Abstract
The home furniture market continues to be inherently strong, even during the housing slump. Because of the long-term trend in home investment, Mintel expects only a moderate drop in sales from 2008 to 2009, followed by a return to solid expansion.
This report examines furniture sales, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers in great detail, addressing topics such as:
- Who buys furniture
- How retailing methods make furniture a "grudge" purchase, and what needs to change
- The length of the purchase process (how much time you have to market products to prospective buyers)
- Retailing success strategies, best practices, and industry innovation
- Performance of leading companies
- Most successful brand strategies
The furniture market is comprised of indoor furniture for consumer use. This includes bedding and bedroom furniture, formal and casual dining room furniture, upholstery, home office furniture, entertainment centers, and infant and youth furniture. Ready-to-assemble furniture for the consumer market is also included.
Table of Contents
- What you need to know
- Definition
- Data sources
- Sales data
- Consumer survey data
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Executive Summary
- The furniture market is inherently strong, but not this year...and probably not 2009
- Competitive context--deflationary imports
- Segments are large and mostly trend together, but lots of movement within
- Retail channels dominated by furniture stores, but others gain ground
- Major drivers are new home sales and discretionary income
- The biggest companies have also been the growth leaders
- Brand qualities
- Innovation and innovators
- Advertising and promotion needs updating
- Consumers don' t seem very engaged for such large purchases
- Market Size and Forecast
- Key points
- Low consumer confidence dampens disposable income expectations
- Not much light in the tunnel yet
- Figure 1: Total U.S. sales of home furniture, at current prices, 2002-12
- Figure 2: Total U.S. sales of home furniture, at inflation-adjusted prices, 2002-12
- Competitive Context
- Key points
- Rising foreign imports drive down average prices, thus dampening overall furniture sales
- Segment Performance
- Key points
- Figure 3: Furniture and bedding sales, by segment, 2007
- Figure 4: U.S. sales and forecast of home furniture at current prices, by segment, 2006 and 2007
- Segment Performance--Dining Room, Living Room and Bedroom Furniture (excluding bedding and upholstered furniture)
- Key points
- Dining: Weak market in 2007-08 drives casual furniture and accessories
- Youth/infant: Less affected by economic slump
- Figure 5: U.S. sales and forecast of dining room, living room and bedroom furniture (excluding bedding and upholstered furniture), at current prices, 2002-12
- Segment Performance--All Other Furniture (Outdoor, Office, Computer, Kitchen)
- Key points
- Entertainment: Flat-panel TVs leading the charge
- Occasional: "Functional" and "green" vs. "lean"
- Figure 6: U.S. sales and forecast of all other furniture (outdoor, office, computer, kitchen), at current prices, 2002-12
- Segment Performance--Upholstery
- Key points
- Upholstery: Home theatre popularity driving sales
- Figure 7: U.S. sales and forecast of upholstery, at current prices, 2002-12
- Segment Performance--Bedding and Bedding Furniture
- Key points
- Bedroom/bedding: Stagnant overall, but growth at high end
- Figure 8: U.S. sales and forecast of bedding and bedding furniture, at current prices, 2002-12
- Retail Channels
- Key points
- Figure 9: Graph: U.S. sales of home furniture, by retail channel, 1997-2007
- Figure 10: U.S. sales of home furniture, by retail channel, 1997-2007
- Retail Channels--Furniture Stores
- Key points
- Conventional furniture stores
- Home furnishing/specialty furniture stores
- Bedding specialty stores
- Figure 11: U.S. sales of home furniture at furniture stores, 2002-07
- Retail Channels--All Other Channels
- Key points
- Other retail sales channels
- Figure 12: U.S. sales of home furniture in all other channels, 2002-07
- Retail Channels--Mass Merchandisers
- Key points
- Mass merchandisers
- Figure 13: U.S. sales of home furniture at mass merchandisers, 2002-07
- Retail Channels--Department Stores
- Key points
- Department stores
- Figure 14: U.S. sales of home furniture at department stores, 2002-07
- Market Drivers
- Key points
- Slow housing sales hurt furniture sales
- Figure 15: New houses sold in the U.S., by region, 2004-07
- Discretionary income drives furniture purchases
- Figure 16: Households with discretionary income, by age of head of household, 2000
- Figure 17: Households with discretionary income (2000) compared to incidence of furniture purchase, 2007
- Consumer sentiment colors notions of discretionary income
- Figure 18: Historic consumer sentiment index, 2001-07
- Leading Companies
- Key points
- IKEA
- Wal-Mart
- Select Comfort
- Tempur-Pedic
- Leading companies in various aspects of the furniture industry
- Figure 19: Sales of leading home furniture stores, 2005 and 2006
- Figure 20: Sales of leading home furniture retailers, 2005 and 2006
- Figure 21: Sales of leading furniture sources, 2005 and 2006
- Figure 22: Sales of leading bedding retailers, 2005 and 2006
- Figure 23: Sales of leading bedding producers, 2005 and 2006
- Brand Qualities
- Value
- New age/high-tech
- Quality and high end
- Innovation and Innovators
- GMROI
- Vertical/single branded stores
- Showrooms offering inspiration, convenience, and novelty
- Green buildings
- Specialty bedding
- Advertising and Promotion
- Key points
- Figure 24: Ashley Furniture HomeStore television ad, 2007
- Figure 25: IKEA television ad, 2007
- Figure 26: Levitz Furniture ad, 2007
- Figure 27: Premier Bathrooms television ad, 2007
- Consumer--Lifestage Story
- Key points
- Different lifestages, different furniture price ranges
- Lifestage drives needs for different furniture types
- Figure 28: Furniture purchase, by lifestage, May 2006-June 2007
- Figure 29: Amount spent on furniture, by age, May 2006-June 2007
- Figure 30: Types of furniture purchased in past 12 months, by lifestage, May 2006-June 2007
- Consumers--Importance of Necessity and Style
- Key points
- Style shouldn' t be ignored
- Sources for style choices
- Figure 31: Reasons for buying furniture, February 2008
- Figure 32: Sources for style choices when buying furniture, February 2008
- Consumers--Home Ownership
- Key points
- Homeowners make good furniture marketing targets
- Figure 33: Types of furniture purchased in past 12 months, by Home Ownership, May 2006-June 2007
- Figure 34: Types of furniture purchased in past 12 months, by home ownership, May 2006-June 2007
- Consumers--Retail Channel Choices
- Key points
- No shortage of places to buy furniture
- Age and income level: Main indicators for customer retail channel
preferences
- Figure 35: Retail channels where furniture is purchased, February 2008
- Figure 36: Retail channels where furniture is purchased, by age, February 2008
- Figure 37: Retail channels where furniture is purchased, by income, February 2008
- Consumers--The RTA Niche
- Key points
- RTA furniture: Bridging the income gap
- It' s a generation thing
- Hispanics really like RTA furniture
- Figure 38: Purchase of ready-to-assemble furniture in the past 24 months, by age, February 2008
- Figure 39: Purchase of ready-to-assemble furniture in the past 24 months, by income, February 2008
- Figure 40: Purchase of ready-to-assemble furniture in the past 24 months, by race/ethnicity, February 2008
- Consumers--Time Spent Deciding what to Buy
- Key points
- Value furniture stores can expect shorter sales cycles
- Figure 41: Time spent researching furniture purchased, February 2008
- Figure 42: Time spent researching furniture purchased, by age, February 2008
- Figure 43: Time spent researching furniture purchased, by gender, February 2008
- Figure 44: Time spent researching furniture purchased, by income, February 2008
- Appendix: Trade Associations
