Furniture pieces are items that consumers purchase only on occasion. People do not buy furniture on a daily basis and most furniture items have a higher price than other retail goods and convincing them to make an investment is crucial.

Booming real estate industry and increasing urban population in the developing countries is driving the global furniture market.

Additionally, increasing disposable income has influenced the individual to spend more on a comfortable lifestyle, this is expected to provide a growth opportunity for the global furniture market to some extent. Low-cost furniture producers like China, Vietnam is also driving the market. However, scarcity of skilled labor, better transportation facilities, and infrastructure facilities may act as a hindrance for this sector.

Booming real estate industry has influenced many multinationals to invest in the emerging markets. Some of the major companies operating in the global furniture market are IKEA International Group, Knoll Inc., Steelcase Inc., Masco Corp., and Ashley Furniture Industries Ltd. North America has the largest market share for furniture products, followed by Europe and the Asia Pacific. Asia Pacific region is expected to overtake North American furniture market in the forecasted period in terms of market share. Asian market for furniture is expected to witness double-digit growth in the coming years. Emerging markets of India and China are expected to boost the Asia Pacific furniture market in future. By 2019, the global market for furniture and floor coverings is forecast to reach a dollar 695 billion.

The internet has caused a major change in how customers search and shop for their new home furnishings. Just as the way of shopping has changed, so should your marketing strategies.

WHAT YOU SELL OFFLINE, MUST BE SOLD ONLINE

The most important tick in the box for any furniture company should be going on the web. An average person looks at their phone approximately 150 times a day.

The most popular and thriving company in this industry in India today is Urban Ladder. Their website has covered all dimensions of home essentials. When customers come to buy furniture, they would be extra glad to see that one location has burgeoned to myriad dimensions and fulfill all home essentials required. They have unique sections that attract customer’s attention; A potential customer is given the chance to try Urban Ladder’s sofas at home. There are also unique customer testimonials, CTAs and very attractive ‘pre-launch’ furniture display, at-home-consultations, old furniture exchange offers where the pickup and delivery everything is managed by the UL professional team.

Let us take a look at another premium furniture and home products e-commerce marketplace, Pepperfry.com. This enterprise has gained such overwhelming popularity and market boost aiming at 5000 crore sales by 2020. Pepperfry co-founder and CEO Ambareesh Murty remarked, “The longest distance a piece of furniture sold by us has traveled is 2,664 km… from a workshop in Jodhpur in Rajasthan to a customer in Mizoram”.

So, what’s making these companies, two-year-old infants in the furniture business, earn such good money in such a short time?

One, they have made the furniture shopping process easy, enjoyable and “cool” for a generation which has the money but lacks the time to shop. What else would explain the 14 lakh ‘likes’ that these portals have on their Facebook pages?

“Before we launched, we asked customers what they lacked in the furniture shopping process in the offline model,” says Pepperfry’s founder Murty. “Typically, only 10% of the furniture portfolio is on display when you visit a furniture shop,” he adds. Customers who want to see the other 90% have to flip through a dowdy catalogue that invariably shows just one picture of the product and its price. In comparison, these portals show the customer the whole deal: dimensions, weight, color options, finish etc. Pepperfry even lets customers doodle their own furniture designs and upload them to the portal. It gets back if these pieces can be made and, if they can, at what cost.

ENVISAGE THE MARKET

Potential investors would also need to concentrate on specific regions/customer segments initially, to establish themselves and test the market before investing in a national distribution network. Establishing a liaison office to study the market extensively and identifying investment opportunities will also prove to be steps that will enable investors to firm up their India operation.

FOCUS ON DESIGN

Designs that cater to local customer requirements are an important requirement for success across markets. In this respect, companies could look at leveraging India’s traditional craftsmanship and technology base, through developing design schools or collaborating with the already existing schools.

FOR FURNITURE, NOT JUST APPS- Bring in VR Technology

To ace, your sales and popularity bring in the latest innovations in technology that is surely going to give an ace to the number of customers and the satisfaction level procured in the process. Virtual reality apps let customers pick up their choice of furnitures or flooring giving them the choice to put in their ideal spots. Herein, the customers get maximum satisfaction as they can see real-time changes virtually without even visiting a store and shop virtually what they like at their own convenience. Making shopping experience interesting and easy for customers paves the road to success.

Urban Ladder has its own VR app

After selecting a background and flooring that best resemble those of the room, the users can virtually select products from Urban Ladder’s collections to see how the chosen items look together before one decides to buy them. The images of the products can be rotated and placed according to the space that best suits a user’s taste.

