Annual Report on U.S. Home Furnishings Consumption: Insights into Growth Opportunities and Online Shopping Trends

It is learned that DigitalCommerce360 and BizrateInsights released the latest "Annual Report on U.S. Home Furnishings Consumption", which studied the e-commerce penetration rate, consumer preferences, etc. of home furnishings, and explored the growth opportunities of this category market in 2023.

The report noted that home furnishings was one of the slower-growing categories among the top 1,000 U.S. retailers published by DigitalCommerce360.

Data shows that even during the epidemic period from 2020 to 2022, the growth rate of household goods was only 15.5%. In contrast, the average growth of online sales in the United States was 21.9%, including a growth rate of 25.1% for home decoration, 23.4% for sporting goods, and 16.5% for clothing and accessories.

However, the report found that price is currently the primary factor driving online shopping growth, customer ratings and reviews are the most important reference factors when shopping for home furnishings, and most consumers who buy home furnishings like to buy additional services. This means that sellers can drive growth in home furnishings by capturing consumer demand and preferences.

Main consumption scenarios and categories

The study shows that American consumers remain active in purchasing and researching home furnishings online, with 60% of the surveyed consumers spending more than 26% of their total online shopping expenditures on home furnishings in the past year.

In terms of specific consumer needs, the report points out that the following are the consumer scenarios that most people consider purchasing household products:

Upgrading home furnishings (47%)

DIY projects (38%)

Moving to a new home (13%)

Conducting contractor projects (12%)

This means that consumers will also learn about these related information through social media and other channels when purchasing home furnishings, and publishing such content can help sellers gain more exposure.

The report shows that there are four main categories of home furnishings that American consumers prefer to buy online, including outdoor products (35%), new furniture (33%), appliances/high-priced products (26%) and home offices (22%).

The main factors that influence consumers' online shopping orders

The report shows that among the factors that influence online home furnishings shoppers to place orders, price plays a decisive role, with 68% of people considering it as the primary factor, followed by free delivery (61%), free returns (38%), promotions (26%), and whether installment payments are available (14%).

When it comes to factors that drive consumers to repurchase, 57% said past purchase experience is the main factor that determines repurchase, while other factors include trust in the brand (39%), becoming a member of a loyalty program (29%) and the retailer supporting a cause that resonates with consumers (some of the 10%).

Additionally, the majority of online shoppers consider the overall shopping experience an important conversion attribute, such as speed, including efficient site search (mentioned by 31%), fast checkout (21%), and fast loading sites (18%).

The content that plays the biggest role in conversion is the quantity/quality of product reviews, accounting for 43%. Other factors that affect conversion include detailed product information/images (16%), personalized recommendations based on past behavior (15%), videos (12%), and interactive tools (6%).

Product selection is still an important customer experience that affects conversion rate, and 53% said that sufficient inventory and timely delivery are the most important. Logistics is also an important experience, such as guaranteed delivery time (27%), online purchase offline pickup (16%) and curbside pickup (10%).

What do home furnishings consumers care most about when comparing products?

First, consumer reviews. 52% of consumers filter products by buyer reviews, followed by price (51%). For home furnishings consumers, being able to view product details is also important, so being able to enlarge pictures (35%), display placement effects (23%) and buyer shows (21%) have a great impact on consumers. Videos account for 12%, and live broadcasts (5%) are the least important elements.

17% of consumers also consider how-to guides important, followed by room design tools (11%), product configurators (10%) and product customization (9%). Augmented reality (8%), fabric sampling (7%) and style analysis (7%) are at the bottom. Despite the wide variety of tools, only a small percentage of shoppers consider them important.

Logistics is an important consideration for home furnishings buyers when comparing products, with 30% saying accurate delivery times are important to them. New product launches and personalized product recommendation features are also important factors, such as similar and related product recommendations. Hot-selling items (15%) and popular products (9%) also play a role.

Other factors driving sales growth and marketing suggestions

The report shows that most online home furnishing shoppers are likely to use additional services, 23% are hesitant, and only 26% are unlikely to use them. For sellers, providing additional services can not only increase sales, but also help improve customer experience.

Consumers are increasingly turning to mobile devices when shopping for home goods, with 51% saying they use smartphones to research and buy. Retailers are therefore advised to optimize for mobile.

Supportive videos are also important to consumers, with 37% of survey participants watching videos about related products, while 26% watch TV shows about home and gardening.

Social media plays a role in gathering information and inspiration, with 24% looking for ideas on social media and 17% reading blogs for design inspiration. Tools used include augmented reality (A/R) at 13% and 3D room planning tools at 12%.

For booking a home service, this often depends on the product: Only 10% of people booked a home service, while 9% booked a HomeAdvisor/TaskRabbit service and 8% purchased product assembly services, according to the survey.

Omnichannel layout is also important

When it comes to home furnishings, consumers also value offline physical experiences. 60% of respondents visit physical stores mainly because they want to see the products in person; 31% also want to test the products on site; and 24% of online shoppers trust the product more when they buy it in person.

Omnichannel options are convenient for shoppers, allowing for easy pickup and returns, which is especially important for the 41% of people who need to purchase items quickly. In addition, 24% of people in the survey want to support local retailers, and another 21% like the convenience of picking up their purchases in-store. Similarly, 16% like the convenience of being able to return items in-store.

Looking ahead, the home category offers clear growth opportunities that will benefit online shoppers, with the majority of respondents saying they will spend at least the same amount (37%) or more (25%) in the first half of 2023 than they do currently.

Editor✎ Ashley/

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