Marc Bitzer
Chairman, Chief Executive Officer at Whirlpool
Thanks, Joe. And before I look forward, I will take a moment to look back. We are a 110-year-old Company with a legacy of success and a vision anchored on improving life at home. From our introduction of a first electric wringer washer and first stand mix in the early 1900 to our launch of the first French door build-in refrigerator, and our leadership in connected appliances today. We relentlessly reinvent ourselves with consumer at the heart of everything we do. These new long-term value creation goals build on our strong foundation, but reflect the fact that we are very different Whirlpool than 10 years ago, operating in a very different world. Today, we are operating in a supply constraint and inflationary environment, which is negatively impacting most industries across the world. Yet, we're on track of year of record performance.
In 2020, the world was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. And before that, numerous other unforeseen global challenges. We have faced many significantly challenging environment and yet, we're on track for our fourth consecutive year of record results. We have an agile and resilient business model, which enables us to succeed in any operating environment. Our increased value creation goals demonstrate our confidence in our long-term success and that supported by strong underlying drivers such as positive outlook on housing, strong replacement demand, and evolving consumer habits. Additionally, our demonstrated value creating go-to-market approach, lower cost base and compelling innovation pipeline positioned us for continued success. Our new long-term value creation goals reflect our confidence in the different Whirlpool in this different world.
Now, turning to Slide 17, you will see that we have exceeded our existing targets. We first introduced this target in 2017, with a clear focus on value creation and a balanced approach to grow profitably. We've been consistently delivering at or above all of these targets. While we're pleased with our progress, we're not done yet.
I'm turning to Slide 18, I will review our new long-term value creation goals. We now expect revenue to grow at a rate of 5% to 6%, almost doubling our previous goal of approximately 3%. Next, we are increasing our EBIT margin expectation from approximately 10% to a range of 11% to 12%. This is a level of performance that our business is absolutely capable of achieving. Additionally, we expect to continue to convert cash at a high level and have increased our adjusted free cash flow as a percentage of net sales from 6% plus to a range of 7% to 8%. Lastly, we expect to deliver return on invested capital of 15% to 16%, an increase from our previous target of 12% to 14%. We are confident in our future success and achieving these goals will continue to drive significant shareholder return.
Now, turning to Slide 19, I will discuss why we expect revenue growth of 5% to 6%. Demand in our industry is segmented by three primary purchase drivers: housing, replacement and discretionary. We're entering a period with strong growth catalyst across all three categories. First, let's begin with new housing construction. Housing remained well below historical and structurally needed levels for over a decade. This is compounded by pent-up demand for millennials that we're only now beginning to see. Lastly, interest rates remain at historically low levels.
Second, let me discuss replacement. We're entering a period in which the natural replacement cycle will move from a headwind to a tailwind. This is driven by elevated usage rates and a larger install base of appliances, which will need to be replaced. Also, with our install base of connected appliances, we have clear data on how our consumers are using our products, and they're using them more. For example, consumers are using our connected wall ovens and free standing ranges twice as often as before COVID. Even more important, as hybrid work model is becoming more widespread, we do expect appliance usage levels to remain significantly higher than pre-COVID, ultimately driving shorter replacement cycles.
Third, let's review discretionary purchases. COVID has brought a fundamental reorientation of consumer towards home, which will not just go away. In addition, consumer remains healthy with increased disposable income and more equity in their home, which ultimately drives higher investments in the home. To recap, with strong positive demand trends across all three segments.
Next, turning to Slide 20, I will discuss additional revenue catalyst. During this pandemic, we all witnessed a significant increase in all e-commerce activities, which we do not expect to revert back to pre-COVID levels. Over the past years, we've built our own Whirlpool direct-to-consumer business that represents today approximately $1 billion. Our multi-year investment in our strategic digital transformation has been and will continue to deliver growth rate of over 25%.
Lastly, we continue to enter and expand upon new ecosystems, which present significant new revenue opportunities. This was demonstrated when we entered the consumables detergent segment business with the launch of our ultra concentrated Swash detergent. We offer an end-to-end experience where the consumer can fill his or her detergent for a bulk dispenser in the unit, be alter when replacement is needed and order through our app for convenient at home delivery. This is one of many applications where we have earned the right to win.
Moving to Slide 21, I would like to address why we're positioned to capitalize on these opportunities and grow profitably. As we exited the Great Recession of 2009 to 2011, we took many difficult actions enabling the low fixed cost position we have to date. We removed over $1 billion in costs by reducing our fixed asset base by over 30% in just the last five years.
Next, we have a proven value creating approach to promotions and our relentless focus on cost and complexity reduction. All of these are evidenced by our continued demonstration of financial success. And we're not done yet. For example, today, we are absorbing significant costs associated with operating in an inflationary environment. Lastly, we will continue to prioritize investments to drive innovation and growth.
Now, turning to Slide 22, I will review our adjusted free cash flow and return on invested capital expectations. Large acquisition-related items are behind us. Additionally, a seasonally balanced approach and disciplined working capital management position us to drive higher cash conversion. Next, we will opportunistically seek bolt-on acquisition targets at our EPS accretive soon after acquisition. And with our significant reduced asset base, we are positioned to continue to deliver strong return on our investments.
Now, turning to Slide 23, let me recap what you heard over the past few minutes. Q3 again impressively demonstrated our ability to operate in a very challenging environment and delivered a very strong operating results. Sustained healthy market demand and strong operational execution gives us the confidence to increase our ongoing earnings per share to approximately $26.25, while delivering adjusted free cash flow of $1.7 billion.
Next, we are unwavering on our commitment to drive strong shareholder value as we expected to deliver record ongoing EPS and return over $1.2 billion to shareholders in 2021. As we look beyond 2021, we firmly believe we have demonstrated that our business is structurally different and well positioned to again build on our record results.
Lastly, our new long-term value creation goals reflect the fact that we're a different Whirlpool operating in a different world. And in early 2022, we plan to hold an Investor Day, at which time we look forward to discussing our view of our business in greater depth.
Now, we will end our formal remarks and open it up for questions.