Range and fashionability have become more important drivers of retailer choice for homewares in the 10 years since 2015, while store-based drivers have fallen down consumers’ list of priorities. Ten years ago, the competitive landscape was different, with Dunelm less dominant and Wilko featuring in the top ten homewares retailers, but the way in which people shop has now evolved. Online penetration was 14.3% in 2015, and has more than doubled to 29.7% in 2025, with these factors all influencing consumer expectations.
The driver of retailer choice that has increased the most between the third quarter (Q3) of 2015 and Q3 2025 is range depth, which has risen by 16.3ppts, followed by fashionability with an increase of 10.9ppts. Fashion players entering the homewares market, such as H&M, Zara and Primark, have increased consumer expectations of the breadth and fashion credentials of retailers’ ranges. The rise of online shopping and social media also makes it easier for smaller, trend-focused homewares retailers to gain traction, raising the bar for other players – something to which the likes of Dunelm, Tesco and Next have responded well. To tap into this, retailers must ensure that they offer ample choice in key categories to suit different consumer tastes and budgets, and invest in trend-led collections, such as through collaborations with designers.
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Meanwhile, all the store-based factors that influence retailer choice have declined: convenience of stores, their layout, service and facilities. This aligns with the shift to online shopping in the last 10 years. Although convenience itself remains high on consumers’ radars, the convenience of the store was previously specifically focused on the locations and accessibility of stores. This is now less important as a driver of retailer choice due to the rise of online shopping: when consumers are open to purchasing online, it matters less if a store is hard for them to reach. But despite the fall in the importance of service, location still has its place.
Consumers have become used to fewer interactions with staff owing to the rise of self-checkouts, but service is still important for big-ticket items and in dealing with any issues efficiently. Perhaps counter-intuitively, the importance of online, delivery and returns as a driver of retailer choice has declined by 2.3ppts over the 10 years. It is likely, however, that this reflects higher standards across the majority of retailers’ online operations. In 2015, there was a greater difference between the online propositions of key retailers, with Amazon – as an example – having a leading proposition, at a time when the online operations of other retailers were underdeveloped
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By GlobalData