t not think of Amazon as a homewares retailer, according to the business’ consumer PR manager Duncan Fredericks, homewares is a definite growth area for the e-commerce giant. “It’s one that we’re doubling down on, and making sure we have a really great selection – a real mix of everything from kitchen and storage to bedroom and furniture,” Fredericks told Inside Retail.  As spending on homewares and furniture slows, the business has taken aim at a specific customer demographic: young renters.  Amazon recently released The Young Aussie Home of 2023 report, which looked extensively at the way Millennial and Gen Z Australians live.  The report also helped steer the business’ new ‘home bundles’ offer, which features a number of product bundles such as various ‘starter packs’ for people entering into different living conditions, be it a sharehouse, or those living alone for the first time. “I think, in Australia, there hasn’t been a lot of [businesses] digging in deep and seeing how renters are living, and what their needs are,” Fredericks said.  “I’m really excited about the research, and I’m excited about the value we can create for customers.” Behavioural expert Mark Carter, who worked with Amazon on the report, noted that young Aussies still hold the dream of home ownership – it’s just that it’s getting harder to achieve. “Home ownership, as a significant investment, requires some level of compromise over other important aspects of life: travel, adventure and experiences. That’s not necessarily a decision or a trade they want to dive head first into either,” Carter told Inside Retail. Feeling the pinch According to Fredericks, Amazon’s report started out as a research project, looking at how its customers were responding to cost of living pressures increasing across the board. “Many of us are feeling the pinch [and] we wanted to take a look at what we could offer our customers – particularly this subset of people who are now renting or have had to make changes to their living scenarios,” Fredericks said.  One of the key findings  was that almost 70 per cent of young Aussies have had to make a change to their living situation – downsizing, moving further away, moving in with more people, etc – as a direct result of financial pressures. Beyond understanding the way young Australians are living and dealing with increased costs, Amazon also wanted to understand the household purchases made by this subset of customers.  “In situations like living in a sharehouse, there’s a real need to make your own space feel homely and work for you. That was another interesting lesson: these generations are particularly home proud, and are being quite clever with their spaces,” Fredericks said. Beyond the pandemic, Australians are regularly making their rooms pull double duty: a bedroom that doubles as an office, or a living room, or both, for example. Fredericks said that these lessons were key to Amazon’s new offer, which is aimed at helping young Australians more easily navigate any current or future changes in housing.