Homewares in the UK: The Comforts of Ecommerce

How comfortable are consumers with buying everything from refrigerators to rugs online? The latest Category Deep Dive from the HookLogic Exchange transactional data shows that size is no impediment, nor is the lack of being able to touch the merchandise.

According to the Office of National Statistics, in August 2016, Homewares had a 46.6% leap in online sales year-over year – and the growth rate each month of 2016 was over 30%. With driving factors like the Internet obsessive, convenience-seeking Millennials settling down and the influence of social media, Homewares ecommerce is flourishing.

This category deep dive reveals the following:

• Linens account for the highest number of products sold – consumers are obviously very comfortable getting their sheets and towels online

• Furniture has both high relative product pageviews and accounts for the biggest share of revenue in the HookLogic Exchange:  pricepoints are high and consumers need to look at a lot of content to get to the sale.

• Household Appliances and Kitchen Appliances also have high relative pageviews:  like Furniture, product research can be an involved process

• Household Supplies has the lowest average unit value but the greatest number of products per cart: 6.5 on average.  There are several competing bulk sellers of these types of goods and consumers are clearly responding.

Among the top influences on the purchase for shoppers in this category are selection, products/reviews, videos of complex or need-to-assemble products and strong photography. For the complete data and insights, which includes cart statistics by category (other categories analysed are: Lighting, Kitchen & Dining, Décor, Home & Garden and Bathroom Accessories), read the white paper now.