18 March 2022, Mumbai:
In an emerging industry trend, home décor is helping fashion brands offset pandemic woes and attract new customers.
Many fashion brands are launching home décor products to widen their portfolio and tap the growing ‘work from home’ customer base.
Though the target audience for home décor and fashion is completely different, fashion brands have been easily making a transition to home décor products, says a Glossy report.
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For instance, brandless fashion retailer Quince launched a home category at the end of 2020, reveals Sid Gupta, Co-Founder.
The e-commerce company began by selling bedding, priced similarly or a bit below DTC brands like Brookline before it expanded to table linen, pillows, bath mats and rugs.
From being a miniscule percentage of Quince’s business in 2020, home décor has grown to account for over 35 per cent of sales till 2021. The e-tailer also sells accessories, leather goods and bags.
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Its home business has resonated well with customers who have been able to make the transition easily, explains Gupta. Higher profit margins triggers transition to home decor Leading global technology research and advisory company Technavio estimates, home décor sales may grow over $340 billion from 2022 and 2025.
Throughout the pandemic, home categories of brands like Target and Macy’s made up larger part of their business.
Target’s home décor sales grew 30 per cent year-over-year in 2021.
The home décor category also offers higher profit margins than the fashion segment. Profit margins for the category exceed 40 per cent while fashion category is less than 20 per cent.
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This makes the move from fashion to home décor a more natural one, says Kristin Dorsey, Vice President, Linc, Nowadays, people are spending more time at home.
This is enabling them to spend more disposable income on dressing up their surroundings. The home décor sales of Matchesfashion doubled last year with fashion brands like Simon Miller, Bernadette, and Aquazzura launching home goods on their platform.
Common values between home and fashion The marketing strategies of fashion brands foraying into home décor are similar to strategies they adopt for the fashion industry.
For instance, Aquazzura launched its home collection at Milan Design Week just like it launches fashion collections at the event. Brands like Simon Miller have launched similar campaigns for their home and fashion categories.
Though home décor and fashion products are completely different in terms of their presentation, they are similar in terms of values they adhere to.
Both segments focus on brand ethics, sustainability, environmental impact, diversity, and equity, adds Ali Hanvaloglu, Senior Director-Product Marketing, Akeneo, a product information management company.
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