A recent industry report shows that 2016 was a strong year for online consumer traffic concerning products like electric floor heating, with some metrics increasing by triple-digit percentage points.

WarmlyYours Radiant Heating released its “2016 Fourth Quarter and Annual Industry Report” earlier this week. The report looks at remodeling and housing industry trends, analyzes key annual and quarterly performance vectors, and provides an overview of industry projections for 2017.

In the report, WarmlyYours found that consumer interest, measured in both online sales and web-traffic, grew significantly in 2016. This led to consolidated sales of WarmlyYours products growing 93.1% among e-tailers like Amazon and Wayfair. This includes a 125.7% increase in floor heating sales, which was due largely to the implementation of self-contained floor heating mat kits, which made it easy for DIY customers to purchase all the necessary materials at once.

Also in the report, WarmlyYours found that throughout the course of the year, website traffic to the company’s product pages from organic searches increased by 8% and the amount of time a user spent on each page increased by 7%. These two figures help to illustrate that more and more consumers are turning to the web for information about formally niche construction products like electric floor heating. They also help explain the 6% bump in online orders that WarmlyYours experienced in 2016.

Julia Billen, owner and president of WarmlyYours, has led the efforts to bring WarmlyYours’ unique business model into the digital age.

“The modern company can’t afford to ignore consumer patterns. Now, more than ever, you have to be there for a consumer when they need you most,” Billen said in the report. "And while our digital efforts have brought us to a wider audience, it has always been our people, our living brand, that makes a new customer choose us for their radiant needs."

The report also analyzed the projections of the most recent Leading Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA), which is compiled quarterly by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard. The LIRA predicts that annual growth in home improvement expenditures, a key metric that is closely tied to floor heating sales, will end 2017 up 6.7%, at $317 Billion.

“Growth in home prices is continuing at a healthy pace and encouraging homeowners to make remodeling investments,” said Chris Herbert, managing director of the Joint Center, in a press release. “Home sales are remaining on an upward trajectory, as well, and this coupled with continued growth in remodeling permit activity suggests another strong year for home improvements.”

To read the full report from WarmlyYours, go here.

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