What Modern Home Buyers Want in Appliances

Appliance preferences are highly personal. It can be challenging to choose the right refrigerator, stove, range hood, and other options in the kitchen. Modern homebuyers find this area tough to navigate, and the support from their builders just isn’t there.

GE Appliances recognized the support gap and set out to identify all of the pain points home buyers face when purchasing new appliances In its most recent Builder’s Blueprint, GE takes into account the appliance shopping experiences of folks who are building or who have built a new home within the last year. Keep reading to learn more about what modern home buyers want in their appliances so you can help your customers make better decisions.

How Long is the Shopping Process?

Appliance shopping is rarely a quick process. GE found that 87 percent of its survey participants spent up to one month searching for the right appliances for their new home.

Why is this? Because the process isn’t as smooth as it could be.

In most cases, homeowners know they have an appliance allowance built into the contract price of their home. However, they don’t know they can rely on the builder to help them select these items. They drive from showroom to showroom or big box store to big box store trying to find appliances to fall in love with. Then, they compare prices, discuss availability and delivery dates, and then cross their fingers and hope for the best.

When this is what appliance shopping looks like, it’s bound to take some time. This is an area that builders can step into and help their customers with, reducing time and frustration.

Where Are People Researching Appliances?

Appliance shoppers like to know what they’re getting before buying an appliance or package of appliances. And builders should know where they’re getting their information.

Sixty-three percent of homebuyers research or find inspiration for their appliance decisions online. Forty-three percent of shoppers stated they check retailer websites, 20 percent stated they check YouTube, 16 percent used Pinterest, 13 percent used Facebook, 12 percent looked to social media influencers, and 11 percent used Instagram.

The remaining 37 percent of in-person sources include retailers’ showrooms, model homes, friends’ or family members’ homes, and magazines.

What does this tell us? Most shoppers don’t look to their homebuilder for information on appliances. They either don’t know that their builder could be a reliable source of information about appliance brands and packages or their builder simply doesn’t focus enough energy on becoming that reliable source.

GE’s survey revealed that less than half of builders are offering a good appliance-buying experience, leading 54 percent of homeowners to shop for appliances on their own.

Are Home Buyers Willing to Upgrade?

Most homeowners are willing to upgrade from builder-basic appliance packages to something better suited to their design tastes or lifestyle. And this makes sense, as most folks spend up to 21 percent of their time in the kitchen.

When it comes to upgrades, 74 percent of homebuyers are willing to upgrade from builder-basic packages. This is second only to floors, which 76 percent of buyers would upgrade, and slightly ahead of interior finishes and cabinets at 72 and 71 percent, respectively.

An Opportunity Presents Itself

There is a serious gap between what homeowners and buyers are looking for and what the homebuilding industry is providing. Homeowners spend too much time shopping for items that they’re willing to spend more money on.

This is an area for serious improvement in helping home-buying customers feel happier and more satisfied at the end of the project. If homebuilders spent more time researching appliance packages, offered more options, and gave home buyers a way to perform their research in-house, they could cut down on the amount of time it takes for a homeowner to select their appliance package. They can also remove some of the customers’ headaches from the equation altogether.

Equally as important as improving customer satisfaction is profitability. Shoppers know they have an allowance built into their contract price. Rather than letting the customer take that allowance to the big box store, homebuilders can keep that money in-house, manage their margins, and find more opportunities for profits.

How to Present Appliances to Homebuyers

Homebuilders have to develop better appliance shopping processes to take advantage of this opportunity. For example, seventy-seven percent of buyers stated that images of appliances were important, while only 59 percent of builders provide them. The following are some appliance presentation methods that could help builders stand out from the crowd:

Spend Time Doing the Research

Homebuyers have questions about appliances, and homebuilders can ease their minds by becoming experts on these products. Whether it’s one person who specializes in appliances or a team, getting to know the ins and outs of each product will help the homeowner feel more confident while buying.

Offer More Packages

Part of the reason homebuyers shop for a month is because they want options. They want to see as many products as possible to ensure they’re making the right choice. Remove the FOMO (fear of missing out) from the process by curating more packages and options for customers.

In-Person Showrooms

Many home builders have model homes with an appliance package installed. However, few have a showroom where homeowners can choose from several brands, options, and package styles. Developing a space to set up mock kitchens with multiple appliance packages provides the feel and in-person shopping experience for customers without bouncing from store to store. This is an excellent idea for customer homebuilders.

Digital Tools

Homebuilders can also spend time developing digital tools to help the shopping process, and this is an area for serious growth. When a new kitchen is complete, the builder can film videos and take pictures during a walkthrough of the different appliances. Since many homebuilders work from a handful of floorplans, this can give the homebuyer an excellent idea of what a particular appliance package will look like in their home.

Offer Other Financing Options

While an appliance allowance might be built into the contract price, some customers may prefer other options. They may prefer a 2-, 3-, or 5-year payment plan at a reasonable interest rate overpaying for their appliances in 30 years. Homebuilders who offer other payment plans and options may find customers more willing to purchase appliance packages from them.