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The year of Home & Lifestyle brands

Julie Vigne Senior Research Director 5 May 2022

BrandVue’s Most Loved Retail Brands 2022

Looking at data from BrandVue’s Most Loved Retail Brands report we can see that Home and lifestyle brands have experienced some of the biggest uplifts in Brand Love over the past year, with increased homeworking igniting a desire to enhance our personal living and working environments.

The range of products on offer is just as important as offering good value for money.

Since the first lockdown, the home and lifestyle sector has fared better than most, with growth predominantly driven by online sales, as consumers have spent more time indoors and looked to adapt their homes for multiple uses (i.e. work, education, relaxation, etc).

Whilst M&S and IKEA have retained their positions as the most loved home and lifestyle brands in 2022, it’s the more affordable brands – B&M, The Range and Home Bargains – who have experienced the biggest uplifts in Brand Love. Interestingly, both B&M and Home Bargains are ‘offline only’ brands – but the essential items loophole during all three Covid-19 lockdowns, turned B&M and Home Bargains into browsing destinations, at a time when few stores were able to open their doors. As we progress through 2022, it will be interesting to see if these value, ‘offline only’ stores can retain their ranking, in a year where we may not see any more lockdowns.

Dunelm has also experienced a sizeable shift in Brand Love, but love for online only brand Etsy – with its focus on local and independent homewares – has seen the most marked uplift, climbing from 49th position in 2021 to 32nd position in 2022. Other notable movers are Oliver Bonas, climbing 21 places and now well within the top 100 most loved brands (in 91st position), and online retailer Maisons du Monde, rising 23 places, with its wide range of homewares, available at different price points, and ‘good is beautiful’ ethical positioning.

So, what do these home and lifestyle retailers that we love so much have in common?

Data from BrandVue Retail suggests that Brand Affinity plays an important role across the board, with consumers looking for personal connections and a feeling that the products available are ‘for people like them’, but the range of products on offer is also key. All of our most loved home and lifestyle brands are strongly associated with offering a wide product range and even for discount brands, B&M and Home Bargains, the range of products on offer is just as important as offering good value for money. Etsy, in particular, has seen a marked uplift in range perceptions over the last year, as it continues to welcome new sellers, with an eclectic mix of products that can rarely be found elsewhere.

With homeworking set to continue, and increased time being spent in our homes, our interest in home and lifestyle retailers is unlikely to wane anytime soon. As for who will be our most loved retailers in the next 12 months? Only time will tell! But, with online home and lifestyle purchasing predicted to increase, we are likely to see this reflected in the brands we love the most; and those retailers who offer a wide and enticing range and appeal to our personal circumstances, are likely to triumph.

BrandVue’s Most Loved Retail Brands 2022

Download the full report to discover the UK’s Top 100 Most Loved Retail Brands, the report offers expert analysis on where the industry is heading and what brands can do to become more loved by consumers.

The report also touches upon the common characteristics of the most loved retailers, the consumer shift towards shopping local and supporting smaller, independent retailers and communities, the importance of fostering meaningful brand relationships across generations, and more.

Download the report here for the full Top 100 league table as well as more retail trends and insights.