The latest French consumer trends in decoration and housing

Consumer trends in 2024: inspiration, digitalization and price sensitivity

• 66% of 25-44 year olds get inspiration before buying furniture or decoration
• The most common sources of inspiration are now predominantly digital, with 83% of them coming from digital, including 73% via social networks.
• 86% of consumers place price at the heart of their thinking

To understand consumer behavior in the decoration and furniture sector, it is essential to reflect the current market context. 52% consider their interior as a cocoon where they feel good and can recharge their batteries. At the same time, 54% of consumers are considering changes to their home, for greater harmony and aesthetics (36%); comfort and safety (28%); practicality and functionality (22%).

Influence and social networks: a crucial role

Digital is the main source of inspiration (83%) and influence with social networks playing a crucial role: 73% of French people get inspiration through social networks overall, for furnishing and decoration, the sources of inspiration are Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.

66% of 25-44 year-olds seek inspiration before buying furniture or decoration, and 34% of those aged 45 and over act on impulse.

Influence and recommendation are increasingly making sense: 76% of social media users have already considered or made a purchase after viewing a post**.

Influencers are increasingly dominating the interior design industry, influencing trends and purchases through their large social media following.

Today, digital is increasingly a complementary purchasing channel to the physical channel for housing and decoration:

• 93% of French people buy via both physical and digital channels
• 63% of consumers buy via discount sites or private sales.

The "fashionization" of decoration: expressing your personality

Just as a piece of clothing allows you to express your personality, a piece of furniture or a decorative object can also allow you to affirm who you are, what you like. The industry is thus adopting the logic of fashion with a more regular renewal of collections.

The investments of the French in decoration and furnishing are mainly focused on the visible and the aesthetic. Indeed, the living rooms (living room, lounge) are quite logically those where we invest the most. And decoration is the first category of purchase.

Showrooming is setting social networks alight, where consumers are competing in imagination to present their space with panache!

Price and accessibility at the heart of the discussions

In the current economic context, love at first sight is the number one reason for purchasing. However, 1 out of 9 consumers adopt a more thoughtful and rational behavior, based on price. Promotions/sales are the number one reasons for inciting purchases for 10 out of 7 consumers.

For small furniture as well as for interior decoration, accessibility is also a purchase trigger (for 60% of consumers): when a product is spotted, customers want to acquire it quickly (availability and rapid delivery are important points).

* exclusive study conducted among 1.643 respondents from its Showroomprivé customer database, spread throughout France. This study, representative of the entire French population, thus offers realistic insight into the consumption habits of the French in the field of home and decoration.

** Source: Digital Marketing Institute (2024)

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.