2021/05/29 17:49:34
A Complete Guide to Millennials Furniture
Source: https://www.freepik.com/search?dates=any&format=search&page=1&query=young%20furniture&sort=popular
The word Millennial gets thrown around very much, and there are people who really don’t understand what it means, even the millennials themselves. A millennial is anyone who was born between 1982 and 2000, a group that is defined by the youngest people on the planet right now. This is an age group that has been associated with many things and are slowly shaping the world in their own image. One area where millennials have really left a mark is in the furniture world.
We are going to explore millennial furniture, what defines it, the characteristics of millennial furniture, why and how furniture manufacturers can tap into this huge market, and a quick mention of some companies that make this type of furniture. If you are a millennial looking to learn more about furniture, then you are in the right place.
What Is Millennial Furniture?
Millennial furniture is a new type of home furniture that is favored by millennials, it is not that different from what people are used to, but unlike other groups before them, millennials are very picky about what they want. They simply don’t stroll into a showroom and take anything they see. No other group of people is as discerning as millennials. They love to see the value for their money, and any slight mistake can lead to a lot of problems for furniture dealers.
When you factor in technology and the rapid development of the internet, and you have a group of people who have a lot of access to information, taking advantage of them is next to impossible as they value options. This has created a conundrum for manufacturers who now have to pay close attention to the needs of the people more than ever before. They have to do this or risk finding themselves stuck with their products with no one to buy since all it takes is one bad review and everything goes belly up.
When put side by side, millennial furniture is different from traditional designs. It looks better, it is bigger, there’s more diversity, and they feature a lot of customization. Being the generation with the least amount of money, millennials have made it a mission to get the most of the little they have, and this manifests itself more prominently in their furniture choices and tastes.
How Furniture Manufacturers Can Attract Millennials
Unlike in the past, where all furniture manufacturers had to make furniture and let the rest handle itself, the current crop of millennials is hard to impress. They don't have time for complicated things, and they value options. The following are some of the things that furniture manufacturers looking to attract millennials should pay close attention to.
Go Visual with Social Media
Millennials will only buy what they see, and they value visuals of what they intend to buy with the ability to visualize them in different colors and designs. If you are a furniture maker, you must have a social media presence where people can find and see what you are selling. There are over 3.4 billion active smartphones in the world, and most of these are in the hands of Millenials who spend a good part of their day just browsing. They rarely have time for physical visits when they want to buy furniture, and therefore they rely on social media to see what they want. Go big on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter to get their attention.
Do Deliveries
You will be losing out on a lot of revenue if you lack a means of delivering the furniture straight to the intended location. There’s a very high chance that there won’t be any physical contact between a furniture seller and the millennial buyer as they love buying furniture online. Most of the purchases are conducted online. The time to drive all the way to the dealer shop to check out the furniture is not something many millennials are willing to do. Once you have set up an online shop for your furniture, make sure you have a solid delivery system in place.
Go Eco-Friendly
Millennials are among the biggest advocates of the environment, and they try to live in an eco-friendly way. Therefore, selling furniture that doesn’t conform to environmental laws may work against you. You are most likely to sell any piece of furniture at any price you want if you prove that it is an eco-friendly product. Therefore, take your time to craft furniture using environmentally friendly materials to increase your sales. You will be assured of Millenials making a beeline for your products in no time.
Make DIY Assembly Part of Production
Millennials love a little challenge once in a while; the feeling of being part of the manufacturing process helps them value their furniture more. Incorporate DIY features into your product by making furniture that will require assembly once bought. It doesn't have to be something too complicated to the point where they require eternal help. It should be a simple assembly process that can be guided by a straightforward manual.
Appearances Matter
Millennials have very little time for plain-looking furniture. Standing out is what inspires them, take this into account when you create your furniture. From the shape to the exterior covers, everything has to be unique, something that will not be found anywhere else easily. Most millennials love matching everything in their house, from the floor to the walls and the furniture. This means you have to be skilled enough to take customization requests, and this will involve things you have never done before. It is a tricky slope, but that’s what it takes to do business with millennials.
