Exquisite royal sofas, bedroom, dinning, modular kitchen sets have remained dominant in the thirst for luxury home furniture but multifunctional and ready-to-assemble (RTA) pieces of furniture will also be competing to expand its share of that demand in the next four years, Technavio, a market research firm reveals in a recent report.
The living room and bedroom furniture segment governed the home furniture segment last year, followed by the kitchen furniture category. However, the choice of variety among these segments significantly fell on multifunctional cabinets, indicating a growing wave of appetite for mixed comfort packaged in simple compartments.
“From 2019 to 2023, the market is expected to receive some traction from the demand for luxury furniture. In 2018, APAC, particularly countries such as China, India and Japan were the fastest-growing home furniture market,” the firm noted under segments of global home décor retail market of the report.
“Multifunctional furniture and ready-to-assemble furniture are among the most used variants of furniture in this segment.”
While sticking to the preference for tasteful and ingeniously crafted home designs, consumers are increasingly finding multipurpose pieces endearing on the one hand for their ability to adapt to different situations and on the other hand, the liberty it gives to home reconfigurations without needing an expansive space.
Convertible chair beds, for instance, are not only suitable for enjoying a restful time seating but also nice for a peaceful nap in a well-manicured garden around the home during weekends.
Multifunctional model such as Modos, a customizable modular shelving system of which the elements can be used to create a tabouret or standing desk are great for on-the-go occasions. Their larger sized elements allow users to create life size desks, tables, chairs and other items all without the use of tools.
Other furniture works like couch arm-rest table, chairs housing shelving system and book case that hides a whole dinning set are addressing simple yet sophisticated lifestyles and creating a viable market within the broader furniture market.
The trend opens opportunities for local players in home interior designs to grab early enough before the market is saturated by imports.
Local furniture landscape is still largely engrossed in a struggle to be at par with finished imported products, widening opportunities for suppliers to the industry. Furniture imports, clothing and accessory imports have continued to stay high at $250 million and $763.3 million per annum retrospectively, with $153.8 million worth of furniture imports from between 2014 and 2016 coming from China alone, according to International Trade Statistics and worldstopexports.com.
Temitayo Ayetoto
