Millennials and Gen Z are currently driving the future of the furniture market.
Both groups are emerging as key targets, due to their significant (and growing) purchasing power, with a shared preference for digital experiences.
Each present both challenges and opportunities for furniture retailers. As a furniture retailer, it’s important to adapt your strategies to reach these generations.
Millennials (born 1981-1996) are a tech-savvy generation that relies heavily on online research and social media for inspiration.
- Millennials are the largest living generation in the U.S., comprising approximately 72.1 million individuals.
- Millennials have a lot of spending power. On average, $47,256 is spent every year per person.
- 80% of millennials do most of their shopping online.
- Millennials surpass baby boomers and become the largest group of home buyers at 38%.
- 60% of millennial homeowners plan to renovate in 2025.
- Millennial top 3 buying categories for furniture in 2024 are #1 sofas, #2 area rugs, and #3 wall décor.
Gen Z (born 1997-2012) is a highly digital native, this generation values sustainability and social responsibility. They desire unique, personalized experiences.
- Gen Z’s spending power is expected to reach $12 trillion by 2030.
- 96% of Gen Z consumers in the U.S. reported shopping online at least once a month.
- 85% of Gen Z consumers trust influencers more than traditional celebrities.
- 26.3%of adult Gen Zers owned a home in 2023.
- About 93% of adult zoomers want to own a home, with 58% saying they want to own property so they can be rich and wealthy someday.
- Gen Z’s top 3 buying categories for furniture in 2024 are #1 sofas, #2 decorative accessories, and #3 wall décor.
4 Ways Furniture Companies Can Boost Growth by Marketing to Millennials and Gen Z
Here are 5 ways to connect with these digitally connected consumers:
1. Boost Your Online Presence
These younger generations tend to flock to online sources for pre-purchase research. They check sellers’ ratings, comparison shop between sites, and research suggests they are 5 times more likely to be influenced by mobile banners and online pop-ups.
While online research is key for this group, this doesn’t mean they are necessarily going to purchase online. They want to see and touch a couch or mattress before they purchase it just like most of us.
However, when deciding where to go – a strong online presence is critical as these consumers are making their pre-purchase decisions.
Porch Group Media offers a range of customized online furniture audiences to target online audiences.
2. Be Social
- Millennials and Gen Z grew up with social media and tend to share everything with their social networks. Millennials remain the largest group of social media users in the US, with 68.8 million users, followed closely by Gen Z with 60.7 million users, making up a significant portion of overall social media usage across generations.
Social advertisements offer an ideal way to engage these social media users.
Social media should also be incorporated into all aspects of the shopper’s journey – from branded communities links to photo albums on Facebook. Pinterest and Instagram are also top media social channels used, making them an obvious choice – after all, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
3. Build Loyalty
Many retail brands cite a lack of loyalty as the top concern when marketing to Millennials and Gen Z. However, both generations can be loyal customers – they just want something in return. Customer service, personalized promotions, and discounts are the most popular. 83% of shoppers say coupons influence their purchasing behavior. More brands are also rewarding social behaviors – such as posting, checking in, and sharing.
According to a study by Colloquy, 84 percent of consumers would spend more with retailers who offer loyalty rewards for activities other than purchasing, such as sharing on social media. Be sure that any type of loyalty program is compatible with mobile – otherwise, you will be missing your mark with this group.
Loyalty and social media also go hand in hand for millennials. 70% of Millennials and 65% of Gen Z consumers are more likely to become brand loyal if a company engages with them, sincerely, on social media.
4. Bring Your Data Together with a Customer Data Platform
For targeted outreach to be successful, make sure you have a deep understanding of your millennial and gen z consumers. As is often the case, data is stored in multiple systems. This customer data can easily be integrated with additional demographic, behavioral and lifestyle data using a Customer Data Platform (CDP).
What types of interests and lifestyles most appeal to your millennial and gen z customers? What are their purchasing habits? What is their income?
Additionally, a CDP allows you to organize your customers and prospects into groups and categories, blending the information you know about them to find hidden, untapped segments and then engage with them instantly by building a Customer Journey. In short, by analyzing the data you have at hand, you can discover a wealth of new opportunities for upselling and cross selling this target audience.
Implement these strategies into your marketing mix to create messages that will capture the attention of these younger demographics and position you as an industry leader among millennial and gen z consumers as they continue to come of age and wield more spending power.