Convenience and Versatility
Creativity will nab you more millennial customers more than any other thing. When it comes to versatility, think of a chair that can be converted into a bed or a table that can be transformed into a shelf and the likes. Many millennials don’t live in big houses, and minimizing space is what they are looking to do. By designing furniture that allows for more than one use is the most convenient thing a millennial will be willing to spend the most money on.
Make Minimalist Furniture
As we have mentioned, millennials love space and will go with minimalist types of furniture to achieve this. This is the kind of furniture that doesn’t occupy much space; in most cases, it only involves a small seat that can accommodate about 4 people and a small table, nothing more or less. On top of creating space, minimalist furniture is used to bring out the best aesthetics of the house in a unique way. The love for designing their own spaces is what has led many Millenials to embrace minimalism in their lives and this has extended over to furniture with great results.
Have an App
It would be suicidal to run a furniture business without an app in the highly competitive market right now. Apps are the most convenient creations in the last decade as they bring your customers closer to you. Millennials depend on apps for everything, from ordering food, buying items for the house, and shopping for furniture. Make sure you create a good-looking and intuitive app from your online store that brings all the tools closer to the users for the convenience of conducting business faster. Ensure everything is optimized for mobile since millennials are quick to drop anything that is buggy and too complicated to use.
Be Budget-Friendly
No one is more conscious of their spending than Millenials, and this is why they are obsessed with getting value for their money. It is never a matter of affordability; as long as the rice matches the features, then they are willing to go with your price. However, this doesn't mean they will break their back for furniture. As you set your prices, take into account the purchasing power of this age group. They are not as prosperous as the baby boomers meaning their purchasing power is greatly diminished. Therefore, make furniture that is well within their affordable range without compromising on the style and quality.
Give them Options
Millennials love options; it doesn’t matter how good a piece of furniture maybe, they will still need something to compare it to. Therefore, if you choose to run an online store for furniture, make sure each category has several options to choose from. Having choices not only gives your store legitimacy but will make it easier for you to sell. Just give them the time and the privacy to scroll through everything in the store until they either find what they want or they come to you with questions needing clarifications. Putting millennials in the driver’s seat when it comes to choice is the best way to win them over.
Comfort
There is no other generation that spends more time at work than Millenials, and once they are done, all they want to come back home to is comfort and relaxation. When making furniture targeted at millennials, make sure they bring maximum comfort into the house. The chairs have to be padded with quality materials, and they should have features that are easy on the back and the neck. The last thing anyone would want is to leave the stiff chairs at the office to go use a stiff sofa in their homes. Comfortable furniture will get you more human traffic to your store than anything else.
Offer Extra Services
Do you sell millennial furniture? How about throwing in interior design services in the pot for an extra charge? One way to get millennials hooked is making things easier for them, and the thought of having a furniture maker also handling their interior design needs is one chance they cannot ignore. Be in the habit of crafting service bundles to go along with the furniture so that they don’t have to outsource those services to another third party.
Keep up with the Trends
Never be caught flat-footed when it comes to staying abreast with the furniture trends. Millennials tend to do a lot of research, and it will be bad for business if they are the ones informing you of new furniture trends, something that you as the manufacturer should always be ahead of. Being knowledgeable of what is hot and what is not is what will help you keep ahead of the rest, attracting more customers in the process.
Why Furniture Companies Should Pay Attention to Gen-Y Buyers
Everybody in the business world is doing all they can to gain more clients so they could sell more. The same applies to furniture manufacturers, and the urgency to get as many millennials on board has never been so important. The following are reasons why furniture makers should really pay attention to millennial furniture buyers.
● Millennials make up the largest number of working people in the world right now. They may not have the wealth that baby boomers command, but they do have the purchasing power needed to keep the furniture industry going. Therefore, they are an important cog in the industrial wheel.
