Furniture and homeware e-commerce in the United States generates around 55 billion U.S. dollars in revenue per year, according to 2021 estimates. That same year, furniture and home furnishing sales accounted for almost 12 percent of total retail e-commerce in the U.S. Even if this share of online sales is projected to decrease in the next few years, household goods and home improvement makes up one of the fastest-growing e-commerce sectors. For example, furniture and appliances ranks as the retail e-commerce category with the highest compound annual growth rate between 2018 and 2025, beating other key segments such as fashion or electronics.
Mainstream furniture e-commerce is yet to come
Despite these encouraging sales figures, online sales of furniture and home furnishings still have a long way to go to prevail over the physical channel. In 2021, only 13 percent of online consumers in the United States mostly bought furniture and household goods online rather than offline. In addition, when reviewing digital purchases in the past 12 months, less than two out of ten U.S. internet users had acquired furniture and household goods online. At the same time, this is what makes it an e-commerce segment with such huge growth potential. Despite low mainstream adoption, there is a positive outlook for e-commerce furniture sales as return rates in this product category are very low. A mere six percent of U.S. digital buyers returned furniture or household items purchased online in the previous 12 months, compared to 25 percent of online fashion shoppers.
It all comes down to the shopping experience and shipping costs
As many shoppers are still wary of committing to big-ticket purchases via the internet, it is up to retailers to make potential buyers feel more comfortable about shopping online. According to a recent survey, over two-thirds of U.S. respondents were willing to buy large pieces of furniture online. The type of product also plays a role, as dining tables, bedroom furniture, or sofas were items that more than half of the U.S. consumers interviewed were comfortable buying through the e-commerce channel. Still, some of the reasons why these purchases are still not widely adopted in the U.S. market are related to high shipping costs, which was the main deterrent for as much as 55 percent of U.S. respondents. Buy Online, Pickup in Store (BOPIS) services have proved effective in overcoming this obstacle, particularly since the COVID-19 pandemic and among younger generations.
Table of Contents
Overview
Market volume
Category benchmarks
Leading online retailers
Shopping behavior
1. Overview
Description: Revenue from the global furniture industry stood at 1.3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2020. The Statista Consumer Market Outlook estimates that by 2025, revenue in this industry will reach 1.6 trillion dollars
Description: Online conversion rates of e-commerce sites were the highest in food and beverage sector, at four percent in 2022. E-commerce sites selling haircare products followed in the conversions’ ranking. Globally, online shopping sites for skincare products could reach 3.1 percent of conversion rate, on average.
Description: Per capita consumer spending on furnishings, household equipment and routine maintenance of the house in the Americas is set to amount to 901.09 U.S. dollars 2021. By 2025, that figure is forecast to reach 1,030.92 dollars per capita. Consumer spending here refers to the domestic demand of private households and non-profit institutions serving households (NPISHs) in the selected region. Spending by corporations or the state is not included.Consumer spending is the biggest component of the gross domestic product as computed on an expenditure basis in the context of national accounts.
Description: In 2020, the revenue of the furniture market in the United States decreased by 26 billion U.S. dollars to 233 billion dollars. According to the Statista Consumer Market Outlook, revenue will slowly increase but it will take until at least 2023 to reach prepandemic values. By 2025 it is estimated that the revenue of the furniture market in the United States will increase to around 270 billion U.S. dollars.
Description: It was forecast that by 2025, furniture and bedding in the United States would reach 143.3 billion U.S. dollars in sales, a 24 percent increase compared to the revenue estimated in 2020, which amounted to 115.2 billion U.S. dollars. Read more Note(s): United States; 2009 to 2020; *Forecast. Figures prior to 2020 come from previous publications.
2. Market volume
Description: In 2021, retail e-commerce revenue from furniture and homeware sales amounted to 132.7 billion U.S. dollars and are projected to increase to over 208.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2025. In the most recently measured period, furniture and home furnishing sales accounted for 11.78 percent of total retail e-commerce sales in the United States.
Description: Furniture and home furnishings sales represent around 17.28 percent of total U.S. e-retail sales, according to 2021 estimates. This segment is expected to see its share gradually reduced until 2025, when it could account for less than 15.66 percent of total retail e-commerce sales in the United States.
