New research has revealed a surprising rise in “returniture”, a trend where shoppers buy large furniture items online only to return them again, with as many as one-in-five online buyers even admitting to sending back an entire kitchen or bathroom suite after purchasing it.
This is according to new research commissioned by immersive retail technology company Fixtuur, which asked a sample size of over 1,500 UK online home product shoppers about their purchasing habits.
Said to be a trend predominantly fuelled by Gen Z shoppers, 64% of those polled said they believed the fast-fashion mindset – where consumers are comfortable buying products with a view to return them if they’re not happy – has finally crept into homeware.
According to Fixtuur’s research, almost a quarter of UK shoppers (23%) said they had returned large furniture items, including sofas, beds and dining tables, after buying them online. Startlingly, 22% also admitted ordering an entire kitchen or bathroom suite, only to return it later.
For context, Fixtuur says this level of “returniture” sales is near the same figures it sees for small fixtures and fittings – such as light switches, handles or taps – which were returned by around 26% of those polled.
For those who have bought bathroom products online (including things like fitted furniture, baths, showers, toilets and basins), over half (54%) ordered bathroom products online to try at home, and then decided to keep them permanently. Meanwhile, three-in-five online bathroom shoppers said they’ve previously purchased an item that ended up not being able to fit through their door, hallway, or up the stairs.
Of those who had bought bathroom products online, 63% actually said they’d previously received a product that ended up looking completely different in real life. Perhaps because of this, it’s no surprise that almost three quarters of online bathroom buyers (72%) believe that returning furniture items should be just as easy as it is to return clothes, and a similar amount (75%) said they didn’t feel bad about returning items as “it’s just how online shopping works”.
Meanwhile, for online kitchen purchasers (which the survey defines as those who have bought things like fitted kitchens, cabinets, or worktops in the last two years) 43% of those polled said they have previously ordered more furniture or items than they actually intended to keep, safe in the knowledge that they could return anything that they didn’t like.
Outside of just kitchens and bathroom sales, 60% of those who purchased furniture online found that their items were actually the wrong size for their space, and 55% said they’d bought large furniture items, like dining tables, that didn’t match what they’d been sold online.
And with more Gen Z consumers now entering the housing market, Fixtuur has warned that the “returniture trend” is only going to gain momentum. In fact, among younger shoppers, returns for large furniture items rise from 23% to almost a third (31%).
