Furniture and home goods brands need to be aware of changes in consumer behavior to keep up with modern commerce. Explore the biggest trends in commerce within the industry, and learn how to adapt your strategy to capture more buyers.
Millennials and Gen Zers Are New Home Furnishings Consumers
Homeowners and, increasingly, renters alike continue to prioritize home improvement projects — many spurred by social media do-it-yourself (DIY) influencers. For millennial and Gen Z shoppers, this growth is especially notable and offers an enormous opportunity for brands.
What Your Brand Should Do
Evaluate Your Customer Base
Evaluating your customer base can help you see what percentage of millennials and Gen Zers you’re serving. Then, use data to discover their shopping behaviors and expectations. The goal is to understand what they want so you can adapt your strategies accordingly.
Rethink Your Product and Marketing Strategy
Bigger isn’t always better. Smaller, less expensive, and multifunctional items are likely more appealing to young consumers. You may also want to try product bundling, gifts with purchases, or discounts to attract more shoppers.
Keep Up on Social Media
Social media platforms, especially TikTok, help you determine what millennials and Gen Zers are looking for and keep up with consumer trends. Regularly posting on these sites and running paid ads can help bring your brand closer to those buyers.
Consumers Prefer Products That Fit Their Lifestyle’s Needs
Today, products that enhance the at-home lifestyle are hot sellers across ecommerce. Consumers are looking for rugs, kitchen and dining room furniture, blankets, and other home décor items to renovate their spaces to accommodate their new way of living.
Finding products that best suit lifestyle needs is one of the biggest shifts in-home service spending.
What Your Brand Should Do
Add Enhanced Content and Interactive Elements
Adding enhanced content and other interactive elements to product detail pages (PDPs), such as 3D configurators and augmented reality (AR) that showcase a product from all angles.
This approach will help improve the shopping experience and allow consumers to determine if the product is right for their home.
Improve Digital Search Experience
Help shoppers quickly find what they’re looking for by Improving your digital search experience. Optimize the search bar with autocomplete, autocorrect, suggested terms, or show search results with images.
Another idea is to display a product finder or a lifestyle quiz on your online store that asks visitors a few questions about their needs. Based on these answers, you can offer relevant product recommendations.
Offer Made-to-Order Products
By offering made-to-order products, you help consumers get the items with the exact design they want to build their dream home or outfit their dream space. Other benefits include reduced cart abandonment, a simplified purchasing process, and shorter lead times.
Consumers Seek Reviews and Recommendations When Shopping
Common consumer behavior is to seek recommendations and inspiration from others when making buying decisions. Consumers also rely on reviews when choosing furniture products to buy — and many specifically watch video reviews.
What Your Brand Should Do
Enhance Your Social Media Presence
Don’t just exist on platforms like Instagram — stand out. Post content regularly, run paid ads, partner with influencers, and try all the tactics to find the ones that bring the best results.
Be sure to include hashtags (e.g., #interiorinspiration and #homedesignideas) while posting to increase the likelihood that consumers will find your products.
Implement a Referral Marketing Campaign
Referral customers often have more customer lifetime value (CLV) than other customers and may be more likely to refer others. You can offer incentives like discounts, complimentary gifts, bonus loyalty points, and gift cards to encourage referees.
Wield User-Generated Content
Like referrals, user-generated content (UGC) can have a huge impact on buying decisions. Display reviews, testimonials, and other user-generated content on product detail pages, email marketing, and social ads to influence the research and buying process.
Take Action for Tomorrow
In consideration of these consumer trends, the furniture and home goods industry offers promising opportunities. However, only brands that understand what consumers want and fulfill those expectations will win.
If you’re looking for ways to reach more consumers, drive more sales, and thrive, adjust your product and marketing strategies according to the three consumer trends above.
By doing that, you’ll meet consumers where they are and make better business decisions overall.
