The furniture and household items industry has been heavily impacted by the global coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. For many parts of the industry the pandemic has been a boon.
When lockdowns and stay-at-home orders were instated in March, many companies had their employees transition to a home office environment. This move required millions of people to set up an office space for themselves for the first time and purchase the necessities to do so. Restrictions in movement and leisure activities also meant that those DIY projects people had been putting off suddenly became one of the few things people could invest their time into.
By 2027, the global furniture market is expected to reach 650 billion U.S. dollars in value, up from just over 500 billion dollars in 2020, representing a growth of 28 percent over the period.
This forecast takes into account the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the industry. As a result of lockdowns and stay-at-home orders many companies have shifted at least partially to a work from home model, necessitating the purchase of new furniture for millions of people around the globe.
The global ready-to-assemble furniture market is expected to reach over 18 billion dollars in value by 2025, up from 12.32 billion dollars in 2018, representing an increase of 50 percent over the period.
Ready-to-assemble furniture is perhaps most well known because of IKEA. The brand's furniture has become the go-to for many apartment dwellers and home owners due to the cost saved and the ease of transport by assembling furniture one's self.
For furniture retailers, 2021 was a year of overall growth in sales, even more so when compared to the previous year. Amidst the outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, sales dipped sharply in early 2020, only starting to pick up again in June 2020. In the United States, May 2020 saw the lowest furniture retail sales level in years, at just under 4 billion U.S. dollars. By November 2021, that figure had risen to over 13 billion U.S. dollars.
Office furnitureAshley HomeStore, the consumer facing side of the Ashley Furniture Industries company, was the leading furniture retailer in the United States in 2019, in terms of sales. The stores generated sales of nearly five billion U.S. dollars in that year. Swedish retailer IKEA came in second with sales of 3.3 billion dollars.
Ashley HomeStores sell both furniture of its own brand as well as that of third-party manufacturers.
Furniture, furnishings, and household items comprise everything that is purchased to support either the functioning or aesthetics of a home or business. In essence, this includes everything from a table and chairs to batteries and paper towels. The industry includes both manufacturers that sell their goods to retailers, manufacturers which exclusively sell their own products in their own stores, and manufactures that do both.
Furniture can be further segmented into home furniture and office furniture and then further categorized according to their role. One of the most recognizable brands serving both consumers and business is ready-to-assemble furniture maker IKEA. Household items is a broad category with many segmentations ranging from cookware and flatware, appliances, decorative accessories, to consumer staples like office supplies, and household maintenance products.
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