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How much in home furnishings are sold through online interior designers (e-designers) in the U.S. (in 2016)?
Hi there! Thank you for your request regarding home furnishings sold through online interior designers in the U.S. The short version is that after searching extensively through industry reports, news articles, and other trusted databases, I’ve determined that data specific to the sales of home furnishings on e-designer websites is not publicly available. However, I was able to learn that 15% of all interior design services industry revenue can be attributed to the resale of merchandise. With total U.S. annual revenue estimated at $9 billion, this implies approximately $1.35 billion worth of home furnishings are sold through interior designers, accounting for just over 1% of all furniture and home furnishing sales revenue. In addition, some of the top players in the e-designer space include Laurel & Wolf, Homepolish, Decorist, and Havenly. Below is a deep dive into my findings.
METHODOLOGY
After an exhaustive search, I was unable to find sales figures for home furnishings sold strictly through online interior designers. I began my search by reading through the previous response as well as the links provided in your request. I also was unable to access the ‘2016 U.S. Industry Total Sold Through Interior Design Services-Product & Services Report’ from Barnes Reports as it is behind a paywall. I then searched for a free, publicly available version of the report but was unable to find one. I then looked for other publicly available industry reports on interior design that may offer a breakdown of revenue or market share by service type or platform though only general industry data was available. In addition, no data could be found regarding the number of people or households using interior designers, either through traditional services or online. Finally, I researched top players in the e-designer space looking for company specific data regarding annual sales and revenue streams. As the online interior designer space is still a relatively new trend and all the companies are privately held, there was very limited data available, though some revenue estimates were found using the Owler database.
HELPFUL FINDINGS & CALCULATIONS
While I could not find a direct answer to your question, I was able to gather some other information about the interior design services industry as well as perform some basic calculations and estimations, which I think will be helpful for your project.
---According to a report from First Research, the annual revenue for the U.S. interior design services industry is $9 billion. This value is further corroborated by the American Society of Interior Designers 2016/2017 Outlook and State of the Industry Report, which provides a sales figure of $9.1 billion. In addition, the First Research report states that “the US industry is highly fragmented: the 50 largest US firms account for about 10% of revenue.”
---First Research also reports that about 15% of the interior design industry revenue is due to the resale of merchandise. With annual interior design industry revenue of about $9 billion, that calculates out to be $1.35 billion in product sales (0.15 x $9B).
---As was previous provided in the first response, the total U.S. furniture and home furnishings sales totaled $108 billion in 2016. With interior design merchandise sales totaling $1.35 billion, that is just over 1% of all home furnishing sales revenue (100* 1.35/108).
---According to a report from Internet Retailer, “Online sales of housewares and home furnishings grew to $18.67 billion in 2015,” which accounts for approximately 17% of total annual home furnishings sales (100*18.67/108).
TOP e-DESIGNER COMPANIES
Though there is very little financial data publicly available for current online interior designers since they are all private companies, I was able to locate some annual revenue estimates on the online database, Owler. Below are descriptions and details of the top four e-designer companies based on estimated revenue.
--HOMEPOLISH--
Founded: 2012
Homepolish’s service provides a complimentary consultation with an interior designer either in home (available in 15 cities) or by video. After which, customers can choose to purchase interior design expertise either on a per hour basis ($130/hour at a minimum of 10 hours) or for a flat fee ($390 for 3 hours/1 day). Finally, once the design has been created, customers can use Homepolish’s online shopping service to purchase the chosen pieces, which provides average discounts of 10% when purchased through their site.
--LAUREL & WOLF--
Founded: 2014
Laurel & Wolf offers two design packages to its clients: $149 for one design per room or $249 for three designs per room. Though the company does provide a concierge shopping service with each package, the products chosen are usually based on those that can be purchased by the customer on their own.
--DECORIST--
Founded: 2012
Decorist offers professional interior design services for a flat fee that starts at $299, with all design and consultation taking place online. Revenues for Decorist come from the consultation fees as well as from products purchased through its website. In fact, according to a 2015 TechCrunch article, the average customer shopping cart at the time totaled $3,000.
--HAVENLY--
Founded: 2013
Havenly interior design packages start at $79 and free on-the-go advice is available through its app. In addition, all items suggested by the designers can be purchased through its website, where they also offer financing and payment plans.
CONCLUSION
To conclude, based on data obtained from a First Research report, 15% of total interior design industry revenue, or approximately $1.35 billion, is attributed to the sale of merchandise. In addition, though the top four e-designer companies do have revenue streams from the online sale of home furnishings, not enough data is available to make a reliable estimation of the total sales of home furnishings through online interior designers.
I hope you find this information helpful and thanks again for using Wonder!