eCommerce has affected almost every facet of the retail industry. Furniture is certainly no exception. Recent research by eMarketer reported that online sales of furniture and home furnishings grew by over 16 percent and sales to nearly $36 billion. That number is expected to exceed $60 billion annually over the next three years.
According to a May 2017 GPShopper survey, home decor was the product category US internet users were most likely to research digitally. Some 63% of respondents said they started their product search on desktop or mobile.
Research Online and Purchase In-Store
An even larger percentage of furniture consumers research online before heading into a brick-and-mortar store.
Almost half of millennials research on-line before heading to a furniture store, with the next largest population being Gen X.
A study by Perq, a maker of retail software solutions, surveyed more than 9,000 consumers shopping on 30 retail furniture websites between May and September 2017. The research indicated that:
- 70% of consumers shopping for furniture begin the process online.
- 39% of online furniture shoppers are in the middle of the purchase process and “narrowing options”
- 17% are ready to purchase
Additional research by the National Retail Federation echo these statistics with more than 57% of furniture shoppers buy at a physical store. Furniture purchases are considered to be research-intensive purchases and NRF’s research shows that 80% of shoppers research furniture online before they purchase, with millennials most likely to shop on smartphones before, during and after a store visit.
Most of the growth in retail sales is forecast to come from in-store sales influenced by online research and shopping. In fact, some brick and mortar furniture retailers have reported the ratio of online research on in-store sales is 10X their online sales.
Target Furniture Consumers On-Line
Furniture brands must target these in-market shoppers with digital ads while they are still in the decision process. Porch Group Media offers a range of customized furniture audiences to make sure you don’t miss a single opportunity.
Sample furniture audiences include:
- Home Décor Buyers
- Home Improvement Buyers
- Value Hunter Buyers
- Interior Decorating Interest
- Country Lifestyle Interests
- DIY Interests
- Millennial New Movers and Pre-Movers
- Baby Boomers New Movers and Pre-Movers
Target Furniture Consumers on Facebook
Many furniture brands are seeing huge success with using Facebook advertising. Porch Group Media’s custom audience solution, Porch Group Media AudienceLink for Facebook, is an industry-leading third party data set with 100% opt-in emails. We follow rigorous quality and privacy standards, ensuring our sourcing collection methods undergo extensive due diligence to be 100% compliant with state and federal laws. In addition, Porch Group Media only partners with email data providers who must be in compliance with the DMA’s Commitment to Consumer Choice.
Clients using Porch Group Media AudienceLink for Facebook campaigns have experienced a 3x increase in sales conversions and a 20% increase in engagement.
How the Process Works
Porch Group Media will work with you to understand your campaign objectives and help you determine the best strategy to meet your needs.
Based on your campaign goals, you may choose to reach your current customers using your internal customer data or create an acquisition campaign using Porch Group Media’s third party data assets.
Once we build your custom audiences, you may distribute to Facebook through your client account or approved Facebook integration partners.
Today’s consumers don’t view shopping online as any different than shopping in a store. Furniture brands must make sure they are present wherever a prospective customer is researching and ultimately decides to purchase.