Description: Consumer spending on second-hand furniture and home goods in the U.S. increased by more than two billion U.S. dollars in 2020, the equivalent of nearly 16 percent. Since 2015, the market for used furniture and home goods has grown by more than 50 percent, and it is expected to keep growing at a rapid pace. The coronavirus pandemic was named as a main contributor to the recent surge of consumer spending on pre-owned furniture and household items.
Description:In 2019, the e-commerce value of machinery manufacturing shipments in the United States amounted to almost 250 billion U.S. dollars, up from 247 billion U.S. dollars in the previous measured period. In 2019, e-commerce accounted for almost 64 percent of total shipments in the machinery manufacturing sector.
Description: In 2019, the B2B e-commerce value of furniture and related product manufacturing shipments in the United States amounted to 43.1 billion U.S. dollars, up from 43 billion U.S. dollars in the previous measured period. In 2019, e-commerce accounted for 57.1 percent of total shipments in the furniture manufacturing sector.
Description: In 2019, e-commerce accounted for 22.8 percent of total furniture wholesale trade in the United States, a slight increase from 22.7 percent in the preceding year. B2B e-commerce sales of furniture and home furnishings amounted to 27.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2019.
3. Category benchmarks
Description: The United States is globally known for its diverse e-commerce market and high levels of digital consumption. With a large and unified market backing up, the annual e-commerce revenue in the United States amounted to 767.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2021. The fashion category took the largest share, with around 181 billion dollars in revenue.
Description: The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of e-commerce categories averaged 13.5 percent for the period between 2017 and 2025. The highest CAGR for this period was estimated to be in the food segment, amounting to 26 percent growth. The segments of fashion and food & personal care each are estimated to have over 14 percent compound annual growth rate.
Description: Automobile and auto parts was the e-commerce category with the highest expected year-over-year growth between 2021 and 2022. As of February 2022, car and auto parts retail e-commerce sales were forecast to increase over 30 percent compared to the previous year. Food and beverage was the second fastest growing segment, at around 21 percent. The average retail e-commerce growth across all categories would reach 14 percent.
Description: Books, music, and video was the e-commerce category with the highest share in total retail sales in the United States as of February 2021. More than two-thirds (69 percent) of all retail sales in the book, music, and video segment were generated online. The category with the second-highest percentage of retail sales in the U.S. was computer and consumer electronics, at 53 percent. At the other end of the spectrum, automobile and auto-parts, as well as food and beverage, had the lowest share of retail sales, below five percent.
Description: Sales for furniture and home decor goods increased across various categories in the United States in 2020. As the pandemic raged, Americans spent their free time on home improvement and DIY projects, boosting furniture and DIY sales. The figures here suggest that the bedroom and living room were the most-renovated rooms in 2020, as sales in both categories increased by more than 35 percent compared to 2019.
Description: In 2020, food and beverage stores generated 23.3 billion U.S. dollars through online retail sales in the United States. In total, sales of this type of retail establishments amounted to more than 850 billion U.S. dollars that year. E-commerce sales of apparel and clothing accessories, in turn, registered e-commerce sales of 16 billion U.S. dollars.
Description: In 2019, e-commerce accounted for 92.5 percent of total furniture and home furnishings sales of electronic shopping and mail-order houses in the United States. Audio and video recording, and computer software were other leading merchandise lines for the online sales channel that year.
4. Leading online retailers
Description: Amazon.com is leading the Furniture & Appliances e-commerce market in the U.S., with e-commerce net sales of US$ 15,747 million in 2020 generated in the U.S., followed by Homedepot.com with US$ 11,502 million. Third place is taken by Walmart.com with a revenue of US$ 9,867 million. Wayfair.com is the fourth biggest Furniture & Appliances online store in the U.S. with net sales of US$ 8,829 million in 2020.
Description: Homedepot.com is the online shop with the highest eCommerce net sales that is selling products in the DIY & home improvement e-commerce market in the U.S., with a revenue of US$16,914 million in 2020 generated in the U.S., followed by Lowes.com with US$7,435 million. Third place is taken by Grainger.com with US$4,649 million. Harborfreight.com is the fourth biggest DIY & home improvement online store in the U.S. with US$ 454 million in 2020.
Description: Mattressfirm.com is the online shop with the highest eCommerce net sales that is selling products in the Mattresses e-commerce market in the U.S., with a revenue of US$538 million in 2020 generated in the U.S., followed by Purple.com with US$405 million. Third place is taken by Leesa.com with US$273 million. Saatva.com is the fourth biggest Mattresses online store in the U.S. with US$ 257 million in 2020.
