by Upholstery remains the No. 1 category that consumers plan to purchase in the 2nd half of this year
HIGH POINT — Once again, upholstery reins as the category that’s top of mind for consumers looking to purchase furniture in the second half of 2024.
That’s a key conclusion of our latest Consumer Insights Now research, which this coming Monday includes a deep dive into Living Room furniture. Some 36% of consumers said they plan to buy a sofa or sectional between July and the end of the year, making it the most popular item of a list of nearly two-dozen product categories.
In the Top 5 it was followed by area rugs (28%), decorative accessories (27%), a mattress for the primary bedroom (25%) and wall décor (23%). In addition, 35% of consumers said they planned to buy a sectional, while 22% respectively said they planned to buy a standard sofa or a grouping that includes a sofa, chair and loveseat.
Nearly 50% also said they planned to purchase a motion sofa, and 67% said they plan to buy a fabric sectional and 65% said they planned to buy a fabric sofa, with another 16% not sure compared to 20% that said they plan to purchase a leather sofa and 16% saying they planned to buy a leather sectional and another 16% not sure.
And, once again, younger consumers represent the bulk of those in the market for upholstery including 42% of Gen Z consumers, 37% of younger millennials and 44% of older millennials, compared to 36% of Gen X consumers and 23% of baby boomers. These younger consumers also were the largest group in the market for a sectional, although Gen Z was tied with Gen X consumers at 32%. Only 25% of baby boomers, by comparison, said they planned to purchase upholstery in the second half.
A vast majority of younger and older consumers alike also said they preferred fabric, including 66% of Gen Z, 65% of younger millennials, 54% of older millennials, compared with 61% of Gen X and 69% of baby boomers.
Another key area of interest for retailers is that most surveyed — 76% in total — said they plan to buy in-store, versus online, including baby boomers, younger millennials and Gen X consumers compared to 24% who said they plan to purchase the category online, including Gen Z and older millennials. National furniture chains ranked highest in terms of stores where they plan to purchase (43% surveyed), followed by a local furniture store (23%) and a big-box retailer (8%). Amazon and Wayfair ranked at 7% and 3% respectively of where people plan to buy.
Other areas of interest were as follows:
+ Some 21% of those surveyed said they plan to spend between $1,000 and $1,999 on a sofa, followed by 13% who said between $2,000 and $2,999. Fourteen percent said they planned to spend $300 to $499, 10% said under $300, 19% said between $500 and $749 and $15% said $750 to $999. Eight percent said they planned to spend more than $3,000.
+ Twenty-five percent of those surveyed said they planned to spend $1,000 to $1,999 on a sectional, followed by 17% who said between $2,000 and $2,999 and 7% who said $3,000 or more. Another 13% said $750 to $999, 20% said $500 to $749, 11% said between $300 to $499 and 7% said under $300.
+ Notably, some 56% of those surveyed said they plan to pay more for quality, including 56% of those shopping for a sectional and 54% of those shopping for a sofa. This skewed higher among older millennials and Gen X consumers (57% respectively) and 70% of baby boomers, compared with 50% of younger millennials and 49% of Gen Z.
+ 44% said they said they will shop mostly on price, including 51% of Gen Z consumers and 50% of younger millennials compared with 43% of older millennials and Gen X respectively and 30% of baby boomers.
+ About 60% of consumers said they planned to pay in full at the time of purchase, and half said they would use a credit card, with 48% saying they planned to take advantage of zero percent financing.
+ Thirty-nine percent of those surveyed said they expected their sofa to last five to nine years; 22% said two to four years; 21% said 10-14 years; 8% said one year; and 5% respectively said between 15 and 19 years and 20 years or more.
And don’t forget to check out the comments that consumers had about quality, durability, comfort and functionality. These offer a window into what these factors mean to consumers along with their expectations in each area.
As always, we hope this data proves useful to you and your business as we believe it speaks to where consumers are in today’s market relating to one of the most important segments of the living room. We will follow this report up with additional commentary on related categories included in the survey such as entertainment and occasional furniture.
As always, we encourage you to use the data and share feedback with us on areas you believe we can dig deeper into these and other furniture categories. Feel free to respond in the comments section below or reach out directly to Home News Now Editor-in-Chief Tom Russell at tom@homenewsnow.com.
In case you missed it earlier, here is the publication cycle for our latest Consumer Insights Now reports.
+ Sept. 23 — Consumer Insights Now Second-Half Overview
+ Sept. 30 — The Living Room
+ Oct. 7 — The Primary Bedroom
+ Oct. 14 — Mattresses
+ Oct. 21 — The Economy Report
+ Oct. 28 — The Design Report