● Millennials love trends, and it is easy to get them on board anything that looks promising and fancy. Appearances matter to them, and being the first to own something new is a huge driving force for them. Therefore, be a trendsetter, and you will rake in profits like never before.
● Millennials are the most diverse group to ever exist. They are multicultural, and this makes them open to new ideas and styles that older generations couldn’t even imagine entertaining. This gives furniture manufacturers the freedom to try as many ideas as they want, knowing very well that they will find a buyer at some point.
● Millennials may love having options, but once they find someone that takes care of their needs, they become loyal, and that takes a lot of work. Once they value a brand, it becomes hard for them to look in any other direction. They will always come back to the same place that took care of their needs at some point in the past.
● Furniture brands should be aware that authenticity is at the core of what millennials look for when buying furniture for their homes. The design and aesthetics are essential, but nothing makes them willing to pay even more than authenticity. Once you nail that aspect in your products, it will be a home run for you as far as sales are concerned.
● It is easy to reach millennials as they are always connected to the internet at any given time of their day. With smartphones in abundance across the world. Having a functional website that can be optimized for phones is the best thing you can ever do for your furniture business as that means Millenials will have easy access to your products faster.
● Millennials have ideas that are easy to appeal to. For instance, saving the environment is at the top of their bucket list, and anything that promises to reduce their carbon footprint will always have their attention.
Top Furniture Brands for Millennials
There are several furniture brands that have realized the value of focusing on products aimed at millennials. They have been around for quite a while, and despite the stiff competition from new players in that space, they are slowly gaining ground in turning millennials into their core customers. These furniture stores for millennials include the following.
Burrow
Burrow was founded by two friends who met at Wharton with the sole purpose of reinventing the luxury couch world. They don't create huge pieces like other brands. Their focus is on small couches that can seat about 3 people as they understand that millennials are not big on space.
As one of the best millennial furniture stores, the company has an online store that features eco-friendly products that can be assembled at home in less than 10 minutes, two attributes that millennials will appreciate. They also integrate technology in their products with standing desks and chairs that are automated with functional buttons for easy use. There’s hope that Burrow will eventually start making larger types of furniture, but for the time being, their main focus is on small and portable types of furniture.
Article
Source: https://www.article.com/
Article is another chic furniture maker that offers a more diverse range of furniture items from sofas to beds and chairs, even office additions all the way to outdoor and indoor decor. The company makes some of the most stylish and unique furniture loved by millennials of all walks from across the globe. Just like many modern furniture makers, they have a website that allows people to shop directly and have the items shipped to their doorsteps at a small fee. The efficient supply chain is one of the attributes that has made Article a darling among Gen-Y members.
Campaign Living
Source: https://www.campaignliving.com/
Campaign Living is based in the Bay Area and was established with the promise of creating furniture that had never been seen before. They have a wide range of unique furniture, complete with customizable options for those that want designs that are only unique to themselves. One thing that sets Campaign Living from many other competitor brands is the portability of the furniture pieces. They can be taken apart easily when it comes to moving and be assembled back without any outside help.
Campaign Living furniture is also very affordable despite the many features they come laden with. With their low-cost shipping and a very functional online store, this is every millennial’s dream as they have everything under one roof, all you have to do is make an order, and it is shipped straight to your door.
ARTIFOX
Source: https://theartifox.com/
ARTIFOX creates office furniture that can come in handy in the current pandemic for those who are forced to work from home. Their furniture is flexible and tech-friendly, just the kind of features that a millennial looking for convenience in their office would go for. Based in St. Louis, the company has been around for a while now, growing in leaps and bounds over the years as it shifted its focus from normal furniture towards new and modern furniture designs for millennials.
Their office desks and chairs are designed for compatibility, and they come with a variety of addons that not only make work easier for people but add a touch of style to the interior space. The furniture is also highly portable and can be moved around easily, which is great for millennials who love an organized working space.
