by 5th installment of Consumer Insights Now shows what’s been trending in the marketplace as we head into a new year
HIGH POINT — In both case goods and upholstery, we’ve long seen a trend toward relaxed casual styles that aim to reflect the comfort consumers want for their homes.
Transcending a mix of traditional, urban and contemporary forms, these design aesthetics create what people consider furniture they can live with in a home populated with adults, children and, of course, pets.
That familiar theme resounded in our fifth and final installment of this season’s Consumer Insights Now, sponsored by Bread Financial. Among the 1,200 consumers surveyed, many described their home styles as comfortable, cozy, casual, relaxed, practical and accessible. Also mentioned were terms such as modern, contemporary, classic and eclectic among the wide mix of style preferences.
Overall, 29% identified their style preferences as casual, compared with 17% who said modern, 19% who said traditional, 15% who said transitional, followed by contemporary (8%), rustic (8%) and coastal (4%).
And more than half (58%) said they like to update their home décor often, while 56% said they want to keep up to date on style. That said, 94% said they like to mix and match home furnishings with their existing décor. Some 52% overall said they are always shopping for home furnishings, an extremely positive indicator for both brick and mortar and online resources specializing in home décor.
The message is clear. People love their homes and want to continue shopping for things that make them both comfortable and on-trend.
Yet also worth noting is that consumers of all ages and income levels — including 75% of those surveyed overall — said they prefer functionality over style, regardless of whether they lived in a single-family home, apartment, townhouse or condo.
Other highlights of interest:
+ Some 61% of those surveyed said they want to customize their furniture with either fabrics and/or finishes.
+ 55% said they would spend more for sustainable or eco-friendly furniture.
+ 67% said they prefer to shop at retailers that have a lot of brands and styles to choose from.
+ 65% said they tend to do their homework or some type of research before they make a purchase.
+ The largest numbers of consumers, 32% (Gen Z ages 18-28) and 31% (younger millennials ages 29-36) said they prefer modern designs, compared with 29% (older millennials ages 37-44), 33% (Gen X ages 45-60) and 34% (baby boomers ages 61 and up) who said they prefer casual styles.
The research also offers specifics about various style preferences based on the style of one’s home. Notably, most regions of the country favor casual styles, with modern and transitional coming in either at a close second or third.
The research also covers the types of activities people do in their home, with 96% saying they watch TV or movies at home, followed by 65% respectively who said they like to entertain family and friends inside their home and/or play video games at home. Some 56% of those surveyed said they like to entertain family and friends in outdoor spaces, which obviously will benefit the outdoor/casual furniture industry.
Of course, we also agree the home is a place of safety, comfort, relaxation and refuge. And we hope this information will lead to informed product development and buying decisions for your store that help your consumers make their homes not only more comfortable, but also more beautiful in the process. That said, we hope you have a successful year ahead selling furniture and other home decor and hope that this information proves useful in a way that helps inform some of your own buying decisions.
Below is the full five-week schedule of this season’s Consumer Insights Now reports. For a video interview with Home News Now Editor-in-Chief Tom Russell speaking with our research expert Dana French about the project, click here.
+ Sept. 15 – Furniture Shopper Perceptions About the Economy.
+ Sept 22 – The Shopping Journey and Motivators for Consumer Furniture Purchases.
+ Sept. 29 – Needs and Driving Factors for Consumers Shopping for Furniture.
+ Oct. 6 – Buying In Store Versus Online.
+ Oct. 13 – Motivations and Attitudes of Today’s Consumers.
