How to Sell Home Décor Online
Estimated reading time: 8 minutes
If you’re looking to sell home décor online on an online home décor store, you’ve come to the right place.
Online Home Décor Market
First of all, let’s take a look at some online home décor market statistics.
Online Home Furnishing Market in the U.S. 7.6% Increase
IBISWorld reported in March 2020 that the Online Home Furnishing Sales industry in the United States had an average growth at a staggering rate of 7.6% from 2015 through 2020.
The drivers include increasing per capita disposable income amid declining unemployment and an improving economy, more broadband internet connections in conjunction with a decrease in leisure time, as well as the convenience and efficiency of online shopping.
Global Online Home Decor Market Expected to Grow 13%
Technavio reported in November 2019 that the global online home décor market was expected to post a CAGR of almost 13% during the period 2020-2024.
Europe was the largest market for online home decor in 2019 and will continue to grow. The expansion of the urban population and hence residential construction projects coupled with the growing online retail sector contribute to the growth. Over 42% of the market’s growth will originate from Europe which will outgrow MEA, North America, and South America.
The increasing use of Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and AR/VR technologies, increasing number of online vendors, rising internet penetration rates, and growing smartphone adoption are the growth drivers. Vendors are using AR/VR to render a digital version of the customers’ homes, allowing them to view the suitability of various models of furniture virtually.
Online Home Decor & Furnishing Stores 7% Increase amid Coronavirus
According to Statista, online home decor and furnishing stores have grown by 7% globally between January and March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic which has forced hundreds of millions of people to stay home.
Furniture Today reported on May 11 2020 that triggered by COVID-19, the work-from-home ordinance inspired shoppers to spend on new furniture and accessories online for their home offices, and other areas of their dwellings. Online browsing for home décor grew by 205% in March. Also significantly up was online browsing for furniture, which grew by more than 200%.
Area rugs and lighting online retailers JonathanY.com has seen rug sales increase 15% to 20% since February.
Why Do I Sell Home Décor Online?
The fact that the online home décor and furnishing market is expected to grow by 13% annually over the next five years is a compelling reason why you may want to ride that wave, whether you are a brick-and-mortar home décor store and are looking to expand online, or you want to just sell home décor online. In summary, below are the upsides of selling your products directly on your online home décor store.
First, you can sell home décor online to anyone anywhere anytime. This can boost your sales by leaps and bounds.
Secondly, you can keep your overheads to a minimum while growing your sales.
Thirdly, an online home décor store with the right content can keep your online store at the top of search results pages i.e. higher SEO ranking on search engines like Google.
Fourthly, many people only shop online. You can reach new audience whom you will not have reached by just selling offline.
Fifthly, you can enhance your customer experience by letting them download product information, answering their feedback, posting how-to videos, webinars, FAQs, etc. from your online home décor store.
Additionally, you may share your posts on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube, etc. This can funnel your social media visitors and followers back to your online home décor store.
Finally, you can improve your corporate image and brand awareness by having an online presence.
What eCommerce Platforms Are Available?
Deciding which eCommerce platforms to use to sell home décor online is the very first and yet the most critical step. However, there are tons of options available. Below is a summary of the most popular eCommerce platforms you may use to create your online home décor store.
- Marketplaces like Amazon, eBay and Etsy
- Hosted platforms like Shopify, Squarespace, Wix, and Weebly
- Self-hosted platforms like WooCommerce, Magento, OpenCart, and PrestaShop
WooCommerce is the world’s leading eCommerce platform for online stores. According to Datanyze (the world’s leader in technographics), WooCommerce is used by more than 28% of all the eCommerce websites.
Most importantly, WooCommerce is built on WordPress, the world’s leading online content management system that powers over 35% of the websites around the world. WooCommerce is simply the best of the best as far as an eCommerce platform.
Besides, regularly audited by Sucuri, an industry leader in security, WooCommerce online stores are in good hands.
Here are the features of a WooCommerce online store.
How To Create A Website to Sell Home Décor Online
If you want to create a WooCommerce website to sell home décor online, you may follow these simple steps.
- Think of an online store name that is creative and easy to remember.
- Get a domain that matches your blog name.
- Get a hosting plan.
- Install WordPress.
- Install and set up WooCommerce.
- Customize online store design.
- Set up products in your store.
- Set up shipping.
- Connect a payment gateway e.g. Paypal or Stripe
- Start selling.
- Manage orders.
- Analyze sales data.
What Should An Online Home Décor Store Have?
Fundamentals
First, you should ensure the following on your online home décor store.
- Good UI/UX in terms of design, colors, fonts, and navigation
- Cool and bohemian vibe
- Short and concise calls-to-action that stand out with compelling words
- Website performance optimization
- Mobile-friendly responsive design
- HTTPS secure website
Pages
Secondly, to sell home décor online, your website should include the following pages.
- Home
- A slider of high-quality professional images
- A call-to-action button to buy your products like Free Shipping, Best Sellers, Favorites, and Special Offers
- Featured products with high-quality professional images
- A newsletter sign-up form to stay in touch with your consumers by email about new products, offers, and reviews
- Social media icons
- About
- Write your story and business values that sets you apart from others by conveying your personality to build trust
- Products
- Write compelling and persuasive product descriptions with details about your products including the product materials and dimensions especially for bulky items.
- A selection of high-quality product images with a suitable background, and a well-lit environment
- Product images must be clear and in focus
- Product reviews from your customers after their purchase to share their buying experience with links to your social media channels
- Filter Products by style, material, category, brand, color, price, etc. if you are selling a large variety of products for better conversions
- Returns & Shipping
- Many shoppers would reconsider buying on the same website if product returns are easy so customers need to know if and how they can exchange or return the products.
- Free return is a good strategy to rationalize a buying decision.
- Shipping policy ensures that your customer’s order arrives on time
- Contacts
- Multiple ways that your customers can reach you on like email, phone, instant chat, social media
Features
Thirdly, you may consider the below features when you sell home décor online.
- 3D product visualization services e.g. Augmented Reality (AR) to allow your customers virtually see how your products would look in their homes
- Cross-selling allows you to incorporate relevant products to those already in your customer’s cart
- Multiple payment options for better user experience like credit card, debit card, internet banking (depending on the countries you sell to), Apple Pay, Google Pay, Paypal, Stripe, Afterpay, etc.
- Wishlist does not only allow customers to save the products they want to buy later but also allow store owners to find out what your customers’ preferences for marketing purposes.
Content Marketing
Lastly, you can use content to market your online home décor store. They include blog posts, videos, podcasts, whitepapers, case studies, eBooks, webinars, guides, and checklists.
Conclusion
To sell home décor online, what is the best eCommerce platform? In fact, there is no definitive answer which depends very much on what you are looking for on an online home décor store.
For instance, as a startup with not much budget and time, you may try Amazon. First, it is because according to Statista, there were over 2 billion visits to Amazon per month from May 2019 to February 2020. This gives your products great exposure but lots of competition too. Secondly, Amazon can manage your inventory, packing and shipping. This lowers your upfront and operating costs as a startup.
If you have time and a bit more budget, you may consider building a Shopify online store from scratch by using their online store templates and purchase a domain at Shopify.
However, if you are a discerning businessperson with long-term goals, you may want to scale up your online home décor store project with customizations and add-on features to grow your audience and boost your sales using WooCommerce.
