2011 WFCA Consumer Buying Flooring Study

The WFCA and Clear Seas did a flooring consumer study in August 2011. Most of the research focused on flooring buyers use of various online websites and social media channels.

There were 494 email responses from consumers who had previously purchased flooring in the past 6 months and had remodeled or updated one or more rooms. 75% said they were either post graduate or a college graduate and 69% said their annual income was $65,000 or more. 59% said they were full-time employed, 21% said they were retired, only 3% were unemployed or a student, and the remainder were either employed part-time or were home makers.

From the 494 consumers who responded Tile was the most popular flooring type installed for their most recent project, followed by Laminate flooring, Hardwood flooring and Carpet. Most of the laminate floors were do-it-yourself remodel projects, not professionally installed. No real surprise there. (It should be noted that the 494 responses were about a 50-50 split between DIY and professionally installed.)

Here are a few highlights of the results that I found most interesting...

• Three-out-of-four consumers surveyed used online resources when shopping for their most recent flooring product purchase. Big box retailer websites (such as Lowe’s and Home Depot) are the most used online resources, followed by flooring manufacturer websites and search engines. Just over one-in-three consumers used a specialty flooring website.
• Among those who used an online resource only about one-in-three actually researched and selected a specific brand online to purchase before visiting a store who did use.
• Seven-out-of-ten also rate special offers/coupons, benefits of products carried, brands carried and customer reviews of retailers as important or very important. Consumers reported the least important content to include on the website is, by far, links to social media.
• Most also stated they used previous experience or personal recommendations when selecting a store, followed by search engines, retailer's website and then manufacturer's websites.
• While 80% of consumers report participating on social media (mainly Facebook), they are unlikely to use it to find a specialty flooring retailer and do not find it important that specialty flooring retailers are involved in social media. Social media involvement does appear to positively influence consumers’ perceptions of specialty flooring retailers.

Social media has become a large part of society today, but despite the high involvement, consumers buying flooring are less inclined to use it when purchasing new flooring. From my personal conversations with various retailers I find most feel they have to be on Facebook but don't find it a big traffic generator. Of course consumers who post great things about the flooring they recently purchased on their own personal Facebook page would be a great word-of-mouth testimonial for that store.

This brings me back to what I posted last week about Creating an Effective Local Web Marketing Business Strategy. I am seeing more traffic being generated to the store's websites from Google Places and in some cases other Internet Yellow Page type directories than from any social media channel. Google Places and their other business directories also contain all the essential things needed for a consumer to find a local store, including directions, map, store hours, address, phone number and in some cases are really a mini-web page with customer reviews as well. That doesn't mean this holds true for all types businesses, some other types of businesses are doing very well with Facebook and other social media channels. If you have any questions feel free to email me at: john@webstreamdynamics.com.