“Consumers show a surprisingly low level of loyalty to home furnishings brands, a Furniture Today survey reveals. And that seems to be surprisingly bad news for mattress producers and retailers, who are among the heaviest promoters in the home furnishings industry.
The online survey gathered almost 1,400 responses, with about the same number in each of the three key demographic groups: Millennials, Generation X and Baby Boomers.
The most brand loyal demographic group, the survey says, is Millennials.
While only 10% of the respondents overall said they are loyal to specific furniture stores such as Rooms To Go, Mattress Firm or Ashley, the figure is much higher — 15% — for Millennials. It drops to a paltry 5% for Gen Xers and rises to 10% for Boomers.
Similarly, only 10% of the respondents overall said they are loyal to specific brands of furniture such as Broyhill, Lexington or Serta, but 13% of Millennials said they are loyal to specific brands, compared to 7% of Gen Xers and 11% of Boomers.
The survey results suggest that the major bedding brands on the wholesale and retail sides of the business cannot afford to sit back and assume their brand-building heritage will be decisive. Instead, they need to be working every day to earn consumers’ trust anew.
…And the survey results are good news for the challenger bedding brands aiming to grab share from the big guys. They don’t face insurmountable obstacles as they appeal to consumers to consider their brands, the survey results suggest.”
Based on the results posted above that only 10-15% of respondents are loyal to specific furniture stores, the same holds true for “challenger” stores aiming to grab share from the big guys! There is a HUGE opportunity for the local retailer to win, and appearing at the top of Google search results can play a role.
Read the full Furniture Today article.
