This exclusive eIntent report focuses on three key online areas: the consumer buying online, online customer service and furniture stores selling online.
Last year, 13% of all home furnishings buyers, including those purchasing furniture, accessories and textiles, bought through an online retailer. And, 7% of all furniture and bedding buyers bought online in 2012.
Those key figures hail from Furniture/Today's 2013 Consumer Buying Trends Survey. The exclusive, nationally-representative survey asked 3,000 U.S. households what furniture they bought in 2012 and where they bought it. All told, the online channel accounted for 9% of 2012's furniture and bedding retail sales, amounting to nearly $8 billion.
Online customer service is just as important, if not more so, than face-to-face service when it comes to online furniture shopping. Research shows providing detailed product information and pricing can help prevent site abandonment and lost sales.
When it comes to online product information, more is better. Eighty-one percent of consumers refuse to shop a furniture website that does not include price information. That data comes from an exclusive Furniture/Today consumer survey, fielded in partnership with Furnituredealer.net.
Exclusive data from Furniture/Today's most recent Furniture Store Performance Report reveals that online strategies of furniture stores have evolved and grown over the past five years. Furniture stores increasingly understand the Internet's importance. Today, 86% of furniture stores have a website, a 22 percentage point increase from the 64% of stores with a website in 2007.
For the complete report, see the 20 April 2013 print issue of Furniture Today, or click here for the exclusive online edition.
