Regionalization and subdivision of furniture market

In the past year or two, due to the influence of the external economic environment, the export-oriented furniture companies in Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces have been blocked from exporting, and they have turned to the domestic market, which has led to increasingly fierce competition in the domestic furniture market. In order to survive in the competition, some furniture companies have taken a different approach and adopted the method of "heating together" to overcome the difficulties.

In Beijing, including the horizon, Jin Qitai and global well-known brands such as American American Standard, Swedish Baili, Italian Bee, and other brand furniture, gathered in a building materials decoration building that mainly operates villas, luxury houses, hotels, apartments and other world-famous home building materials products , To form the first cooperative and interactive store marketing alliance in Beijing, with the power of collective packaging to promote high-end real estate, villas and other target projects in Beijing. After the alliance was established, on the one hand, it established close cooperation with high-end real estate companies and decoration companies, and organized manufacturers to launch on-site promotional activities in high-end real estate; on the other hand, it actively used online sales channels to seek more and better project orders.

In the domestic furniture market, in addition to the way of "heating together", market segmentation and grading entry have played an active role in the crisis for furniture companies.

Children's furniture market becomes a "gold mine"

Compared with the sluggish export market, in recent years, with the rapid development of China's economy, people's quality of life has begun to improve substantially. In many families, parents' investment in children's rooms is also increasing, and children's furniture is "selling" in the market. At present, furniture products such as I love my home, love more, and colorful life have become well-known brands in the market. Some traditional furniture companies have also keenly discovered the huge business opportunities contained in the children's furniture market, and brands such as Qumei, Yifeng, Red Apple, and Totem Baojia have successively tested children's furniture products. During the Children's Day in 2009, Qumei launched youth furniture. Its professional design and quality are not inferior to professional children's furniture brands. Totem Baojia launched the children's furniture brand "Tutu Jiajia" at all costs, and opened the first children's furniture experience store in Beijing with nearly 1,000 square meters. In addition, Yifeng, Red Apple and other panel furniture brands have gradually attached importance to the production and promotion of children's furniture products.

According to market research, at present, there are more than 300 million children under the age of 16 in China, accounting for about 1/4 of the national population. With the gradual emphasis on the decoration of children's rooms by children, the children's furniture market has great potential for development. According to Zhu Changling, deputy chairman of the China Furniture Association, children's furniture started in the late 1990s, and has occupied 10% of the domestic furniture market for 10 years, and has derived independent furniture categories.

The biggest advantage of children's furniture is that it is not directly affected by the real estate market, but grows with the birth and growth of children. In addition, the audience of children's furniture has a large age span, which can be used by children from 0 to 18 years old, and the purchasing power comes from the consumer group of 35 to 45 years old with certain economic strength. Therefore, the children's furniture market has become an attractive "cake" for furniture companies.

Despite the unlimited business opportunities in the children's furniture market, factors such as no relevant standards, high production costs, and irregular management have also become a stumbling block to the rapid development of the industry. At present, there is no professional and targeted research institution in the children's furniture industry, and the corresponding industry standards are still being formulated. Compared with ordinary furniture, children's furniture is only small in size, the manufacturing process is not reduced, and has higher requirements in production technology, safety and environmental protection. At the same time, the production scale of children's furniture must fully take into account the physical and psychological needs of children, and reduce the design of sharp corners and cavities. It is best to grow with children. Therefore, there are currently no standards and policies that can be relied upon for the research, development, production, and sales of children's furniture, which is also a constraint to market development.

Custom furniture is popular

In the past, low- and middle-end working-class people would only find craftsmen to "fashion furniture" at home. Nowadays, the trend of overall customized furniture is also appearing in the white-collar class. The personality, fashion, time-saving and effort of customized furniture have gradually conquered more consumer groups. With the increasing demand for furniture customization, a number of enterprises specializing in custom furniture have emerged in the market. A large number of cabinet and wardrobe companies such as Holocaust and Dinggu have successively entered the ranks of custom furniture.

