend DIY project, they expect more than just a wide selection of products. Helpful staff, fair pricing, a pleasant shopping environment, and a smooth purchasing experience all shape how they perceive a retailer.
At Staffino, we analysed thousands of public online reviews of leading DIY and furniture retailers in Romania using Staffino Review Radar to identify the brands that stand out in different areas of the customer experience. Review Radar automatically collects and analyses public reviews from platforms such as Google, transforming thousands of customer opinions into actionable insights about performance, sentiment, and competitive positioning.
This latest edition of Public Review Spotlight highlights what customers appreciate most about some of Romania’s best-known DIY and furniture retailers.
How Did We Select the Brands for This Analysis?
The analysis includes leading DIY and furniture retailers operating in Romania that met the following criteria:
- Have a strong national retail presence.
- Have a sufficient volume of public online reviews across their stores.
- Operate comparable large-format retail concepts.
- Generated enough text-based reviews during the analysed period to enable reliable AI categorisation.
Our goal was not to compare every retailer on the market, but to create a fair benchmark between the brands most Romanian customers regularly visit when shopping for home improvement products and furniture.
Which Customer Experience Categories Did We Evaluate?
Staffino Review Radar automatically grouped public reviews into the topics customers mention most frequently when reviewing DIY and furniture retailers.
Category | Description |
Staff & Service | Customers value friendly, responsive service throughout the shopping journey. |
Product Range | A broad assortment and reliable product availability remain key reasons why customers choose a retailer. |
Product Quality | The perceived quality of products plays an important role in overall customer satisfaction. |
Pricing & Value | Customers evaluate not only prices themselves, but also whether they feel they receive good value for their money. |
Store Experience | Clean, organised, and easy-to-navigate stores contribute to a more enjoyable shopping experience. |
Checkout | Fast and efficient payment processes help create a smoother customer journey. |
Returns | A simple and hassle-free returns process helps build customer confidence and trust. |
Online & Delivery | Website usability, delivery services, and omnichannel experiences increasingly influence customer expectations. |
Methodology: How We Analysed Customer Reviews
The analysis was conducted using the Review Radar, an AI-powered customer experience analytics solution that transforms public customer reviews into actionable business insights.
Beyond average star ratings, Review Radar identifies the topics customers discuss most frequently, evaluates sentiment across individual categories, and benchmarks brands against one another. The result is an objective comparison based on authentic customer feedback and real market signals.
What Customers Appreciate Most About Romania’s DIY & Furniture Retailers
Hornbach: Leader in Overall Customer Experience
Hornbach achieved the strongest overall results in this analysis, earning both the highest average customer rating (4.55★) and the highest net sentiment (+59.9%) among all evaluated retailers. It also generated by far the highest average number of reviews per store, making its results the most representative customer signal in the dataset.
Customers consistently praise Hornbach for its staff & service, product range, product quality, store experience, and online services. Rather than standing out in just one area, the retailer delivers a well-balanced customer experience across multiple touchpoints.
Hornbach also demonstrates a strong commitment to customer feedback, responding to 90.7% of all public reviews. This active approach reinforces its position as one of Romania’s strongest customer-focused retail brands.
Leroy Merlin: Leader in Customer Dialogue, Pricing and Returns
Leroy Merlin stands out for its customer-first approach both during and after the purchase. The retailer achieved the highest public review response rate in the analysis, responding to 98.7% of all public reviews and demonstrating a clear commitment to customer dialogue.
Customers particularly appreciate Leroy Merlin’s pricing and returns experience, two categories where the brand achieved the strongest results in the analysis. Strong performance in the staff & service category further reinforces its positive customer experience.
Together, these strengths place Leroy Merlin among the highest-performing DIY retailers in the Romanian market.
Dedeman: Leader in Product Range and Value Perception
Dedeman stands out for offering customers an attractive combination of product variety and value for money. Public reviews highlight both its product range and pricing as two of the brand’s strongest competitive advantages.
With six analysed locations, Dedeman also has the widest geographic footprint in this analysis, making it one of the most accessible DIY retailers included in the benchmark. Positive results in the store experience category further contribute to its overall customer perception.
These strengths reinforce Dedeman’s position as a retailer that successfully combines variety, value, and accessibility.
IKEA: Leader in Brand Engagement and Product Range
IKEA earns one of the strongest product range scores in the analysis, reflecting a customer base that consistently values the breadth of its offer. Public reviews show that product selection remains one of the brand’s strongest competitive advantages.
IKEA holds a solid average rating of 4.30★, reflecting a customer base that consistently values what the brand offers in terms of product design and selection. IKEA also demonstrates an active approach to customer communication, responding to a high proportion of public online reviews (83.9%). This ongoing engagement reinforces the brand’s commitment to listening to customer feedback.
Together, a strong product range and active customer engagement help maintain IKEA’s position among Romania’s leading furniture retailers.
What Does This Analysis Tell Us About Romania’s DIY & Furniture Retail Market?
The analysis shows that great customer experience is built on different strengths. Each retailer creates value in its own way:
- Hornbach stands out through an exceptionally balanced customer experience across multiple touchpoints.
- Leroy Merlin differentiates itself with competitive pricing, an easy returns experience, and outstanding customer communication.
- Dedeman earns customer appreciation through its broad assortment, value for money, and nationwide accessibility.
- IKEA continues to build loyalty through its product range and active engagement with customer feedback.
For retailers, the message is clear: customer experience is shaped by multiple touchpoints. The analysis shows that customers value different aspects of the shopping journey, from staff and service to product range, pricing, store experience, returns, and online services. Brands that consistently perform well across these areas are the ones that stand out most in public customer reviews.
Stay on Top of Public Reviews
Review Radar monitors and analyzes public online reviews from Google, Facebook, and other platforms so you always know what customers are saying about your brand.
Want to Know What Customers Are Saying About Your Brand?
Staffino Review Radar helps brands turn public customer reviews into competitive intelligence. It reveals where your brand excels, how it compares with competitors, and which topics have the greatest impact on your reputation.
In addition, Review Radar includes a built-in chat-over-data feature, so you don’t have to manually go through hundreds of reviews and charts. Simply ask the AI assistant about the most common reasons for customer dissatisfaction, how your brand compares with competitors, or the strongest emerging trends, and receive an answer in seconds.
If you’d like to discover what public reviews reveal about your own customer experience, we’d be happy to show you more.
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