Accessorising the Home - UK-United Kingdom

                          

Accessorising the Home - UK-Dissertation Writing Help

Issues in the Market

This report takes a look at products that are commonly used to accessorise the home. Over the last year sales growth has dwindled. The slowing of the housing market has reduced demand and lack of consumer confidence, the rising cost of living and growth in unemployment has caused consumers to cut back on unnecessary expenditure. Those that are buying home accessories are trading down to cheaper products, switching to value retailers or buying premium products at cheaper prices. Heavy discounting at the end of 2008 has dampened sales further.

However, it is not all doom and gloom. The fact that home accessories offer consumers a cheaper way to change the look of a room than buying new furniture or flooring has meant that the market is likely to fair better than those categories. Manufacturers and retailers need to ensure they offer consumers value for money both at the bottom and top-end of the market.

Key themes

●              How interested are consumers in the look of their homes?

●              What effect has the economic downturn had on the home accessories market?

●              Importance of fashion trends to the market and the extent fast fashion has extended from clothing to home accessories.

●              How much are consumers looking for a complete look in terms of home furnishings and accessories?

●              What opportunities are there for targeting home accessories at particular groups?

●              Which retailers are gaining market share in these more difficult times?

Strengths and Weaknesses in the United Kingdom Market

Strengths

●              High penetration levels – Nearly eight out of ten consumers purchased some kind of home accessories in the last year and just under a quarter have bought five or more different types of home accessory.

●              Consumer interest – Over four in ten consumers agree that the look of their home is very important to them and that home accessories help create the mood and feel of a room.

●              A cheaper alternative – Home accessories offer consumers a cheaper way to change the look of a room than buying new furniture.

●              Something for everyone – A wide variety of products at different price-bands catering for those wanting classic, modern or vintage products.

●              Innovation – Manufacturers and retailers have launched new and interesting accessories, including multi-functional, environmentally-friendly and celebrity-endorsed products.

Weaknesses

●              The gender divide – Women are the key purchasers of home accessories, with men more apathetic towards the market.

●              Low pricing & discounting – the cheap products offered by supermarkets, DIY stores and fashion retailers, combined with promotional discounting, are reducing the potential value of the market.

●              Low replacement levels – the long lifespan of home accessories means that replacement sales are low and retailers have to rely on new fashion trends and products to stimulate demand.

●              Reliance on the housing market – Moving house is a key trigger for purchasing home accessories. Sales performance is therefore heavily reliant on the performance of the housing market.

●              A non-essential purchase – When consumers are tightening their belts, home accessories which serve no practical function are likely to be taken off the shopping list.

●              Brand communication – The majority of manufacturers and retailers spend very little on above-the-line promotion for home accessories.

●              Dominance of retailer own-label brands – Department stores, variety stores, DIY chains and supermarkets mainly sell own-label products which makes it difficult for other suppliers to compete.

                          

Accessorising the Home - UK 

The Consumer – Buying Accessories for the Home

Key points

●              Bedlinen and towels are the most frequently purchased home accessories, followed by window furnishings.

●              Women and families are key purchasers of home accessories.

●              Just under a quarter of consumers have bought five or more types of home accessory in the last year.

ITEMS PURCHASED

This section of the report examines the results of research conducted by BMRB Online on behalf of Mintel into the purchasing of home accessories. Between 30 October and 2 November 2008, a sample of 1,000 online adults aged 16-64 living in Great Britain were asked the following question:

“Which of the following, if any, have you bought in the last 12 months?”

The response data are presented in the following sub-sections and in Appendix – Buying Accessories for the Home, analysed by various demographic breaks and other lifestyle characteristics.

Linens are top of the pile

FIGURE 26: Home accessories bought in the last 12 months, October/November 2008

Base: 1,000 online adults aged 16-64

	%
Duvet sets/pillow cases	48
Bathroom towels	35
Curtains/blinds	28
Photo frames	28
Bathroom accessories	27
Candles/candle holders	27
Cushions/throws/rugs	26
Lighting/shades	26
Pictures/prints/mirrors	22
Vases/ornamental bowls	14
Don't know	1
None of these	22

SOURCE: BMRB/Mintel

●              Nearly eight out of ten consumers purchased some kind of home accessories in the last year. Given the longevity of most home accessories this suggests that consumers are not just buying accessories out of necessity, but out of a desire to update the look of their home.

