New study shows consumers use Web to gather info before shopping for furniture. - Furniture Today Consumer Report
Consumers who do prior research online on home furnishings - furniture, accessories such as lamps and pictures, as well as home textiles - are serious about both their research and their purchasing. Dubbed Web2Store shoppers, these consumers represent a golden opportunity for furniture stores.
The Dieringer survey found that 75% of shoppers who researched home furnishings online said they had made a local shopping trip within the week following their online research.
The Web2Store Benchmark Survey underscores the need for retailers to have their own Web site. More than four-fifths of consumers who research their furniture purchase online go to retailers' Web sites first. By contrast, 55% of all Web2store shoppers visit manufacturer sites
Web2Store shoppers are a desirable group. They tend to have higher incomes and be better educated than the population at large. Home furnishings shoppers who research products and stores online also report higher incomes than Web2Store shoppers overall, especially in the $100,000 and up bracket.
The survey's results also points to the Internet as an ally rather than an enemy of brick-and-mortar stores. Web-to-store spending outpaced direct online spending in the 2004 fourth quarter among Web-to-store shoppers.
They purchased home furnishings offline after researching online
Millions of US adult product purchasers
Home furnishings shoppers include consumers shopping for furniture, accessories such as lamps and pictures, and home textiles, such as beddings, towels and linens.
Source: 2005 projection by The Dieringer Research Group, based on regression analysis of data from American Interactive Consumer Survey
Online resources used for local shopping
Percentage of Web-to-store shoppers using prior to local shopping trips
Source: The Dieringer Research Group, 2005 US Benchmark Survey
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