Name: UK Home & Interiors Digital Growth Benchmark 2026
Creator: This Is Better
License: https://thisisbetter.co.uk/benchmark#methodology

Industry insights

Where the market clusters, and where it separates.

Pillar distributions, quartiles and medians across all 75 companies, the pillar heatmap, the AI discovery picture from the fixed 12-prompt, three-platform test, and evidence-led examples of what strong execution actually looks like in this category.

AI visibility is now the biggest separating force

AI Discovery averages 40/100 across the 75-brand cohort and spans the full 0–100 range. The fixed prompt set makes clear that strong ecommerce execution does not automatically translate into recommendation visibility.

Conversion basics are becoming hygiene

Conversion Experience averages 93/100 on the uniformly assessable public criteria. Product detail, filtering, delivery information and reassurance are increasingly minimum expectations rather than durable differentiation.

Retention is the second-biggest strategic gap

Retention & CRM averages 71/100 and has materially more dispersion than conversion or commercial proposition. The opportunity is not simply email capture; it is creating reasons for customers to stay identifiable and return.

Specialists often have better reasons to buy than systems to scale them

Many independent specialists score strongly on expertise, samples, craftsmanship, guarantees or service, but lose ground on AI discovery, account utility, loyalty and broader growth infrastructure.

High-consideration categories reward risk reversal

Sofas, blinds, mattresses, fabrics and curtains repeatedly use swatches, measuring support, trials, guarantees and white-glove services to reduce uncertainty. These mechanisms are among the clearest commercially meaningful differences in the dataset.

Omnichannel remains an advantage, not a guarantee

Stores and assisted services improve local discovery and confidence, but they do not guarantee AI visibility or a strong retention system. The best performers join physical reassurance to digital discovery and first-party data.

Pillar distributions and quartiles

The bar shows the interquartile range, the vertical line the market median, and the two dots the weakest and strongest observed company on that pillar.

Organic Discovery

median 87.5

Min: 70
Q1: 82
Q3: 95
Max: 100

Cohort average 87.3 with a 30-point spread between the strongest and weakest observed company.

AI Discovery

median 37.5

Min: 0
Q1: 0
Q3: 73
Max: 100

Cohort average 40.1 with a 100-point spread between the strongest and weakest observed company.

Conversion Experience

median 94.1

Min: 69
Q1: 87
Q3: 100
Max: 100

Cohort average 92.6 with a 31-point spread between the strongest and weakest observed company.

Commercial Proposition

median 83.0

Min: 58
Q1: 78
Q3: 88
Max: 100

Cohort average 82.2 with a 42-point spread between the strongest and weakest observed company.

Retention & CRM

median 65.0

Min: 30
Q1: 53
Q3: 88
Max: 100

Cohort average 71.2 with a 70-point spread between the strongest and weakest observed company.

Growth Infrastructure

median 90.2

Min: 50
Q1: 78
Q3: 93
Max: 100

Cohort average 85.0 with a 50-point spread between the strongest and weakest observed company.

Pillar heatmap

Pillar scores side by side. Switch cohort to compare inside a single commercial model.

Organic Discovery	AI Discovery	Conversion	Commercial Proposition	Retention	Growth Infrastructure
100	95	100	100	100	100
100	100	100	93	100	100
100	95	94	100	95	100
100	95	100	88	100	100
100	90	100	88	95	100
100	90	100	88	88	100
100	65	100	88	100	100
100	73	88	88	100	100
88	93	93	85	93	93
100	100	94	77	88	85
95	70	94	93	88	100
100	93	100	88	73	85
84	90	100	85	100	78
90	78	94	88	80	100
84	100	100	90	58	93
95	93	94	82	88	72
95	58	94	86	88	100
100	50	100	88	88	93
88	63	100	85	88	93
88	73	87	85	88	93
95	50	94	86	88	100
100	65	100	77	80	90
82	90	100	83	58	92
95	65	100	88	60	92
100	28	100	88	88	93

This is Better view

AI discovery is the only pillar where most of this market is still effectively invisible.

40.1

Cohort average AI Discovery score, against a median of 37.5.

Companies with zero recommendation appearances across the fixed prompt set.

Companies visible on all three assistant platforms tested.

ChatGPT

90 appearances · 34 brands visible

Gemini

48 appearances · 26 brands visible

Perplexity

66 appearances · 33 brands visible

Most visible in assistant answers

The same 12 prompts and scoring thresholds were used for every company across three platforms. Brands named most often in assistant answers were John Lewis, Dunelm, IKEA, Next Home, Sofa.com — recommendation share is concentrating faster than conventional ecommerce capability.

What good looks like

The strongest observed company on each pillar, with two of the recorded observations behind the score.

Organic Discovery

OD01 The fixed public-query review shows broad, repeatable non-brand commercial discovery across core buying intents.
OD02 The site exposes a broad and well-structured set of category and subcategory landing pages.

AI Discovery

AI01 26 total recommendation appearances across the fixed 12-prompt × 3-platform set (ChatGPT 10, Gemini 9, Perplexity 7).
AI02 Observed in 13 commercial-intent and 13 need-state recommendation appearances across the same prompt set.

Conversion Experience

CV02 Filtering and sorting cover the main decision dimensions for the category and reduce range complexity.
CV03 Category pages actively merchandise ranges through collections, use cases, newness, availability and/or editorial cues.

