Living room furniture will suffer in 2017: low consumer confidence means purchases are less frequent and more considered. Sales are battling with smaller living spaces and lower disposable incomes driving the need for versatile items. Only living room storage will grow in 2017, driven by consumers needing to replace their existing furniture when it wears out or they move house.

Despite having a challenging year in which DFS issued a profit warning and saw its share fall, the retailer’s acquisition of Sofology will allow it to reach new demographics. The market leader will benefit from Sofology’s higher-end, quality reputation and technological integration, making it more nimble and competitive.

Demand for functional furniture that offers greater perceived value and makes efficient use of limited space will bolster sales throughout the forecast period: modular seating and sofabeds will report the most impressive growth. The online channel is set to grow 44.0% over the next five years as consumers trust in buying furniture online grows.

Compared to last year, there has been a significant shift to researching purchases online. As a result, retailers must put greater focus on a seamless online experience to ensure that, having done their research, consumers make the purchase and remain loyal. Purchases in the last year were driven by generation rent and less affluent consumers, who favour more functional and space-conscious items like sofabeds, and are motivated more by lower costs and convenience, given that they are more likely to replace items or move home.

IKEA is the most used retailer for living room furniture purchases (25% of consumers), followed by Argos (14%) and DFS (9%). IKEA outshines other retailers with a furniture specialism, high design and value credentials.

The report “Living Room Furniture 2017” provides detailed analysis of the market, forecast to 2022 to enable retailers to target outperforming categories to ensure future revenue growth. The report provides quantitative and qualitative analysis of the UK market, evaluating major trends such as smaller living spaces and the influence of designers in the market. It also provides key insight into consumer attitudes to better understand your core demographic and an in-depth analysis of key market players to target growth opportunities in the market.

Companies mentioned in this report: DFS, SCS, Oak Furniture Land, IKEA, ScS, Sofology, Harveys, Argos, Furniture Village, Next, John Lewis, Homestyle, Multiyork, Wayfair, Sofa.com

Scope

• The online living room furniture market is set to grow 45.0% over the next five years, resulting in an online penetration of 24.5%. The rise of sofa online pureplays and large specialists developing their websites and online ordering facilities will encourage more consumers to make their big-ticket purchases through the channel.
• The vast majority of would-be shoppers now research online before purchase. This indicates that bricks-and-mortar retailers’ investment to build their online presence is working. The challenge, however, lies in ensuring instore browsers remain brand loyal.
• The share of respondents with room capacity of less than five people grew by eight and a half percentage points versus last year’s survey. With first-time buyers still being pushed to buy smaller properties, younger shoppers are opting for comparable items with a smaller footprint: side tables, chairs and armchairs are favoured. Those with a room capacity of one or two people are significantly more likely to have purchased these items in the past year than those with bigger homes.

Reasons to buy

• Make informed strategic decisions using our five-year forecasts to 2022 for individual product categories such as armchairs and settees.
• Review our analysis on key market issues, such as smaller seating space, and use our key strategies in overcoming this trend to better compete with your core competitors to grow market share.
• Compare our analysis on major living room furniture retailers such as DFS and Harveys; enhance your understanding of their strengths and weaknesses and target important demographics in which they are underperforming.
• Recognise which consumers to target and how to attract them by utilising our shopper penetration data and understanding what influences their retailer selection and spending motivations.
• Realise the strength of the online market, reviewing retailer strategies to grow sales through this channel and use their tactics to develop your own online strategy.