Furniture Retailing in New Zealand - Industry Market Research Report

Rise and shine: Income and expenditure trends have supported comfortable revenue growth

The operating environment for the Furniture Retailing industry has been challenging over the past few years, as rising competition - particularly from online-only retailers - has been affecting growth and performance. Furniture retailers tend to compete on the bases of price and product range. External competition comes from various other retailers that sell furniture as part of their operations, like department stores, second-hand marketplaces and auction websites. However, the COVID-19 outbreak had mixed effects on furniture retailers. Wage subsidies and moratoriums on rent increases improved some markets' financial circumstances; however, consumer sentiment remained low because of overall uncertainty within the economy. Work-from-home measures heightened demand for office furniture like desks and office chairs, since people needed home setups to carry out their daily activities. While revenue dropped immediately following the outbreak, it is anticipated to rise at an annualised 1.9% to $1.39 billion over the five years through 2023-24. This climb includes a lift of 3.3% in 2023-24, as recovering consumer sentiment encourages people to make more discretionary purchases.

Furniture retailers mainly sell household furniture, blinds, awnings and mattresses through brick-and-mortar stores. The industry includes retailers that sell antique reproduction furniture, but excludes those that sell second-hand or antique furniture. Curtain retailing, and manufacturing and installing blinds or awnings are not included in the industry. Online-only retailers and auction websites are also excluded.

This report covers the scope, size, disposition and growth of the industry including the key sensitivities and success factors. Also included are five year industry forecasts, growth rates and an analysis of the industry's key players and their market shares.