Survey Results - Why People Don't Order Furniture Online?

Wholesale Furniture Brokers recently had a Father’s Day 2010 Contest where contestants from the US and Canada needed to fill out a survey and subscribe to their newsletter to be eligible to win a $1000 gift certificate. The survey had results from over 550 people. It was designed to help us learn more about why people don’t order furniture online. The results will be useful for all ecommerce websites that want to know how they can improve their website to target a larger audience.

The results of the survey have been tallied. We are providing the questions and top three answers for each of the questions:

1. What is your gender?
Female: (67.9%)
Male: (32.1%)

2. What is your age?
50+: (44.5%)
40 – 49: (29.1%)
30 – 39: (15.9%)

3. Have you ever bought anything online?
Yes: (92.2%)
No: (7.8%)

4. Do you plan to buy furniture online?
No: (49.9%)
Yes: (50.1%)

Comments:
I might buy furniture online: (45.07%)
I’m not planning on ordering online: (21.13%)
I haven’t thought about it: (18.3%)

5. When shopping for furniture, where are the top three places you would look to gather information and buy? Please select three.
Local Furniture Store: (20.84%)
Online Furniture Store: (14.88%)
Friends or Family: (11.29%)

6. Have you ever order furniture online before? Please choose yes or no and explain why you did or did not order online in the comment box below.
No: (70.3%)
Yes: (29.7%)

Why People Order Furniture Online:
Best price: (32.58%)
I liked the furniture online since it wasn’t available locally: (25.84%)
Free shipping: (11.24%)

Why People Don’t Order Furniture Online:
I want to be able to see the furniture before I buy: (42.86%)
High shipping costs: (15.79%)
I’m not presently in the market to buy furniture: (12.78%)

7. Where do you prefer to buy your furniture? Please let us know and explain why in the comment box below.
Local Furniture Store: (75.08%)
Online Store: (5.89%)
No Preference: (17.01%)

Top 3 Stores:
Ikea
Sears
Brick

8. What are the top three services you would want when buying furniture? Please select three and explain in the comment box below.
Ability To Choose Custom Fabric and Color Options: (28.23%)
Ability To Schedule My Delivery Date When I Place My Order: (27.93%)
Financing Options Ie. No Payments for 90 Days: (15.81%)

9. How important is knowing the reputation of the store you buy from? Ie. You've heard of it before or bought from it before, so you are more likely to buy from them. Please let us know in the comment box below.
Very Important: (55.08%)
Important: (29.69%)
Not Important: (8.39%)

10. If you were to buy furniture online, what store would you buy from and why? Please let us know in the comment box below. You can include a link to the online furniture store.

Top 3 Stores:
Ikea
Sears
Wholesale Furniture Brokers

11. Are you willing to buy without seeing an item if you are able to save a considerable amount on your purchase?
Yes: (51.7%)
No: (48.3%)

12. If the product you want is not currently in stock, what would affect your decision to continue your purchase? Please let us know in the comment box below.

Top 3 Answers:
If it will be in stock soon, it doesn’t matter.
If there is nothing else similar, I will wait.
If I can get a discount.

13. What do you consider an acceptable amount of time to wait for your order to arrive at your home from the date of purchase? Please let us know how many days in the comment box below.
8 – 14 Days: (38.52%)
1 – 7 Days: (35.44%)
15 – 21 Days: (7.23%)

14. What would affect your decision to buy if the product you want is only available online?
Free Shipping: (19.87%)
Price: (50.99%)
Reputation of Website: (6.29%)

15. Is website security a concern of yours and do you look for a certified secure website icon while shopping? Ie. Your credit card information will be safe on a secure website. Please let us know in the comment box below.
Yes: (69.51%)
Yes and I check to make sure it’s secure: (12.89%)
No: (17.6%)

Let us know what you think about the results in the comment box below.