by Just over 20% of those surveyed plan to buy dining furniture in the next several months
HIGH POINT — In the second half of our latest Consumer Insights Now report, published earlier this week and sponsored by American First Finance, we looked at planned dining room furniture purchases in the next six months.
For retailers that still place a high value on the category, there were some important findings in that 1) More than 20% plan to buy dining furniture in the months ahead. 2) Many of the prospective buyers are younger consumers up to age 44. and 3) Some two-thirds of those surveyed plan to buy in-store for casual dining, and nearly three-quarters plan to buy in-store for formal dining.
About a third surveyed who are in the market for dining furniture have purchased a home in the past six months, and 40% of those surveyed plan to buy a home in the next six months. Thus, homeownership remains a key element that triggers spending in the category.
Another key note here is that some 67% are seeking casual dining sets, with 54% looking to buy a table and four chairs under $1,000, compared with 38% seeking to buy similar sets priced between $1,000 and $1,999. Only 8% were looking to spend more than $2,000.
By comparison, 34% of those surveyed said they plan to buy formal dining, with 31% looking to spend $1,200 to $1,499 for a table and four chairs and 30%, respectively, looking to spend $1,500 to $2,999 and less than $1,200. Further spending plans by age can be seen in the charts below.
Also important to consider are the purchase triggers for the dining category. Some 39% said their furniture was old or broken and needed replacement, followed by 31% who said they have a new home to furnish; 30% who said they are redecorating; 20% who said they wanted to upgrade to better furniture; and 15% and 14% respectively who said they were renovating and needed a bigger table. This was followed by 7% who said they needed a smaller table and 6% who said they had just recently gotten married.
Dining purchase triggers can be viewed in even more detail in the chart below.
The key pieces that people plan to buy include a dining table, which was identified by eight of 10 shoppers; four chairs (47%) and six or more chairs (35%). Also worth noting is that side pieces fell much further down the list with a hutch unit favored by 9% of those surveyed, a sideboard (8%), a buffet (5%) and a credenza (4%).
Other key factors that people are looking for in the category include durability and quality, 59% and 56% respectively, size (51%), style and design (51%), wood type (39%), color (37%), tabletop is scratch resistant (29%) and has product warranty (20%).
Falling further down the list in terms of priorities were table can expand to be made larger (17%), made in USA (15%), is fully assembled (13%), tabletop can withstand heat (12%), made of sustainable, eco-friendly materials (11%) and built-in storage (9%).
Other areas of interest include dining furniture replacement cycles, planned payment options and favored table heights.
The data also identifies specific retailer types where people plan to buy as well as the percentage of those surveyed who plan to buy online (34%) for casual dining and (27%) for formal dining.
As always, we hope the data provides further insight for your business about who is shopping for what in the dining segment, what they are looking for and how they plan to shop. We believe this information will go a long way to helping target the right customers with the right product and boost sales in the coming months and beyond!
Below is a look at our publication cycle for Consumer Insights Now.
+ March 24 – Survey of new homeowners.
+ March 31 – Sofa shopping trends.
+ April 7 – Case goods shopping trends — primary bedroom and dining furniture.
+ April 14 – Mattresses for primary bedroom.
+ April 21 – High-end furniture shoppers and design report.