The industry believes that customized furniture has already appeared in the domestic market in 2001. At present, customized furniture accounts for about 10% of the entire furniture market. As an emerging thing, its development space is still very large. At present, the finished furniture on the market has become more and more difficult to meet the needs of modern people for home space due to factors such as style and size restrictions and difficulty in integrating into the overall decoration style. While the overall furniture customization method solves these contradictions, it can make better use of space and focus on the practicality and space utilization of furniture. At the same time, consumers can more easily grasp the environmental protection requirements of custom-made furniture.

Therefore, custom-made furniture is gradually gaining popularity in the market, and is especially sought after by the post-80s consumer groups who pursue a personalized life. Under such circumstances, the European cabinets that started with custom cabinets have also joined the ranks of custom furniture this year, and Sofia, which started with custom wardrobes, has also been involved in the customization of various furniture such as TV cabinets and ornament cabinets.

Industry insiders said that there have been relatively few merchants who make custom-made furniture because production and sales are difficult to be compatible. In recent years, many companies that produce finished cabinets and wardrobes have begun to adopt a custom furniture model, which allows custom furniture to avoid the limitations of traditional furniture product selection, and can focus on the design style of the same brand to achieve a high degree of furniture color, material, shape, etc. Coordination can also avoid the waste of money and resources caused by consumers rushing to buy furniture together, thereby saving costs.

Judging from the current market situation, the furniture store does not have a dedicated area for furniture customization, and the market for customized furniture is still in a fragmented and unformed state. Many small furniture factories provide customized services, mainly to change the size of the furniture. This also provides an excellent opportunity for more professional and powerful furniture companies to enter.

The third and fourth tier markets have huge space

In the past, most brand furniture companies have focused on market development in Beijing, Shanghai, and first- and second-tier cities such as Shenyang and Qingdao. However, from the perspective of recent market sales, since 2009, domestic furniture market sales have fallen by 35%, and store operations in Shanghai, Beijing and other places have been shrinking. On the contrary, sales in the third and fourth tier markets have been increasing.

At present, there are about 150 million households in the third- and fourth-tier markets represented by prefecture-level cities and some economically developed counties and cities. According to relevant market surveys, if the purchase demand of these households is calculated at 30%, the market capacity will reach 150 billion. yuan. And as the income levels of these urban residents increase, so does the purchasing power. Driven by the accelerating urbanization process, the potential of the third and fourth tier markets is gradually turning into real purchasing power.

As a result, more and more furniture companies have "laid down their bodies" and regarded the third- and fourth-tier markets as strategic growth points. Sichuan furniture enterprises represented by Quanyou, Shuanghu, and Pearl of the Palm have been through years of hard work in the market, and have high brand recognition and market share in the third and fourth tier markets. However, at present, the third- and fourth-tier markets are still in a state of development, and there are not many well-known brands that really enter this market, so the competition is relatively weak.

It is worth noting that due to the relatively low consumption level of the third- and fourth-tier markets, and the relatively low purchasing power of residents, first-line brands accustomed to fighting in the first- and second-tier markets will have doubts, and even some companies believe that entering the third- and fourth-tier markets will reduce their Brand value has become low-end. Therefore, whether it is possible to develop and launch products suitable for market demand for the third and fourth tier markets is very critical.

In addition, in terms of sales channels, because the third and fourth tier markets are scattered in a dotted manner across the country, the market capacity of a single region is small, and the levels are different, the management range is large, and the difficulty is high. For the first-line brands, it is necessary to change the business ideas. Build an in-depth marketing system for regional rolling development, establish a benchmarking market, and create a scale effect with points. At the same time, it is also very important to strengthen the promotion of regional brands. It is necessary to strengthen the refined marketing services of channel terminals in regional markets, including channel integration, regional market layout, marketing strategy, terminal maintenance, shopping guide management, terminal display, information feedback, etc. At the same time, because the brand awareness of the third and fourth tier cities is weak, the quality of the terminal shopping guide greatly determines the product sales. Therefore, it is particularly important to strengthen the training and supervision of terminal shopping guides.

In terms of logistics distribution and after-sales service, due to the fragmentation of the third- and fourth-tier markets, higher costs and lower quality may result. Therefore, furniture companies should make an analysis of the market based on data such as local income, population, and real estate market conditions through visits to consumers. In the product manufacturing process, we must ensure quality, reduce the probability of product wear due to remote, multiple transportation, and irregular use, reduce the return rate and repair rate, thereby reducing costs and increasing profits.