The furniture industry is undergoing an exciting transformation: Customers today expect not just furniture pieces, but inspiring experiences that excite them online just as much as in a showroom – driving the rapid rise of online furniture sales in the US and beyond. For retailers, this means: your digital store must be scalable, efficient, and emotionally compelling. This is exactly where Shopware comes in – with a flexible furniture ecommerce platform designed to help retailers drive both customer loyalty and business growth at the same time.
In this blog post, you’ll discover:
which furniture ecommerce trends are shaping the industry right now,
where the biggest growth opportunities lie,
why Shopware is particularly well-suited for online furniture stores, and
which furniture brands are already using Shopware to improve their business.
Current state of furniture ecommerce & online furniture sales
The furniture industry is one of the largest consumer goods markets worldwide. In Germany, revenue reached around €37.3 billion in 2022 – an increase of almost 4% compared to the previous year.1 On a global scale, the market volume had already reached US$750 billion by 2024 and is expected to grow to nearly US$1 trillion by the end of the decade.2 Key drivers include rising demand for home furnishings, expansion into new Asian markets, and increasing online penetration.
The online share is developing particularly dynamically: In Germany it is currently around 11–15%,3 while in the US 49% of furniture purchases already take place online.4 Experts forecast annual growth of around 12% for online furniture commerce – clearly outpacing the overall market.5 One thing is clear: While brick-and-mortar retail remains important, the real growth is happening in the digital channel.
A significant part of the furniture business also comes from B2B customers. These include hotels, architects, and resellers in the contract furniture sector. Estimates often range from 10 to 20% of total sales, with strong growth potential in segments such as new workspaces and hospitality.6
Trends in furniture ecommerce
3D & AR in furniture ecommerce: immersive experiences driving online sales
For furniture retailers, the key is this: Customers want to get a realistic sense of their future furniture before making a purchase. With 3D and AR technologies, online shoppers can check whether a sofa fits into the intended space, if the dimensions are right, and whether the color matches the existing interior. Studies show that AR visualization can increase conversion rates by up to 40% and reduce return rates by more than 60%.7 According to Wayfair, customers who use AR features are even 11 times more likely to make a purchase.8 For an industry where returns are particularly costly, this is a true game-changer.
What does this mean for you as a retailer? By using AR, you ensure that your customers don’t just click through products but actually experience how your pieces will look in their home. This sets you apart from competitors, creates a showroom-level shopping experience online, and builds trust before the first purchase is even made.
Omnichannel shopping: winning with seamless experiences
Today’s customers are flexible, connected, and omnipresent. One customer might gather information in a showroom, place the order online, and pick up the piece via Click & Collect. Another might start their journey digitally and complete it with in-person advice in the store. This seamless interplay is becoming the standard – and retailers who master it secure the loyalty of their customers.
Personalization through variety & product configurators
Furniture is rarely off-the-shelf: color, fabric, size, and material almost always need to be customized. Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, this trend toward personalization has gained even more momentum. Successful online stores therefore offer smart configurators that capture this variety intuitively and give customers extensive design options.
B2B digitalization in furniture commerce
Digitalization is not just a B2C topic – it is a central competitive factor for the furniture industry as a whole. More and more business customers such as hotels or architecture firms expect the same digital convenience as private buyers. They want to request quotes online, compare prices, and approve budgets. That’s why it is crucial to have an ecommerce platform that fully supports these requirements.
Sustainability & storytelling in furniture ecommerce
Worldwide, almost 54% of respondents say that sustainability is important or very important when buying furniture.9 Environmental awareness and responsible purchasing decisions are therefore playing an ever-larger role. That’s why storytelling is becoming increasingly important: Customers don’t just buy furniture – they buy stories. A dining table made of sustainable wood with a clear origin story creates a deeper bond than an anonymous mass-market item. Transparency in materials and supply chains, combined with authentic storytelling, becomes a decisive differentiating factor.
Shopware strengths for furniture ecommerce
Inspiring shopping experiences with Shopping Experiences & 3D technologies
With Shopware Shopping Experiences, you can transform your online store into a digital showroom, perfectly tailored to the needs of modern furniture retail online. Using the integrated Visual Page Builder, you can create engaging pages without any coding – from lifestyle settings and seasonal collections to cross-channel campaigns. For furniture retailers, this means a flexible stage for inspiration that conveys your brand world and drives purchasing decisions.
The shopping experience becomes even more impressive with Spatial Commerce and 3D & AR Commerce. Customers can virtually place furniture pieces in their own homes, view materials from different angles, and realistically assess dimensions. This not only builds trust but also reduces returns – a decisive advantage, since size and fit issues are among the most common reasons for returns in the furniture industry.10
Essential for furniture commerce: performance, logistics, and maximum scalability
Whether you offer 500 or 50,000 products, Shopware is built for growth. The platform processes over 4,000 orders per minute and can easily handle millions of SKUs. Especially in furniture retail, where product variety is the norm, this provides the necessary reliability. Thanks to its open API architecture, Shopware integrates seamlessly with ERP, PIM, or logistics systems – ensuring efficient processes across the entire value chain. With features like Multi-Inventory, you can centrally manage stock across multiple warehouses and keep delivery promises reliably.
