Although furniture traditionally is a look and feel purchase, consumers now are willing to purchase items such as sofas, patio furniture and tables online in addition to buying from a brick-and-mortar store. From shopper behavior over the past few months, it appears that shoppers are doing their homework by researching online for sales, lower tax rates and free shipping.
"Savvy consumers for quite some time have been taking advantage of the convenience and savings of buying big-ticket electronic items such as TVs and computers online. So it is natural to see online shoppers also embrace the convenience, selection and pricing that is now more readily available through the Internet for other large-ticket items," said Kamran Pourzanjani, president of PriceGrabber.com.
According to the survey of online shoppers at PriceGrabber.com, the top three motivations to go online for home furniture and appliance shopping include finding better prices, the convenience of shopping when you want, and the ability to shop from home and avoid crowds at stores and malls. Of those surveyed, 23 percent stated that they expect to buy more products online for their home within the next 12 months. These survey results are aligned with a recent JupiterResearch forecast that predicts steady growth for online spending for furniture, with a 17.4 percent growth from 2005 to 2010 (Jupiter Research Internet Shopping Model, 11/05 U.S. only).
Online retailers also support these findings. "Buying furniture on the Internet is here to stay and growing fast as consumers embrace the channel for furniture," said Scott Perry, CEO of EverythingFurniture.com. "Our online business has increased more than 1,000 percent over the past three years, landing us in Inc. magazine's top 500 fastest-growing privately held companies in the U.S. this year."
The following are the top 10 home furniture and appliance products searched for on PriceGrabber.com:
1. Maytag MG5765QDQ 30 inch gas freestanding range From $600
2. Manhattan Chocolate queen platform bed From $140
3. South Shore juvenile bunk bed From $171
4. Le Domaine d'Elegance bedroom furniture set in dijon From $4,073
5. Bryce two piece sectional sofa From $1,200
6. Loft Sectional 1 sofa From $7,080
7. Woodard FLC Trinida five piece conversation patio set From $400
8. Timeless Traditions pedestal dining table From $862
9. Redmond seven piece living room set From $1,300
10. Overture Oak bedroom furniture set From $4,075
PriceGrabber.com plans to track the expected online shopping growth trends for furniture and appliances in the coming 12 months. To view the full Consumer Behavior Report on Home Furniture and Appliance Trends, which includes insight into the value of free shipping offers, the top reasons why shoppers will not purchase furniture online and the heavy reliance shoppers place on doing online research before making offline purchases, please visit PriceGrabber.com at http://mr.pricegrabber.com/
