LeapTools, a leader in room visualization technology, has released its first-ever Roomvo flooring global usage trends report. Using exclusive room visualization data from 2022 and 2023, Roomvo analyzed more than 160 million consumer interactions with a subset of more than 300 flooring retailers, distributors and manufacturers worldwide. This data reveals when consumers are shopping, which rooms they’re shopping for and their preferences for flooring materials, colors, styles and more.
“Retailers, distributors and manufacturers can leverage the insights in this report to identify consumer preferences and behaviors and guide product development, marketing and merchandising strategies,” said Tom Martin, content marketing manager, Roomvo. “By identifying consumer trends and understanding which materials, colors and styles are most popular, businesses can adjust their product offerings to match what consumers are looking for. For retailers, distributors and manufacturers, that means increased sales and less unsold inventory.”
Following are some highlights from the user study:
The first quarter of 2023 showed the highest activity regarding flooring visualizations around the globe. During this period, 28.3% of consumers engaged in flooring visualizations compared to 30.4% of consumers during the first quarter of 2022. These findings indicate consumers seem to embark on their home improvement projects within the first three months of the year.
Looking more closely at first-quarter activity, January accounted for 9.9% of global flooring visualizations in 2023, followed by 8.9% in February, then rising to 9.5% in March. Similar shopping preferences were shown in both Europe and the Americas. For example, February accounted for 9% of visualizations in the Americas with Europe representing 9.7% of visualizations. In March, users in the Americas accounted for 9.4% of flooring visualizations while users in Europe represented 9.8% of visualizations.
“We were surprised to see January overtake March as the prime time of year to shop for flooring in 2023,” Martin stated. “This trend may indicate the growing importance of January sales, which retailers may want to consider if they’re not already.”
Visualizations by room
Drilling down even deeper, Roomvo’s research showed precisely which areas of the home consumers are focusing most of their attention on in terms of using the visualization technologies. Roomvo’s analytics platform, Roomvo PRO, detects which type of room a shopper has uploaded; these uploads revealed that 43% of global visualizations were room uploads of consumers’ living rooms. Results showed 46.4% of European shoppers uploaded photos of their living rooms compared to 41.7% of shoppers in the Americas. The second-most popular room was kitchens, with 26.9% of shoppers in the Americas uploading photos of this area of the home compared to 18.8% of European shoppers.
Material preferences
The survey findings are even more telling when it comes to the specific flooring categories and material preferences consumers are researching most.
Roomvo research showed luxury vinyl planks and tiles surpassed wood to become the most frequently visualized flooring material. This material saw the highest increase in popularity share globally, jumping 4 points from 19.9% in 2022 to 23.9% in 2023. Visualizations of LVT/P in the Americas jumped from 22.5% in 2022 to 27.5% last year. Meanwhile, luxury vinyl visualizations among European consumers increased only slightly from 10.3% in 2022 to 11.3% in 2023.
“We knew luxury vinyl was growing in popularity, but we were surprised by just how much it’s grown,” Martin said. “Luxury vinyl was the world’s fastest-growing flooring material in 2023, leapfrogging wood to become the most popular flooring material globally.”
LVT wasn’t the only hard surface category that performed well in the visualization user study. The rising popularity of laminate flooring was also evident in the study results, especially among European shoppers. Here, laminate flooring accounted for 22.2% of consumer visualizations, up from 20% in 2022.
Not all materials/categories saw an increase year-over-year in terms of products visualized. The Roomvo study indicated ceramic tile product visualizations dipped in the Americas from 22.2% in 2022 to 19.7% in 2023. Likewise, in Europe, tile product visualizations fell from 11.5% in 2022 to 10.8% in 2023. (Note: The data in the report is based on floor tile only and does not include wall tile.)
“Tile dropped by two percentage points in popularity share last year, but it remains the third-most-popular material globally,” Martin said. “This decline could be explained by growing consumer interest in hard surface materials like luxury vinyl and laminate—all of which increased in consumer interactions last year.”
Hardwood, another aspirational floor covering product, also underwhelmed in the Roomvo study. Visualizations of hardwood products dropped from 20.3% in 2022 to 19.1% in 2023 within the Americas. Europe saw an even bigger drop; visualizations fell from 24.5% in 2022 to 21.5% in 2023. Silver lining: Engineered wood—a subsegment of the category—accounted for 38.2% of wood products visualized for 2023, representing an increase over 2022.
A look at visualizations in terms of specific species reflects the growing popular of hickory hardwood flooring products. Despite oak being the third most-popular species of wood visualized by American consumers in 2023, hickory is on the rise, accounting for 16.5% of wood visualized. Observers attribute hickory’s performance in the study to visual traits as well as its durability and scratch resistance.
Switching gears to soft surface materials, carpet accounted for 7.5% of flooring visualizations globally for 2023, reflecting growing market share of hard surface flooring. However, carpet tile, a subsegment of the category, did particularly well in terms of products visualized in 2023. Visualizations of carpet tile increased by 6.4 percentage points globally, rising to 33.2% of carpet visualizations in 2023. Carpet tile allows end users to combine different colors and patterns to customize the flooring to cohesively match the rest of the room—creating a unique installation.
Meanwhile, visualizations of solid-color broadloom products accounted for 59.9% globally in 2023. That share is even larger when looking specifically at Europe. Visualizations of solid broadloom in Europe came in at a whopping 80.6%, while carpet tile in Europe accounted for 12.3% of visualizations.
“Differences like these show that businesses must research local markets in order to develop localized strategies that address the specific needs and preferences of consumers,” Martin explained. “Localized strategies include modified product selections and marketing campaigns and region-specific promotions.”
Color trends
While preferences for colors can vary widely by region, there are some generalities. By and large, the Roomvo study showed a strong consumer preference for neutral color palettes, with earth tones accounting for the vast majority of flooring visualizations in 2023. This color scheme, inspired by natural elements such as soil, rocks and clay, was a dominant focus among shoppers throughout their home improvement journeys.
Beige, specifically, accounted for 44.4% of global flooring visualizations. This neutral hue grew in both the Americas and Europe, rising from 40% of visualizations in 2022 to 41.8% of visualizations in 2023, and 50.8% in 2022 to 51.9% in 2023, respectively.
The color brown, despite a slight dip in preference (35.5% in 2022 to 34.1% in 2023 globally) remains another popular color for flooring renovations. It is especially seen among shoppers in the Americas, accounting for 36.5% of visualizations compared to Europe, where brown accounted for 27% of flooring visualizations.
Gray, another natural color, was the third-most popular color for flooring visualizations within the study. The color accounted for 9.8% of visualizations in Europe compared to 6.9% in the Americas for 2023. On a global scale, the color gray dropped slightly from 7.9% in 2022 to 7.6% in 2023.
Summary
The Roomvo study reveals, at the end of the day, that business data is quintessential to obtain and analyze for floor covering interests to become knowledgeable of the latest consumer trends and adapt accordingly. “By analyzing and digesting large studies of data, such as studies conducted by Roomvo PRO, retailers, distributors and manufacturers alike can alter their business strategies to complement ever-changing consumer trends and needs,” Martin stated.
(View the 2024 Flooring Trends Report in its entirety online.)