●              Bed linen and bathroom towels are the most frequently bought home accessories with over a third or more buying them in the last year. This reflects the fact that the trend towards cheap, disposable fashion seen in the clothing industry has transferred to the household linens market, reducing replacement cycles.

●              Vases and ornamental bowls are the least likely home accessories to have been bought in the last year. Vases tend to be only used occasionally and people tend to have plain glass vases that go with any colour scheme. This means that consumers don’t feel the need to replace them very often. Sales of ornamental bowls suffer from the fact that they serve no functional purpose.

A woman’s prerogative

●              Women are the main purchasers of home accessories. They are more likely to buy all categories of home accessories than men.

●              This suggests that traditional gender stereotypes still hold true and that the home and its decoration are still very much a woman’s domain.

Key analysis: To get men to engage with the home accessories market retailers need to promote accessorising the home as part of the DIY process. B&Q with its traditional DIY emphasis is well placed to do this. Accessories that serve a practical purpose such as clocks and lighting are most likely to appeal to men. Brands also appeal more to men, so there is room for the development of ‘male’ brands into this area.

A family affair

●              Age is a key factor affecting the purchase of home accessories, with those aged 25-54 most likely to buy nearly all types of home accessories.

●              Photo frames have slightly wider appeal, as they are just as popular with 16-24-year-olds as older consumers. They are particularly popular with those aged 25-34 most likely as a result of this being a key period when people get married and have children.

●              The influence of age on purchasing habits is closely linked to the presence of children. Those with children are much more likely to buy home accessories than those without. The one noticeable exception is candles where the safety aspect of having candles near young children makes families less likely to buy them.

Key analysis: To tempt families, retailers should offer promotional offers such as money off children’s cushions when you buy cushions for the living room. They could also provide variety packs of photo frames or family packs of bath towels containing adult and children-sized towels or discounts on children’s duvet covers when buying a double duvet cover.

The class divide

●              When it comes to buying home accessories, those in the C2DE socio-economic groups are more likely to buy most categories of products than those in the ABC1 groups.

●              This may be because home accessories offer less wealthy consumers a cheap way to update the look of their home and because more wealthy consumers may choose to buy more expensive, more long-lasting products and therefore need to replace them less often.

●              The exception to this pattern is bathroom towels, where ABC1s are slightly more likely to have bought them in the last year than C2DEs.

●              This could be because the frequent use of towels can leave towels less absorbent and fluffy so more wealthy consumers choose to replace them more often.

Key analysis: This suggests that there is room for premiumisation in the bath linens category with products like Christy’s “Embrace with silk” range of towels which contain silk to create highly absorbent and luxurious towels should sell well.

In all categories, retailers need to ensure they have a strong value offering and tempt consumers to buy more by updating designs regularly.

NUMBERS OF TYPES OF PRODUCTS BOUGHT

To identify key consumer targets in this market, Mintel has divided consumers according to the number of different home accessories categories they purchased items from. Key findings are listed below with detailed demographics in the Appendix section of this report.

No categories

●              Just under a quarter of consumers have not bought any home accessories in the last year.

●              Gender and age are key attributes here with these consumers tending to be men and those aged 16-24.

Key analysis: Funky modern styling and gadgets are key to targeting these consumers, with statement lighting and digital clocks likely to appeal to them.

Five or more categories

●              Just under a quarter of consumers have bought five or more types of home accessories in the last year.

●              Gender and lifestage are important factors here, as these consumers tend to be women aged 25-54 and have children. They show a bias towards the C2DE socio-economic groups.

Key analysis: These consumers are key buyers of home accessories and manufacturers need to maintain and look to increase the number of products they buy. This could be done by cross-category promotions such as money off vases when you buy a cushion or by using ‘create the look’ and room displays to encourage them to update all the accessories in a particular room.