Furniture in 2022
While furniture tends to be a household item purchased infrequently, there are plenty of consumers who recently bought in this category. Among those who are buying furniture, what are their similarities and motives? How do these consumers feel about furniture brands? Where are they going to make their purchases? In Provoke Insights’ fourth wave of in-house research, we aimed to discover consumer mindsets, purchasing trends, and brand loyalty in several industries, including furniture.
Who’s Buying Furniture?
In the last month, nearly one in ten Americans (9%) purchased furniture. These consumers were more likely to be employed full-time and have children. They are also willing to pay more for sustainably sourced items and read the newspaper weekly. Interestingly, furniture shoppers are more concerned about shopping in-store due to COVID.
A major home improvement was a common motivator for furniture purchases. Furniture shoppers were also more likely to have recently moved homes. Furthermore, these shoppers have discretionary income to spend. In addition to furniture, they are buying other high-ticket items, such as electronics, vacations, and cars.
Where Are They Shopping for Furniture?
While in-store purchasing remains a popular furniture purchase method, online shopping in this category and catching up. Over two-fifths of furniture shoppers (43%) used the Internet for their purchases. The main reason for buying furniture online was the ease of purchase, followed by lower prices, free delivery, and more inventory available.
However, the in-store experience is not going away as the majority (79%) of consumers want to buy future furniture in stores. Those who plan to purchase online are younger, parents, affluent, and living in urban areas. Additionally, these online furniture purchasers are willing to pay more for sustainably sourced items.
Lack of Loyalty
Brand loyalty in the furniture industry is not high. Less than one-third of consumers (31%) said that they only or mostly purchase one brand of furniture. The majority of furniture shoppers (62%) purchase from many different brands. This lack of loyalty signals an area of improvement for furniture companies to stay top of mind.
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Methodology
Provoke Insights conducted a 15-minute survey in the spring of 2022 among 1,500 Americans between the ages of 21 and 65. A random stratified sample methodology was used to ensure a high degree of representation of the U.S. population (household income, age, gender, geography, ethnicity, and children in the household). Statistical differences between subgroups were tested at a 95% confidence level. The margin of error is +/-2.5%.