Valassis, a leader in activating consumers through intelligent media delivery, shares insights on how marketers can attract consumers looking to buy furniture in order to capture their share of the $108 billion home furnishings category.

Furniture manufacturers release new designs and models in February, leading retailers to offer competitive pricing and good deals in January to move existing inventory, experts at RetailMeNot point out. Overall, 17 percent of U.S. households are planning to buy furniture or a mattress in the next year, according to 2017 Scarborough Research. Understanding how media influences today’s home furnishings shopper allows brands and retailers to tap into consumer purchase behavior to drive sales.

“As home furnishings’ marketers increase targeted consumer touchpoints, they will drive more engagement, and ultimately, activation,” said Curtis Tingle, Chief Marketing Officer, Valassis. “It is important to consistently connect with the highest value consumer along the path to purchase from the research phase to purchase and beyond. This is especially true considering the influence consumer reviews and recommendations have during the shopping experience.”

Tingle offers ways marketers can appeal to today’s consumers who are shopping for new furniture as retailers and manufacturers gather at the Home Furnishings Association (HFA) Winter Market in Las Vegas through Feb. 1:

  • Be in the consideration set. Shoppers research an average of 68 days before making a furniture purchase; take the opportunity to influence them along this extended period knowing that 85 percent of research for major purchases starts online, with 82 percent of actual purchases made in-store.
  • Take an integrated approach. For furniture buyers, print and digital advertising has the largest share of purchase influence – 66 percent, according to a Prosper Insights and Analytics Study.
  • Target millennials. Millennials represent 40 percent of potential furniture buyers in the next 12 months, according to 2017 Scarborough Research. Also consider that 12.6 percent of millennials are planning to buy a house or condo in the next 12 months -- another prime opportunity for marketers.

About Valassis

Valassis helps thousands of local and national brands tap the potential of industry-leading data through intelligent media delivery – understanding, engaging and inspiring millions of consumers to action with smarter cross-channel campaigns. We’ve been a part of consumers’ lives for decades, introducing new ways to deliver offers and messages that activate them — whether via mail, digital, in-store or the newspaper. NCH Marketing Services, Inc. and Clipper Magazine are Valassis subsidiaries, and RedPlum® is its consumer brand. Its signature Have You Seen Me?® program delivers hope to missing children and their families. Valassis and RetailMeNot are wholly owned subsidiaries of Harland Clarke Holdings.