Let us take a look at this video and understand the huge amount of liberty, fun time and choice factors given to the customers with the zilch effort from their site.

IKEA, a furniture retail company headquartered in the Netherlands incorporated augmented reality technology with their app.

This video of IKEA is the perfect demonstration of how customers can be engaged, excited and happy with their buying experience and ease of shopping. What else can be better, if you can visualize your home even before a makeover and know exactly how prettified it will be later?

In the arena of Furniture, Pinterest is the greatest viable social photo sharing portal, allows users to create theme-based image collections on a virtual pinboard. This can be a great way to effectively display your furniture collections.

CORPORATE VIDEOS

Videos bring the human touch to your marketing. One of the biggest advantages to making corporate videos is that they are a fun way to visually showcase your business. It doesn’t have to be high-pressure advertising or a slick Hollywood production. In fact, corporate videos for websites work best when they focus more on product uses and industry trends than sales or hype. Videos remind people that your company is run by people who share similar values and beliefs.

Take a look at the US-based company Glover Furniture’s corporate video. It is a detailed video demonstrating the complete manufacturing process, packaging, labeling till the delivery.

It is one of the finest examples of a corporate explainer video.

Located in the north-east of Italy near Venice, Status is the result of a new project designed by a team of highly qualified professionals with in-depth knowledge of the best manufacturing and market techniques.

take a look at their dynamic, detailed video made more engaging by incorporating preppy music. A marketing video introduces and educates a viewer about the products or services a company provides or conveys the culture/personality of that company. And Status Italy has aced it.

PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS

As businesses move away from offline methods, like direct mail, print ads, and billboards, they are increasingly spending more time and effort online with the search, banner ads, e-newsletters, and now, the promotional video. Promotional videos and often, ad films act as a great traffic magnet for companies. The best promo videos and films narrate beautiful tales through the medium of video, music, and emotions. There is probably no such thing around which a story cannot be cocooned.

Take a look at this elegant and creative ad film by Urban Ladder :

VIRTUAL DESIGN TECHNOLOGY- Introducing LECTRA

Lectra, the world leader in integrated technology solutions dedicated to industries using soft materials-fabrics, leather, technical textiles and composite materials- announced the release of its latest version of DesignConcept Furniture, its 2D/3D collaborative design, costing and virtual prototyping solution for upholstered furniture.

As well as satisfying consumer demand for greater choice, customization, and built-in technology, manufacturers have to find a way to stand out from the crowd in order to maintain and improve their competitiveness. Creativity is the answer. With this new version, all types of upholstery, including tufting and buttoning, can be virtually prototyped, cost-calculated and prepared for production. The only limit is the designer’s imagination.

Let us take a look at their explainer video that surprises one even more!

ZEITGEIST OF THE ERA- Smart Furniture

With the increasing need and demand for space saving furniture, smart furniture is those that give you the ideal space saving furniture designs. It is customizable, foldable and everything can be done with great ease by anybody who purchases it. It is easy, convenient and space-saving and nonetheless, the designs are all futuristic and cost-effective. Our epoch demands creativity, efficiency, and smartness- so why should our furniture not be smart?

IKEA has introduced a new line of furniture with hotspots that can wirelessly charge your devices. Imagine, all one has to do to charge their phones or tablets is simply to put them down wherever they wish!

Such formative and convenient design structures are definitely the future of the furniture industry. With more time, people will need less space and more convenience and that’s what smart furniture is up to.

Let us take a look at how and why such furniture should be given the top-most priority:

Let us also take a look and mesmerise ourselves with the story of what smart furniture can accomplish in an 86 square feet tiny apartment in Paris.

RENT FURNITURE- Let’s innovate ownership

In our times, shifting and relocating to different cities or different locations within the same city is more than common. The urban lifestyle demands changes, customizations and definitely demand what is most pocket-friendly. Looking at the necessities of the times, Rentomojo has started the idea of renting furniture at unbelievably cheap prices to people who desire it.

Many other companies like Furlenco, Rentickle have come up with the same idea of giving people more liberty to choose their furniture and decorate their abodes the way they want, and at the most efficient way possible.

Rentomojo’s video beautifully describes the idea of renting furniture for the 21st-century market-

This was an analysis of various modern marketing techniques for your Furniture Industry. if you would like to have a detailed discussion, please get in touch with us at hello@pixelsutra.com. We would be glad to assist you.