Retailer Dunelm is set to continue making gains in the UK homewares market in 2024 as some consumers pivot away from retailers which are solely focused on price, according to data and analytics company, GlobalData.
"Dunelm excelled throughout the cost of living crisis due to its wide price architecture that attracts a wide range of shoppers and allows them to trade up or down, and 2024 will be no exception to this outperformance," says GlobalData, whose latest report, The UK Sector Series: Homewares, 2023-2028, reveals that Dunelm’s UK homewares market share is forecast to increase from 11.2% in 2023 to 11.5% in 2024, while the discounters will see more muted share gains.
Emily Salter, lead retail analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Dunelm is well positioned to retain and attract shoppers, who will be increasingly focused on design and quality as the year goes on and as consumers start to feel better off, as it has worked to cement its style credentials recently. This should also help stave off consumers trading back up to upper-mass-market retailers like Next and John Lewis.”
As consumers start to switch away from purely value-focused retailers, the discounters are forecast to see more subdued share growths, says GlobalData, with for instance, B&M’s share set to rise by 0.2ppts in 2024 following a 0.4ppts increase in 2023, while Home Bargains and The Range will see increases of 0.1ppts each.
Emily adds: “For discounters and other value-focused players to succeed in homewares in 2024, their emphasis needs to not just be on price, but on their quality and design credentials too.”
GlobalData’s 2024 How Britain Shops survey of 9000 nationally representative consumers revealed that for 93.1% of consumers the main driver of their homewares purchases was quality, overtaking value for money, which was the most important factor in driving homewares purchases in 2023.
Emily continues: “Although value for money still closely follows quality in terms of importance, this indicates the marginal improvements in how consumers feel about their personal finances since last year, and they are more willing to invest in quality homewares as a result.”
A threat that all retailers need to keep an eye on is the rise of the second-hand market, adds GlobalData, which found that 8.6% of UK consumers have bought secondhand homewares in the past year, compared to 42.8% of consumers who have bought homewares overall.
Emily concludes: “Consumers are increasingly aware and accepting of purchasing secondhand from specialist platforms like Vinterior, or marketplaces like Facebook Marketplace and Vinted. The most important driver of purchasing secondhand was saving money or to find a bargain, so retailers which promote their value credentials but have reputations for lower product quality will especially come under pressure from the financial benefits of buying secondhand.”
