Bedding tops list of purchases
By Dana French -- Furniture Today, February 12, 2007
High Point — More than 42.5 million U.S. households bought furniture and bedding in 2006, spending $84.62 billion. Nearly 45 million households plan to buy furniture and bedding this year and about 60% — more than 27 million — plan to buy more than one product. That's the finding from an exclusive survey of 2,500 U.S. households conducted for Furniture/Today by New York-based TNS in November and December 2006.
Top products bought in 2006
Bedding once again topped the list of purchases in 2006, with 11.6% of all U.S. households buying a mattress and boxspring last year. The more than 13 million households spent a total of $11.85 billion on the category. In 2006, 92% of buyers bought one mattress, while 5% of buyers bought two, 2% bought three and 1% bought four. The most popular size was queen, accounting for 51% of all 2006 mattress purchases. Full-size mattresses accounted for 22% of all buys last year, and king-sized mattresses accounted for 20% of all purchases. Nearly one-third of bedding purchases occurred in bedding specialty stores in 2006, while nearly one-fifth of purchases were in traditional furniture stores.
Entertainment furniture captured the No. 2 spot as the most frequently purchased furniture category by U.S. households last year, no doubt helped by the keen interest in flat-panel TVs. Purchased by 7.5% of U.S. households, retail sales for the category hit $5.08 billion in 2006, up a healthy 11% from $4.57 billion in 2005. The 8.5 million households spent a median of $160 last year on their entertainment furniture purchase, with 26% spending less than $100, 41% spending between $100 and $299 and 33% forking over $300 or more. The discount department store channel captured the most entertainment furniture purchases last year, accounting for 30% of all buys, followed by traditional furniture stores, capturing 14% of total purchases and electronics specialists with 13% of purchases.
Desks round out the list of top three products bought. In 2006, 6.9% of U.S. households bought a desk. The 7.8 million desk-buying households spent a median of $100, with 39% spending less than $100, 30% spending between $100 and $199, and 31% spending $200 or more. In 2006, 27% of desk buys were made at discount department stores, followed by 21% at office supply stores and 13% at lifestyle furniture stores.
Who bought
Nearly half of all Generation Y households purchased furniture and bedding last year. The 76-million strong group is diverse and continues to be in very different life stages. Nearly one-third are still under 18, with the rest either in college, entering the workforce, getting married and/or having children. The top products bought by this dynamic group were bedding and desks, each bought by 13.5% of all Gen Y households, followed by master bedroom by 12.7% and entertainment furniture by 12.3% of households.
The often over-looked Generation X, currently between ages 32 and 42, is a group to watch. In 2006, 46% of all Gen X households made a furniture and bedding purchase. In fact, Gen X'ers spent more than $25 billion on furniture and bedding last year, accounting for 31% of the total dollars spent. Bedding was the No. 1 product bought, purchased by 16.1% of households. Since more than three-fifths of Gen X households currently have children living at home and nearly half have kids under age six, it only follows that youth/other adult bedroom furniture was the second-most purchased category, bought by 11.9% of households.
Baby Boomers, totaling 78 million, continue to live up to their big buyer reputation. In 2006, 38% of all Baby Boomers purchased furniture and bedding. Younger Baby Boomers, between the ages of 43 and 51 in 2007, most often purchased bedding, desks and stationary sofas last year, while the top products bought by Older Baby Boomers, currently between 52 and 61, were bedding, entertainment furniture and desks.
The nation's 42 million Hispanics are also buying furniture and bedding at high rates. In 2006, about one in every 10 households was Hispanic and more than half of them purchased furniture and bedding. The leading products bought by Hispanics last year were bedding, dining room furniture, desks and entertainment furniture.
2007 potential
About two-fifths of U.S. households plan to buy furniture and bedding this year. If all households purchase what they say they will and spend the maximum amount they've budgeted for each product, the 15 product categories included in Furniture/Today's exclusive Consumer Buying Trends survey will garner nearly $60 billion in retail sales. Data from past surveys shows more often than not consumers spend more than they plan to and buy more products than they think they will. Both factors lead to actual spending on furniture and bedding higher than what the sales potential figure indicates.
Bedding, stationary sofas and master bedroom top the list of planned buys for 2007. This year, 12.4% of U.S. households plan to buy a mattress/boxspring, while 7.6% plan to buy a stationary sofa and 6.6% plan to buy master bedroom.