Automated processes for efficient online furniture commerce
With Shopware’s Flow Builder and Rule Builder, you can automate processes that are often complex in the furniture industry. Examples: A wardrobe can only be shipped by freight due to its size? The Flow Builder automatically assigns the correct shipping method and informs the customer of the delivery window. Or you want to upsell care products when a sofa is purchased? The Rule Builder makes it easy to configure such rules. The result: less manual work, fewer errors, happier customers, and more efficient daily operations. Marketing processes like personalized emails or loyalty programs can also be automated – increasing both customer satisfaction and conversion rates.
Working smarter with Shopware AI
Under the umbrella of Shopware AI, Shopware combines various AI-powered features that deliver real value today. These include AI-generated product descriptions, automatically suggested product attributes, and image tagging. You can also create customer classifications with AI – a valuable foundation, for example, for personalized communication. For furniture retailers, this means greater efficiency in managing large product catalogs and clear time savings in daily business. In addition, Shopware offers Copilot, a smart assistant that already helps you navigate the system today and will be expanded with Agentic Commerce features in the future. Discover everything about Shopware AI.
Digital B2B processes for furniture retailers
Many furniture retailers serve not only end customers but also business clients such as hotels, architects, or resellers. With the B2B Components, Shopware covers exactly these requirements: from quote management and customer-specific pricing to roles and rights management. This makes the online store a central tool for sales and customer relationships – even in complex B2B business.
Want to dive deeper into the specific features Shopware offers for the furniture industry? Visit our furniture landing page to explore everything from logistics & fulfillment to personalization and B2B processes.
Shopware stores from the furniture world
Caseys Furniture (Ireland): After relaunching with Shopware 6, the company saw dramatic improvements: +200% conversion rate and +60% revenue growth within just five months. A clear proof of how quickly furniture retailers can scale with the right platform. Learn more
Begros/vito (Germany): The challenge: enormous product variety. With Shopware, even highly complex furniture portfolios can be efficiently managed and presented in a way that is simple and engaging for customers. Read the case study
GO IN (Germany): The company relies on individualized furniture configurators. The result: more customer interaction, higher conversions, and satisfied business clients. Discover the story
These examples highlight one thing: Whether in B2C or B2B – Shopware provides the flexibility and performance furniture brands need to grow successfully online.
Conclusion: future opportunities in furniture ecommerce & online sales
Furniture commerce in 2025 is more digital, more inspiring, and more complex than ever. Customers expect experiences that inspire confidence, and retailers need technology that scales. At the same time, market data clearly shows: While the overall market continues to grow steadily, the real momentum is shifting to online channels – with double-digit growth rates in furniture ecommerce.
The greatest opportunities lie in technologies like AR/VR, which lower purchase barriers and reduce returns, in the digitalization of B2B processes, and in AI-driven process optimization. Those who seize these opportunities combine the traditional strengths of the furniture industry – quality, design, and consultation – with the possibilities of the digital world.
It’s time to bring your showroom online. Get started with Shopware today and see how your furniture business can grow digitally.
FAQ – frequently asked questions
Can Shopware handle complex variants such as dimensions or fabrics?
Yes, Shopware natively supports product variants. Furniture retailers can define attributes such as size, fabrics, colors, or materials and generate variants from them. Each variant can be managed with individual prices, images, and stock levels. In addition, Dynamic Product Groups can be used to automatically categorize products or set up cross-selling.
Does Shopware also support B2B processes for furniture retailers?
Yes, with the B2B Components, retailers can cover features such as individual pricing, role and rights management, quote processes, and much more.
What efficiency advantages does Shopware offer?
By automating workflows with Shopware AI as well as the Flow Builder and Rule Builder, retailers reduce manual tasks, save time and costs, and at the same time improve customer satisfaction.
1 EHI-Möbelreport 2022: Möbelhandel im Aufschwung
2 Furniture Global Market Report 2025
3 Quellen: IFH Köln, HDE/Handelsdaten.de, BEVH, Möbelreport 2025, u.a. (Stand: 2023/2024).
4 US Furniture Industry Trends: 2022 Market Share & Statistics [Report]
6 Quellen: Grand View Research, Market.us, GMI Insights, The Business Research Company (Contract Furniture Reports), u.a. (Stand: 2023/2024).
7, 8 1center: Is AR Worth It for Furniture eCommerce? Here's What the Data Says
10 1center: Is AR Worth It for Furniture eCommerce? Here's What the Data Says
