by Access to designer-specific financing also would encourage consumers to buy more expensive furniture
HIGH POINT — In the fifth and final installment of Consumer Insights Now, published just before the High Point Market, we looked at consumers’ plans to use a designer this year.
It’s a theme that we’ve also studied in previous reports, but in this report, sponsored by American First Finance, there were a couple of key differences.
For one, we asked new homeowners about their plans, and a resounding 24% said they planned to use a designer, with another 8% considering the use of those professional services. This was followed by 15% of baby boomers surveyed and 13% of Gen Z consumers surveyed.
Metropolitan areas also tended to have the highest number of consumers interested in using a designer, including 12% and 10% respectively in Boston and Los Angeles and 13% and 16% in Miami and New York, for example.
The living room was the highest priority, with 60% of consumers surveyed wanting to work with a designer in this area of the home followed by nearly 50% who identified the bedroom. This was followed by the kitchen (38%), family room/den (34%) and dining room (31%).
This closely aligns with sofas and primary bedroom furniture as their top spending priorities when it comes to furniture, followed by dining furniture.
A second major difference in this year’s report relates to access to designer-specific financing and how that could influence purchasing decisions.
A key finding was that 8 of 10 consumers that plan to use a designer said they were interested in designer-specific financing. And 51% of consumers surveyed said if they had access to designer-specific financing they would purchase more expensive furniture, while half said they would use a designer for projects covering additional rooms or spaces in their homes.
With access to this type of financing, 46% said they would increase their budget and spend more with the help of a designer. In addition, 31% of those surveyed said they would redecorate or redesign their spaces in a shorter timeline with the availability of designer-specific financing.
The research breaks this down even further by age group, income levels and among those living in a new home.
Using a designer is appealing for a number of reasons as seen in the comments section of the research shown below. However, what’s most appealing is the ability to achieve a high level of style and efficient use of space while also creating a space that appeals to their own personalities and desired looks. It’s the type of specialized service many consumers know they can only get with a professional. And equally important, more are willing to trade up in their home furnishings purchases with the availability of a designer-specific financing option.
Much of what we hear in the market is that designer business has become more important to manufacturers and suppliers not just at the upper end, but also at the upper-middle and middle price points. It’s a key reason that so many companies not only have positioned themselves in the designer district of downtown High Point but also have created lines with elevated on-trend looks.
Retailers too have created a niche for themselves by boosting their own in-store designer services available to clients throughout their respective markets.
That said, we hope this data proves useful as your business aims to develop and sell products to this important target audience. It’s a group we believe will become more important in the future, particularly those younger consumers that finally are able to own a home and achieve their piece of the American dream.