Commercial Proposition

CP01 The proposition is clear, differentiated and visible across key commercial pages. IKEA Family, planning/design services and multiple delivery formats create a mature omnichannel decision and retention system.
CP02 Pricing is clear, easy to understand and commercially legible through the browsing journey.

Retention & CRM

RT01 Email/lead capture is prominent and supported by a clear value exchange, service or sampling journey.
RT02 Multiple first-party capture routes and clear propositions create strong welcome-journey readiness.

Growth Infrastructure

GI01 Structured product, price, availability and variant architecture is well suited to shopping/feed activation.
GI02 The commerce template shows strong structured-data readiness across products, offers, breadcrumbs and/or reviews.

Peer group and archetype reads

Multi-category Pureplay

13 companies · avg 75.6

Strongest: Conversion Experience (97.1) · Weakest: AI Discovery (34.8)

Pureplays are strong on taxonomy, product depth and conversion mechanics, with physical-store criteria excluded where genuinely not applicable.
The major differentiator is whether scale and specialist authority translate into AI recommendation visibility and repeat-value mechanics.

Omnichannel Retailer

20 companies · avg 87.9

Strongest: Organic Discovery (97.3) · Weakest: AI Discovery (62.6)

Store/service networks materially strengthen local discovery and assisted-purchase journeys.
Scale supports broad organic discovery, but AI recommendation share is still concentrated in a smaller set of brands.

Specialist / DTC

42 companies · avg 71.2

Strongest: Conversion Experience (89.4) · Weakest: AI Discovery (31.0)

Specialists often match or beat larger retailers on proposition, expertise, sampling and decision support.
The largest gaps are AI discoverability, retention infrastructure and the breadth of first-party relationship mechanics.

Compounding Leaders29

Above the cohort median on both discovery power and value-system strength. Demand is found and then converted into a repeatable relationship.

IKEA · John Lewis · Dreams · Next Home · Habitat · Sofology …

Discovery-Led10

Strong discovery power, weaker measured proposition and retention system. Traffic is available; the reasons to buy and reasons to return are doing less work.

Sofa.com · Swyft · Darlings of Chelsea · 247 Blinds · Swift Direct Blinds · Blinds 2go …

Proposition-Led10

Strong proposition and retention signals, weaker discovery power. Good commercial substance with less visibility in organic and AI surfaces.

Wayfair · Maisons du Monde · Soho Lighting · La Redoute Interiors · H&M Home · Zara Home …

Latent Challengers26

Below the cohort median on both axes. The largest measured headroom, and usually the widest gap between category quality and digital growth readiness.

Swoon · Arlo & Jacob · Make My Blinds · DotcomBlinds · Blinds4UK · Rockett St George …

Your own position

See where your brand would sit on the same 54 criteria.

We will run the identical outside-in rubric against your site and send the scored pillar profile, your peer comparison and the two or three constraints we would investigate first. No pitch attached — you can read it and do nothing.

Organic Discovery	AI Discovery	Conversion	Commercial Proposition	Retention	Growth Infrastructure
100	95	100	100	100	100
100	100	100	93	100	100
100	95	94	100	95	100
100	95	100	88	100	100
100	90	100	88	95	100
100	90	100	88	88	100
100	65	100	88	100	100
100	73	88	88	100	100
88	93	93	85	93	93
100	100	94	77	88	85
95	70	94	93	88	100
100	93	100	88	73	85
84	90	100	85	100	78
90	78	94	88	80	100
84	100	100	90	58	93
95	93	94	82	88	72
95	58	94	86	88	100
100	50	100	88	88	93
88	63	100	85	88	93
88	73	87	85	88	93
95	50	94	86	88	100
100	65	100	77	80	90
82	90	100	83	58	92
95	65	100	88	60	92
100	28	100	88	88	93

Organic Discovery	AI Discovery	Conversion	Commercial Proposition	Retention	Growth Infrastructure
100	95	100	100	100	100
100	100	100	93	100	100
100	95	94	100	95	100
100	95	100	88	100	100
100	90	100	88	95	100
100	90	100	88	88	100
100	65	100	88	100	100
100	73	88	88	100	100
88	93	93	85	93	93
100	100	94	77	88	85
95	70	94	93	88	100
100	93	100	88	73	85
84	90	100	85	100	78
90	78	94	88	80	100
84	100	100	90	58	93
95	93	94	82	88	72
95	58	94	86	88	100
100	50	100	88	88	93
88	63	100	85	88	93
88	73	87	85	88	93
95	50	94	86	88	100
100	65	100	77	80	90
82	90	100	83	58	92
95	65	100	88	60	92
100	28	100	88	88	93

Organic Discovery	AI Discovery	Conversion	Commercial Proposition	Retention	Growth Infrastructure
100	95	100	100	100	100
100	100	100	93	100	100
100	95	94	100	95	100
100	95	100	88	100	100
100	90	100	88	95	100
100	90	100	88	88	100
100	65	100	88	100	100
100	73	88	88	100	100
88	93	93	85	93	93
100	100	94	77	88	85
95	70	94	93	88	100
100	93	100	88	73	85
84	90	100	85	100	78
90	78	94	88	80	100
84	100	100	90	58	93
95	93	94	82	88	72
95	58	94	86	88	100
100	50	100	88	88	93
88	63	100	85	88	93
88	73	87	85	88	93
95	50	94	86	88	100
100	65	100	77	80	90
82	90	100	83	58	92
95	65	100	88	60	92
100	28	100	88	88	93