Key Takeaways: Home Furniture Shopping Behavior in 2026
- The Customer Journey Starts on Social Media, Not Retailer Websites
Half of all furniture buyers begin their journey on social platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Facebook, and Reddit during an inspiration phase that happens weeks or months before they’re ready to buy. This means marketers need to invest in platform-specific content that builds brand affinity during the dreaming stage, not just conversion-focused ads during active shopping. - Price Competitiveness Trumps Brand Loyalty
74% of furniture buyers choose retailers based on who has the best prices and sales, making competitive pricing strategy the single most important factor in winning consideration. While convenience and product selection matter, price ultimately tips the scale in retailer selection across all furniture categories. - The Market Is Massive and Fragmented
Nearly 80 million consumers intend to purchase home furniture in the next 12 months, but they’re spread across multiple retailers from Walmart to Amazon to Wayfair to IKEA. No single player dominates, which means opportunity exists across channels for brands that can demonstrate clear value superiority on price, convenience, and selection. - Predictive Intelligence Enables Proactive Targeting
Unlike traditional market research that analyzes past purchases, predictive consumer intelligence identifies who will buy what before they make decisions. This allows marketers to reach furniture shoppers during the inspiration and consideration phases when preferences are forming, rather than competing for attention during the crowded final purchase moment.
Wintertime, with its many hours spent indoors avoiding the cold, is the perfect season to think about your living space and consider how you might want to upgrade the place you call home. Even though people aren’t moving house, Resonate’s 2026 Predictions Report revealed that nearly 80 million consumers intend to purchase some type of home furniture across all categories in the next 12 months.
Not all of these future furniture purchasers are created alike. Resonate’s predictive consumer intelligence can delve down into the differences that separate people who are buying entertainment furniture from those seeking something for a home office, revealing the product attributes each are looking for, their media consumption habits, and much more.
Predictive consumer intelligence uses behavioral data, intent signals, and demographic patterns to forecast future purchasing decisions before they happen. Unlike traditional market research that looks backward at completed transactions, this approach identifies who will buy what and why, enabling marketers to reach consumers during the inspiration and consideration phases when preferences are forming and brand affinity is built.
Read on to learn more about how you can start preparing effective marketing strategies for different types of home furniture buyers.
Who This Research Is For
This analysis is designed for furniture retailers, home goods marketers, media buyers, and brand strategists who want to reach consumers during the furniture shopping journey, from initial inspiration through final purchase.
Key Findings: Furniture Shopping Behavior in 2026
Based on current intent signals and behavioral patterns analyzed in early 2026, Resonate forecasts several critical trends that shape how marketers should approach this audience:
Nearly 80 million consumers intend to purchase home furniture between now and early 2027, representing a significant market opportunity across bedroom, dining room, kitchen, home office, and entertainment room categories.
Furniture shoppers begin their journey on social platforms, with 50% seeking inspiration on Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Facebook, or Reddit before entering purchase mode, meaning the customer journey starts long before active shopping begins.
Product priorities vary dramatically by room type, with home office buyers prioritizing functionality, multi-purpose design, and power features while entertainment room buyers emphasize aesthetics, family-friendliness, and visual appeal.
Price sensitivity dominates retailer selection, with 74% of buyers choosing retailers based on best prices and sales, making competitive pricing strategy absolutely critical to winning consideration regardless of channel.
Where Do Home Furniture Buyers Get Their Inspiration From?
Home furniture buyers gather inspiration primarily on social media platforms, with half of all shoppers using digital channels during their discovery phase. This means the customer journey begins long before purchase intent solidifies, often weeks or months before someone is ready to buy.
Here’s where you can find them:
- 14% of furniture buyers look on Instagram for ideas
- 13% seek inspiration on Facebook
- 12% make a Pinterest board
- 10% turn to TikTok and its consumable videos for inspiration
- 4% get inspiration from Reddit
Why the Inspiration Phase Matters
This data reveals a critical insight that transforms how furniture brands should approach their marketing. The customer journey begins long before someone is ready to buy, with half of all furniture shoppers turning to social platforms for inspiration during the dreaming and discovery phase. Understanding where your future customers gather their ideas means you can meet them at the moment when preferences are forming and brand affinity is built, whether that’s through aspirational lifestyle content on Instagram, shoppable boards on Pinterest, engaging video content on TikTok, community-driven recommendations on Facebook, or niche design discussions on Reddit.
Platform-Specific Content Strategy
Marketers should invest in social platform content during the inspiration phase, before shoppers enter active purchase mode. This inspiration phase isn’t just about awareness. It’s an opportunity to influence consideration, establish your brand as a trusted style authority, and create emotional connections before shoppers ever compare prices or visit retailer websites.
By investing in platform-specific creative that sparks imagination and provides genuine value during this exploratory stage, you can build top-of-mind awareness that pays dividends when these inspired browsers become ready-to-buy customers, positioning your brand as the natural choice when they’re ready to turn their Pinterest boards and saved posts into real purchases. These behavioral insights aren’t just interesting, they’re immediately actionable through Resonate’s integrations with major DSPs, allowing you to target furniture buyers across their inspiration journey.
What Product Attributes Are Furniture Buyers Looking For?
Product priorities shift dramatically based on the room being furnished and its intended use. Home office furniture shoppers and entertainment room furniture shoppers represent distinct segments with contrasting needs that require different messaging strategies.