Description: Wayfair.com is leading the ranking of the top online stores by SEA budgets in 2020 in the U.S., with an estimated budget of US$314.3 million in the U.S. only, followed by Walmart.com with US$296.4 million. Third place is taken by Amazon.com with US$243 million. Homedepot.com is on the fourth position with US$ 142.8 million in 2020 in the U.S.
Description: The Boston-based home goods e-retailer, Wayfair, generated 14.1 billion U.S. dollars in net revenues in 2020, a spike of almost 55 percent compared to the 9.1 billion dollars reported in the preceding year. The onset year of the COVID-19 pandemic has been the most successful sales year to date. Wayfair generates the majority of its revenues via direct retail sales.
Description: The timeline shows e-retailer Wayfair’s active customer base from 2013 to 2020. During the last reported fiscal period, the online furniture retailer had 31.19 million active customers, up from 20.29 million customers in the previous year.
Description: The timeline shows e-retailer Wayfair’s annual order volume from 2013 to 2020. During the last reported fiscal period, the online furniture retailer had delivered about 61 million orders, up from 37.64 million in the previous year.
5. Shopping behavior
Description: The displayed data on online vs. offline product research by category shows results of the Statista Global Consumer Survey conducted in the United States in 2022. Some 49 percent of respondents answered the question “For which of these products do you mostly look for information online rather than offline?” with “Consumer electronics (e.g. TV, smartphones)”
Description: The displayed data on online purchases by category shows results of the Statista Global Consumer Survey conducted in the United States in 2022. Some 53 percent of respondents answered the question “Which of these items have you bought online in the past 12 months?” with “Clothing”.
Description: The displayed data on online vs. offline purchases by category shows results of the Statista Global Consumer Survey conducted in the United States in 2022. Some 36 percent of respondents answered the question “Which of these products do you mostly buy/order online rather than offline?” with “Clothing”.
Description: The displayed data on returns of online purchases by category shows results of the Statista Global Consumer Survey conducted in the United States in 2022. Some 26 percent of respondents answered the question “Which of these kinds of articles have you sent back after an online order in the past 12 months?” with “Clothing”.
Description: As of 2021, 63.2 percent of Millennial home furnishings shoppers had bought items online and picked them up in store. Meanwhile, only 25 percent of baby boomers have used BOPIS for home furnishing. BOPIS, also known as Click and Collect, was forecast to reach total retail sales of over 64 billion U.S. dollars in 2021.
Description: In 2020, 68 percent of U.S. consumers stated that they would be willing to buy large furniture online, up from 51 percent in 2019. 35 percent of U.S. home furnishings and furniture shoppers stated that they were very loyal to specific furniture stores in 2020.
Description: In 2020, 58 percent of U.S. consumers were either extremely or very comfortable with purchasing dining tables online. Generation X respondents were the most willing to buy large furniture online.
Description: This statistic shows the most important factors for consumers when purchasing ready-to-assemble (RTA) furniture in the United States as of 2020. The survey revealed that product quality/performance was the most important factor for 33.4 percent of U.S. consumers when purchasing RTA furniture.
6. COVID-19 impact
Description: 69 percent of furniture retailers in the United States reported that they planned to increase their focus on e-commerce in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Description: Office furniture sales increased massively during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Even though office retailers were forced to close down during lockdown periods, the overwhelming demand for home office supplies caused sales figures to surge. For instance, office chairs were roughly 75 percent more popular than before the pandemic.
Description: According to a survey carried out in October 2020 in the United States, 58 percent of Millennials and nearly half of Generation X respondents were more likely to shop for home furnishing online compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic. In contrast, 37 percent of Baby boomers were more likely to buy furniture online.
Description: Pre-owned furniture listings and sales skyrocketed during the coronavirus pandemic in the United States in 2020. For instance, the popular online furniture marketplace AptDeco saw its amount of furniture listings nearly triple since May 2020. The social networks Facebook and Nextdoor also witnessed increases in furniture listings and sales.
Source from Statista
Disclaimer: The information set forth above is provided by Statista independently of Alibaba.com. Alibaba.com makes no representation and warranties as to the quality and reliability of the seller and products.