Casper
Casper prides itself on being heavy on technology where furniture is concerned. They claim to use some of the best engineering technologies to ensure every piece of furniture that leaves their assembly line is optimally designed for the best comfort. They are best known for making mattresses, but they have recently branched off into making wood furniture with a focus on the millennial demographic.
The company conducts a lot of tests for every product they make to ensure that everything that ends up in the market is up to international standards. They even give people 100 days of the free trial before making the final purchase. Every millennial would jump at the chance of using high-quality furniture and their products for free for a while.
Maiden Home
Source: https://maidenhome.com/
Maiden Home is a one-stop-shop for chairs, sofas, and handmade sectionals that are built for millennials who love a little bit of sophisticated craftsmanship around the house. Just like many other companies on this list, Maiden Home doesn’t deal with heavy or huge furniture models; they focus on small 3-seater sofas for people who don't have the luxury of space in their apartments, which aptly describes a good number of millennials.
Headquartered in North Carolina, the company also makes products that are sustainable and eco-friendly. Most of their materials are non-toxic and can always be taken back once they have served their purposes for recycling. The company also offers personalizations and customizations for people who may want unique furniture pieces in their houses without breaking their bank.
Furniture Buying Guide for Millennials
Being the most observant and the most educated generation ever makes millennials hard to impress, and at the same time, it is hard for them to wake up their minds when it comes to buying furniture. With so many brands in the market claiming to be the best, getting the right furniture fit can be challenging. To help millennials navigate through all that, the following are some tips to keep in mind.
● Delivery: Does the furniture company you are making your purchases from handle deliveries? What are their charges? Does the distance matter? When it comes to online shopping, even for items as big as furniture, delivery is very important. The company has to demonstrate its ability to transport the items from their stores to your house in one piece at a fee that isn’t too pricey at the same time.
● Budget: Quality furniture doesn't come cheap, especially ones that have been made using high-quality materials. Hardwood like mahogany, cherry wood, and others are hard to come by, and due to the restrictions on their cutting, their prices have gone very high. This has been transferred to the consumer. Quality furniture is worth every dime as it will last you for ages; however, be conscious of your finances to avoid punching above your weight.
● Style: Furniture style is everything where furniture is at play. For most millennials, furniture goes beyond the basic function of providing comfort in the house; it is also part of the interior design, and everything has to blend into each other well for the best results. Millennials value appearances more than anything, and having furniture that transforms their houses into refined and classy abodes is important.
● Space: Knowing the available space in your house should guide you towards a furniture set that can be accommodated in that house and leave enough room for movement. It wouldn’t make sense to stuff your small space with a 7-seater sofa, for example, when a 3-seater would do just fine. Be conscious of the space in your house before settling down on any kind of furniture.
● Durability: It goes without saying that quality furniture will last you ages if you take good care of it. However, you have to figure out if you really want to be stuck with that kind of furniture or whether you are the type that needs new sets every year. If your style is temporary, then fast furniture may be your thing. Go for quality furniture if you plan to use them for at least ten years.
● Features: How comfortable is that chair? How versatile is that sofa? Sometimes what you need is furniture that allows you to do more than one thing. For instance, a sofa that can be converted into a bed when you have guests over or an office chair that has adjustable height features. This can help you save space as you will be killing two birds with one stone.
● Materials: If you are an environmentally friendly person, then you may want to focus your search on sustainable furniture made with materials that don't affect the environment on a large scale. Other materials besides wood that you can consider include metal, synthetic plastic, MDF, among many others. Just ensure that the quality is not compromised in the process.
Conclusion
For the millions of millennials out there who are planning to start their own homes or are already in the process of doing so, there are many hurdles to cross before you land your ideal furniture. Depending on your financial muscle, you can have anything made to your taste. There are many avenues where you can get all the latest news on furniture trends that may be of interest to you. Attending furniture exhibitions is one place where you can be treated to a number of delightful designs. For more information on where and when such events are held, visit our website at any time of the day and find a CIFF schedule that suits you.
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