New Homeowners Buy Furniture

By Jennifer Spitzer

Earlier this week I found an online thread between several business owners who were discussing marketing strategy. I had to jump in because the topic was new homeowner marketing and its relevance to the furniture industry. The conversation was initiated by Randy*, who has been thinking about developing a campaign to target the audience but wanted to know how often the move event triggers spending in the furniture category.

David* jumped in to say “There is probably some connection between the move event and the decision to buy furniture”.

Probably? I’ll get to that in a moment.

Clint* joined in to say people may want furniture when they move into a new home but their budget has been blown on the house, so you may be better off targeting homeowners who have lived in their primary residence longer.

Joe’s* opinion is that new homeowners are broke and you would be better off targeting college students immediately upon graduation because they have more disposable income. (I'm going to save that one for another day).

I get excited when I read these types of comments because I know these are business people who need help. The fact of the matter is, if you are in the furniture business and you’re not targeting new movers – you are missing out on an incredible opportunity. New homeowners are THE single most predictable audience for purchasing furniture. Over the last ten years, research has proven time and time again that over 75% of new homeowners will make a furniture purchase as a result of the move event. Many of those consumers will make their purchase within the first three months. We also know for a fact that this audience will spend more than a non-moving consumer and they’re likely to make multiple purchases for the next 12-18 months. All of this is backed up by a combination of survey data, industry research and analysis of long-term direct mail marketing campaigns.

If you operate a furniture business, no matter how big or small, talk to someone who knows how to put you in front of this audience at the right time with the right message and offer. Even if you find that there isn’t a significant amount of new mover activity in your trade area, it’s better to reach 1,000 highly targeted consumers who you KNOW are in the market for your product, than to reach 100,000 people who aren’t ready to buy.


*Names have been changed to protect those who may have given marketing advice to others without having quantifiable results of said marketing strategy.

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