Houzz and 'The Empowered Consumer'

Houzz has evolved over the years and has become a wonderful resource for consumers to not only discover inspirational design content, but to find architects, designers and products to help bring their next home project to reality. More impressively, Houzz has become a credible technology company that has built the largest designer image driven database in the world.

One of the reasons for the success of Houzz is their belief that the end user is more empowered. But why? How? Well, the internet of course. Consumers (or clients) are constantly doing their own product research and forming opinions of their own and this isn’t a trend that is going away. Gone are the days when a designer or architect would suggest a product and the client would do the standard bobble head in agreement. According to Houzz, 68% of consumers are searching online for more information as compared to 11% relying on print media and advertising.

Don’t think this data applies to your luxury practice? Think again. In the “House and Home” study conducted by Houzz that provided such insight and more had 30,00 participants. On average, the participants had incomes of $140K, including a luxury audience with and average household income of $200K.

So here are some quick stats to help you understand where consumers plan on spending their money in the next two years.

74% plan to decorate or redecorate
40% plan to remodel or add an addition
10% plan to build a new custom home

Where are they planning on spending the most?

$27K for Kitchen and Bath remodels
About $56K in Metropolitan areas like San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York

So why should you care?

30% plan on hiring an architect
26% plan on hiring an interior designer

How do you position yourself to tap into this market?

Create a profile on Houzz. It’s quick, easy, and FREE.
Develop your positioning around what the consumers needs are. See below.

Participants in the Houzz study said they were 2x more likely to spend more money on creating a comfortable home environment over increasing the value of their home.

What if I’m a showroom or product manufacturer?

Houzz also allows products and showrooms
It’s time to reallocate your print advertising budget to create better digital content with a content marketing plan.

To learn more about the “empowered consumer”, get insight on how they shop with our eBook on the “Buyer’s Journey.”