TL;DR: What do today's furniture shoppers actually want? Furniture News, supported by Cylindo, surveyed 1,000 UK adults to find out. The findings reveal an omnichannel buyer whose journey increasingly starts online, who is frustrated by poor product imagery, and whose spending decisions are directly influenced by the quality of visual experiences brands provide.
Key points:
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68% of furniture shoppers go online as part of the buying process, with 30% preferring to complete the purchase digitally. The buyer journey is fundamentally omnichannel. Most consumers move between online and in-store before committing.
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91% of furniture shoppers said poor imagery frustrated them. Among 18 to 24 year olds, that figure rose to 96%. Visual quality is not a differentiator. It is a baseline expectation, and failing it drives shoppers away.
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Better visuals directly influence spending. Nearly a third (30%) of shoppers aged 25 to 34 said better visuals would prompt them to spend more than they might have otherwise. The commercial case for visual investment is consumer-stated, not inferred.
What do today's furniture shoppers want? In an industry-first, The Profile of a Modern Furniture Shopper, a report from Furniture News supported by Cylindo, shares the findings of a new consumer survey conducted by market research consultancy Savanta. The report offers crucial insights into UK furniture shopping trends and explores the increasingly important role of technologies like 3D product visualization in the buying process.
The participants: UK furniture shoppers
The survey included a sample of 1,000 UK adults from January 31 to February 2, 2024, covering a representative spread of age, gender, location, profession of chief earner, and social grade.
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What do today's furniture shoppers want?
Shoppers, like businesses, come in countless shapes and sizes, but there are patterns and trends to be found in their behaviour, and the retailer who better understands these will be better placed to succeed than the one who does not.
This report answers questions about the kind of shopping experiences consumers are most receptive to, the impact of different technologies on in-store and online shopping, and the future of brick-and-mortar stores and pure-play websites. It also explores the factors influencing purchasing decisions, product demand, and desired changes in the furniture shopping experience.
The report addresses the following questions, and more:
- What kind of shopping experiences will younger generations be more receptive to?
- Which technologies are more likely to prove beneficial, in-store and online?
- How do men and women feel differently about furniture shopping?
- Is there a future for brick-and-mortar stores or pure-play websites, and what kind of hybrid experience are shoppers looking for?
- What approaches are persuading shoppers to buy, and what is putting them off?
- Which product areas are set to see the highest demand, and at what prices?
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The highlights
Below are some of the key insights from the report. Download the full report here to read the complete findings.
- 68% had purchased a piece of furniture in the last year.
- More than two thirds (68%) go online as part of the shopping process, with 30% preferring to make the purchase digitally.
- Over the next three years, shoppers are prioritising purchases for the bedroom (67%), living room (66%), garden (57%), and kitchen (56%).
- The furniture buyer's journey is omnichannel: consumers enjoy furniture shopping through a mix of brick-and-mortar and online channels.
- Nearly a third (30%) of those aged 25 to 34 said better visuals would prompt them to spend more than they might have otherwise.
- Most (91%) people said encountering poor imagery frustrated them, and this frustration was most pronounced among 18 to 24 year olds (96%).
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What the findings mean for furniture retailers
The data from The Profile of a Modern Furniture Shopper reinforces something the highest-performing furniture retailers have already acted on: visual quality is not a feature, it is a commercial lever. When 91% of shoppers say poor imagery frustrates them and 30% of younger buyers say better visuals would directly increase their spend, the case for investing in photorealistic product visualization is consumer-stated.
The omnichannel nature of the furniture buyer journey (moving between online research, in-store visits, and digital purchase) means the visual experience has to be consistent across every touchpoint. A customer who configures a sofa online and then sees a different-looking version in a retailer's app or on a marketplace listing will not complete the purchase with confidence. The brands building their visual experience on a single verified 3D asset library are the ones serving this shopper correctly across every channel.
The report is the most comprehensive look at UK furniture shopper behaviour available. The complete findings, including the full breakdown by age group, gender, channel preference, and product category, are in the report itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do today's furniture shoppers want from their buying experience?
According to The Profile of a Modern Furniture Shopper survey of 1,000 UK adults, furniture shoppers want an omnichannel experience that moves fluidly between online and in-store. 68% go online as part of the process, 30% prefer to complete the purchase digitally, and 91% say poor imagery frustrates them. Younger shoppers are particularly responsive to better visuals: 30% of those aged 25 to 34 said improved imagery would prompt them to spend more than they had planned.
How important is online visual quality to furniture shoppers?
Critically important. 91% of the 1,000 UK adults surveyed said encountering poor imagery frustrated them during the furniture shopping process, with the figure rising to 96% among 18 to 24 year olds. Almost a third of 25 to 34 year olds said better visuals would directly increase their spend. Visual quality is not a differentiator for most furniture shoppers: it is a baseline expectation whose absence actively drives them away.
Is the furniture buying journey omnichannel in 2026?
Yes. The survey data shows that consumers enjoy furniture shopping through a mix of brick-and-mortar and online channels rather than treating them as alternatives. More than two thirds (68%) go online as part of the shopping process even if they ultimately buy in-store, while 30% prefer to complete the transaction digitally. The furniture retailer who treats online and in-store as separate experiences, with inconsistent visual quality across channels, is misaligned with how their customers actually shop.
Which furniture categories are seeing the highest purchase intent over the next three years?
Among the 1,000 UK adults surveyed, shoppers prioritised future furniture purchases for the bedroom (67%), living room (66%), garden (57%), and kitchen (56%) over the next three years. These are the categories where clear, high-quality product visualization is most commercially valuable, since the spatial fit and material quality of bedroom and living room furniture are the hardest to evaluate from static photography alone.