Home Office Furniture Buyers
Home office furniture shoppers are driven by practical considerations, reflecting the need for productive, purposeful workspaces that earn their place in the home:
- 33% want their new piece of home office furniture to be multi-functional
- 9% care whether the product was produced sustainably
- 7% want something that’s power-enabled
- 49% want their furniture to be cost-effective
- 36% want something that’s easy to assemble
Entertainment Room Furniture Buyers
In contrast to home office buyers, entertainment room furniture shoppers have distinctly different priorities that reflect the social nature of these spaces:
- 28% want something that’s family-friendly
- 26% want their new entertainment room furniture item to be multi-functional
- 25% want to buy something that they consider to be the best looking
- 51% want a product that’s cost-effective
- 40% want it to be dependable
Segment by Room Type
This data underscores a fundamental truth for furniture marketers: one-size-fits-all messaging will fall flat because product priorities shift dramatically based on the room being furnished and its intended use. While 33% of home office buyers want multi-functional furniture, this drops to 26% for entertainment room buyers, a difference that reflects distinct use cases and shopping mindsets.
Home office furniture shoppers prioritize workspace efficiency and practical features like power enablement and easy assembly. Entertainment room furniture buyers skew toward aesthetics and family dynamics, with more than a quarter prioritizing visual appeal and family-friendliness.
Leverage Universal Value Messaging
What unites both segments is a strong emphasis on value. Roughly half of each group demands cost-effectiveness, with 49% of home office buyers and 51% of entertainment room buyers making purchase decisions based on price-to-value calculations.
Leverage these insights to craft room-specific campaigns that speak directly to each shopper’s unique priorities, emphasizing workspace efficiency and power features for home office buyers while highlighting style, family appeal, and entertaining functionality for living room shoppers. Anchor messaging in the universal appeal of value, quality, and practical benefits that resonate across categories.
Where Will Home Furniture Buyers Get Their Furniture From?
Consumers choose retailers based on price competitiveness, convenience, and product selection, with three-quarters prioritizing whoever offers the best deals. This means winning furniture shoppers requires not just getting on their radar but demonstrating clear superiority on the attributes they use to make final decisions.
Consumers pick home furniture retailers based on all kinds of factors. Maybe they’re going to a particular place because they had a good experience with the last item they bought, or perhaps they’re taking the recommendation of a family member or friend. Resonate data offers insights into where Home Furniture Buyers are intending to make their purchases before they’ve even put their shoes on or picked up their credit card:
- 14% are shopping for bedroom furniture on Amazon
- 10% are considering buying their bedroom furniture from Walmart
- 5% are looking for bedroom furniture on Wayfair
- 3% are looking for dining room furniture at IKEA
- 3% are thinking of buying their kitchen furniture from Walmart
What Drives Retailer Selection
As for how Home Furniture Buyers are prioritizing which retailer to choose, Resonate has insights on this as well:
- 74% prefer to shop with the retailer that has the best prices and sales
- 45% want a retailer that has locations convenient to them
- 40% are looking for retailers with a larger product selection
- Competitive Pricing Strategy Is Critical
This data reveals the complex interplay between channel preference and decision drivers that shapes where consumers ultimately make their purchases. The retail landscape is fragmented, with shoppers considering a diverse mix of mass merchants like Walmart, online giants like Amazon, specialty e-tailers like Wayfair, and category disruptors like IKEA, signaling that no single retailer owns the furniture category. Opportunity exists across multiple channels.
However, the real story lies in what tips the scale. A commanding 74% of furniture buyers prioritize retailers offering the best prices and sales, making competitive pricing and promotional strategy absolutely critical to winning consideration. While brand loyalty and word-of-mouth play roles in initial consideration, the path to purchase is ultimately determined by a practical calculation of value, accessibility, and selection.
Demonstrate Clear Value Superiority
Winning furniture shoppers requires not just getting on their radar but demonstrating clear superiority on the attributes they use to make final decisions, whether that’s through aggressive pricing strategies, convenient fulfillment options that meet the 45% who prioritize accessible locations, or curated-yet-comprehensive product assortments that satisfy the 40% seeking broader selection.
What Marketers Should Also Consider
Beyond these core insights, several adjacent questions can help refine your furniture marketing strategy:
When should furniture marketing campaigns launch relative to purchase timing?
Because half of furniture buyers begin their journey on social platforms during an inspiration phase that precedes active shopping by weeks or months, campaigns should launch well before traditional conversion windows. Building brand presence during the dreaming phase creates advantage when shoppers enter comparison mode.
How does seasonality affect furniture shopping behavior?
Whether you’re planning campaigns during winter’s peak furniture shopping season or building year-round strategies, understanding where buyers get inspiration is critical. Resonate data can reveal seasonal variations in channel preference, product priorities, and price sensitivity that inform timing decisions.
What role does financing play in furniture purchase decisions?
Given that roughly half of all furniture buyers prioritize cost-effectiveness and three-quarters choose retailers based on price and sales, financing options and payment flexibility likely influence both retailer selection and final purchase decisions. Marketers should consider how to communicate financing availability during the consideration phase.
Ready to Activate This Audience?
Want to activate this audience and reach furniture buyers during their inspiration phase? It’s easy.
If you’re new to Resonate, schedule a meeting to learn how predictive consumer intelligence can transform your furniture marketing strategy. Already a customer? Reach out to your CSM to see how to access this audience in Ignite.
Home Furniture Buyers, as defined by Resonate’s AI-powered audience segmentation, are available for immediate activation in all major DSPs. Once you’ve identified your target furniture buyer segment, Resonate’s platform allows you to push that audience directly to your preferred demand-side platform for immediate campaign activation across display, video, and social channels.
Want to learn more strategies for success in 2026, as well as more audiences you should focus on? Download the Resonate 2026 Predictions Report today.
