Nearly 1/3 of surveyed consumers (29%) say they’re doing more work at home because of high gas prices, potentially driving a demand for home office products.

In addition, nearly 1 in 10 (9.5%) said they’re planning stay-at-home vacations, which could help sales of entertainment rooms and outdoor furnishings.

Source: ICD Research / HomeWorld Business magazine (Sept 28, 2008)  

According to recent research, the Internet is a key way to find hard-to-find items and bargains, and to save time. But some consumers still find internet shopping ‘complicated’, and many still dislike giving out their credit card number online…

By age, here’s what home furnishing consumers are saying about online shopping… (Gen X - age 18-29 / Gen Y - age 30-49 / Boomers - age 50-64 / Seniors - age 65+)

“The Internet is the best place to buy items that are hard to find.”
Gen X - 84% agreed
Gen Y - 82% agreed
Boomers - 70% agreed
Seniors -  61% agreed

“I don’t like giving my credit card or personal information online”
Gen X - 71% agreed
Gen Y - 74% agreed
Boomers - 79% agreed
Seniors - 82% agreed

“Shopping online saves me time”
Gen X - 70% agreed
Gen Y - 73% agreed
Boomers - 67% agreed
Seniors - 45% agreed

“The internet is the best place to find bargains”
Gen X - 62% agreed
Gen Y - 52% agreed
Boomers - 38% agreed
Seniors - 32% agreed

“Shopping online is complicated”
Gen X - 24% agreed
Gen Y - 24% agreed
Boomers - 30% agreed
Seniors - 34% agreed

Source: HGTV / Kids Today survey of 2,788 U.S. consumers / Feb 2008

A market filled with too many choices is going to impact how consumers shop, says Charles Kennedy, President of DIY Inc, a firm that tracks the impact of choice on consumer behavior. According to their research, 2007 marked the first year when the percentage of consumers who wanted a great deal of choice decreased, particuarly among younger consumers…

Generation Y (20-somethings) who want a lot of choice dropped from 72% to 63%

Generation X (30- and early 40-somethings) who want a lot of choice dropped from 63% to 62%

Baby Boomers who want a lot of choice dropped from 65% to 61%. 

Consumers are feeling overwhelmed by options for everything from entertainment (cable, dish, broadcast, internet, basic, premium, pay-per-view) to mattresses (innerspring, foam, soy-foam, latex, gel, air or water).

Kennedy recommends that retailers perform ‘choice audits’ to determine their ’story’, and cut those products that don’t directly help support their brand identity/offering, thereby helping consumers who are eager to simplify their lives in this new super-saturated world.   

Source: Furniture Style, Aug ‘08 

According to the Census Bureau, a few ‘new home constuction’ trends were on the rise in 2007 compared to 10 years ago…

2-storey homes were 65% of new homes built, compared to 52% in 1997

Homes with separate dining rooms were up to 56%, compared to 43% in 1997

Homes with four or more bedrooms were up to 35%, compared to 22% in 1997

Homes with two or more living/recreation rooms were up to 41%, compared to 18% in 1997

Median home size was 2,304 sq. ft. in 2007, up from 1,879 sq. ft. ten years ago, but down from the 2,500 sq. ft. average it had risen to the past decade.

Source: USA Today, Oct 20, 2007 / Census Bureau

Of 17 activities that normally take place in the kitchen… from paying bills to cooking to entertaining, only one activity is significantly more likely to occur in 2008 compared to two years ago… “using a computer”.

According to the Research Institute for Cooking & Kitchen Intelligence, 9% of consumers cited using a computer in their kitchen, compared to 6% two years ago.

Source: RICKI / Remodelers 360: Trend Report

More than twice as many residential architects reported home size declines (33.5%) rather than increases (15.5%) according to a 2008 survey by the American Institute of Architects.

Housing affordability and rising home energy costs have been factors, and experts consider smaller homes more than a short-term response to the economy, citing the possible beginning of a trend to smaller homes.

Other trends:

Accessibility - more than 2/3 reported changes to layouts to improve accessibility - wider hallways, fewer steps… to accomodate an aging population that wants to age at home.

Increased informal space - open space, flexible space, including partial wall division rather than full height walls to promote greater flexibilty and visibility

Green materials - most influencing the kitchen with renewable flooring and countertops.

Outdoor living space - over 2/3 see this feature increasing in popularity… including indoor/outdoor space and couryards that increases perceived space, cooking centers and outdoor fireplaces

 American Institute of Architects, 2008 survey

Shopping online is more popular than ever for consumers who want to save gas, time and often money. That’s proving particularly true for home furnishing shoppers. Check out these numbers…

According to the U.S. Dept of Commerce and Home Funishings Bureau, 2007 sales of home furnishings increased from $11.4B to $16 B. That’s an increase of over 40% compared to an 11.4% increase for total e-commerce sales over the same period (from $114 B to $127B.

But e-commerce retailers beware of ’shopping cart abandonment’ - those consumers who put items in a cart but don’t buy them. These numbers were also up 3% in 2007. According to payPal, here are the reasons why over 59% of online shoppers put items into their virtual shopping cart, but don’t go through with the purchase:

* 43% said shipping charges were too high

* 36% said the total cost was more expensive than anticipated

* 27% wanted to comparison shop with other web sites before purchasing

* 16% couldn’t contact customer support ot get their questions answered

* 14% forgot the username and password they’d created for their store account

43% of Americans report that they’re eating at home more now than a year ago. Only 11% report eating at home less than 12 months ago, those being predominantly single.

Americans more likely to stay home for meals? Those with children at home, those under age 45, and those with combined annual household income of less than $100,000. For many Americans, eating out is still considered a luxury and an easy way to save money.

Dining tables should be one furniture category to stay strong through this tough economy.

Source: Research Institute for Cooking & Kitchen Intelligence, Remodelers 360 survey, 2008

Medical research shows that 4 out of 5 consumers will experience back pain at some point in their life. Those same researchers recommend a new bed as a way to help relieve that pain.

Currently, 75% of consumers say ‘pain relief’ is important when buying a new mattress. But while bedding and furniture retailers only sometimes speak about pain relief when customers are in the store, even fewer of them advertise pain relief as a direct benefit of buying a new mattress.  According to a research study by Furniture/Today and HGTV, 31% of furniture stores NEVER promote pain relief in ther advertising. 61% say they promote it sometimes, 8% never promote this big consumer benefit.