Furniture Retailing - UK - July 2019
Overview
 
What you need to know
Consumer spending on furniture grew by 4.5% to £17.2 billion in 2018, underpinned by the return of real wage growth, resilient consumer confidence and an estimated additional 200,000 homes to furnish. However, the rate of this narrowed from 9.8% following a bumper 2017, as the market continues to navigate caution around Brexit headwinds, and housing transactions cooled for a second year.

On the whole, consumer confidence is holding up despite the air of uncertainty, however, this looks to remain fragile as the UK approaches the rearranged 31 October 2019 exit date. The impact of this on the economy and housing market remains unclear, as does its knock-on effect on household finances.

Furniture specialists such as IKEA, DFS and Dreams continue to expand their physical presence, but in this, the store is under transition as it moves to an increasingly intermediate role as browsing and purchasing move online. This has heightened the importance of integrating the online and offline stages of the purchasing journey, to ensure consumers a seamless omnichannel experience in buying furniture.

Products covered in this Report
This Report covers the retailing of the following types of furniture:

●	Living and dining room furniture
●	Bedroom furniture, including beds and mattresses
●	Home office furniture.

Further segmental detail can also be found in the following Mintel Reports:

●	Bedrooms and Bedroom Furniture – UK, December 2019
●	Living and Dining Room Furniture – UK, October 2019.

While bathroom and kitchen furniture are included in the market size, we will explore these segments in greater detail in the following Mintel Reports:

●	Bathrooms and Bathroom Accessories – UK, September 2019
●	Kitchens and Kitchen Furniture – UK, November 2019.