The quality of our interior spaces has become much more important over the last few years, and high-street shops have struggled to compete with the online market – especially when it comes to bulky homeware items. But which homeware brands have benefitted most and seen their popularity skyrocket, or crash to a halt, during the past few years?
To find out, money.co.uk analysed the estimated number of monthly site visits to 50 of the most popular homeware shops from February 2019 to February 2022 to discover how much interest in these sites grew during this time.
Stores decreasing most in popularity over the past three years
|
|
Homeware store |
Three-year increase (%) |
|
#1 |
-69% |
|
|
#2 |
-65% |
|
|
#3 |
-24% |
|
|
#4 |
-20% |
|
|
#5 |
13% |
Money.co.uk can reveal that the homeware store decreasing in popularity most over the past three years is H&M. Their online store has shown an estimated drop of 69% in traffic over the three-year period – a big blow for the chain after they announced the closure of 250 high-street stores last year.
Debenhams ranks second, with a decrease of 65% in visits to their online shop in the past three years. Debenhams has also felt the effects of the changes in consumer habits as all of their high-street stores closed in May 2021, however their online stores have remained open for trading.
Urban Outfitters places third with a decrease of 24% in total traffic from 2019 to 2022.
Stores increasing most in popularity over the past three years
|
|
Homeware store |
Three-year increase (%) |
|
#1 |
1,283% |
|
|
#2 |
856% |
|
|
#3 |
452% |
|
|
#4 |
450% |
|
|
#5 |
383% |
|
|
#6 |
303% |
|
|
#7 |
292% |
|
|
#8 |
284% |
|
|
#9 |
226% |
|
|
#10 |
219% |
The homeware shop increasing most in popularity over the past three years is Muji. Muji is a Japanese homeware store that has roots dating back to the late 1980s, and has an emphasis on recycling and reducing waste. Estimated page visits to the site have increased by an outstanding estimated 1,283% since 2019 – increasing from 824,349 page visits to a huge 11,403,058 during that timeframe.
The shop with the second-largest rise in interest is Arket. As a subsidiary of the Swedish brand H&M, Arket specialises in minimalist Nordic design. Visits to the site have increased by 856%, from an estimated 77,209 visits in 2019 to est. 738,428 in 2022.
Placing third is British online marketplace Trouva. Instead of creating its own products, Trouva sells a collection of items curated from independent boutiques around Europe. Since 2019, visits to the company’s site have increased by approximately 452% – from 23,635 to 130,399.
In fourth place is Rockett St George. The site has had an increase in traffic of 450% – up from 31,544 to 173,482. Placing fifth is Soho Home, for which popularity has risen by 383% – from 15,815 to 76,390.
Salman Haqqi, personal finance expert at https://www.money.co.uk/credit-cards, comments on the findings:
“It’s no surprise that homeware shops have been booming in the past few years with more people spending the majority of their day at home.
“Often, shopping for furniture online can be tricky as it can be hard to establish an accurate idea of sizing, colours and textures of products. When shopping online, always use your credit card for at least some of the purchase to protect your larger items (£100-£30,000) in cases of misleading products.
“Certain purchases, even those falling outside of the above price range or made on a debit card, may still be protected using the chargeback scheme. Always check the exact rules with your provider as different banks may have different terms.”