World Market for Homewares and Home Furnishings

Delivery

This report comes in PPT.

Key findings

Self-care at home products are growing faster over time within the wellness trend, with solid long-term drivers

Self-care is driven by demographic, geopolitical, economic and social stress triggers. Price-sensitive consumers can also be expected to continue cooking at home, and hybrid appears to be the new normal for the post-pandemic office worker; wellness subcategories such as stove top cookware (healthy eating) and mattresses (sleep health) continue to grow faster than their respective host sectors. The other side of the coin for self-care is the rising problems of being linked to substances considered “toxic”, with a live example in 2023 of PFAS in cookware.

Designing for multifunctional living spaces and designing for deconstruction are appealing attributes

The multifunctional home furniture trend is driven by the rise of smaller urban living spaces and higher occupancy due to hybrid working, combined with a desire for practicality, efficiency and anti-clutter storage. Making product construction (and deconstruction) easier is also a strong factor towards the lower end of the market. Catering to a rental property market, easy to assemble and disassemble designs (without paid services or help) rise, while easy deconstruction leans into circularity. Useful and novel in-built storage solutions are growing for all rooms.

A cost-of-living crisis and high inflation supressed demand for big ticket items more than smaller impulse purchases (renovation furniture especially)

Following one and half years of booming home spend between 2020 and 2021, consumers in 2022-2023 use their constrained discretionary spend on necessary replacement cycles and an increasing cost consciousness in the appeal of private label. Macro economic trends create concern about the ongoing housing market, with direct impacts on in-home spending. After interest rate rises (to control inflation), there remain signs of a soft landing, but 2022 was a reset below pre-pandemic demand (in constant terms) and long-term forecasts are less optimistic.

Survival of the fittest: A fully realised omnichannel strategy is proving to be one of multiple discriminators for coping with this more turbulent time

After weathering store closures followed by supply chain disruption amid record growth, the interest rate hikes in 2022 made debt levels cost more. Demand is constrained and purchase prices are under greater pressure towards discounting, leaning into channel shifts favouring lower-cost service models. The threat from discounters rises amidst a lack of innovation due to pandemic disruption. A lack of competitiveness in e-commerce seems to then be a recurring flaw in those most affected by this cascade of pressures, tipping them into bankruptcy.

Sustainability via durability rises as a materials driver, especially in homewares design; while Scope 3 actions for 2030 start to become policy

There is a growing emphasis on the longevity of homewares via materials choices. There are movements in plastics, plus ceramic coatings to better cope with day-to-day usage and dishwashing (higher usage frequency due to hybrid work patterns), and much more silicon rubber for food storage but also on utensils. Engineered materials are also replacing natural stone due to better chemical resistance, with marble and other worktops beginning to show harm from harsher COVID cleaning behaviours. Scope 3 actions in energy and shipping emerge.