2017-11-16
The carpet market may recover in the second half of the year
In the first half of 2012, many large home furnishing malls in China, such as Red Star Macalline, Yuexing, and Juran Home, experienced a significant decrease in customer traffic. At the same time, real estate control policies remained unchanged, limiting the volume of the housing market, and consumers adopted a wait-and-see attitude, with purchasing enthusiasm reaching a freezing point. According to feedback from the furniture industry, sales performance in the first half of the year generally declined, with some companies experiencing a year-on-year decrease of more than 50%. The situation in the soft furnishing industry was even more severe. An entrepreneur in the sofa industry stated: "Since the factory opened, it has never been as difficult as this year; getting a single order this year feels like celebrating the New Year." In Shunde, a major furniture center, many companies faced similar circumstances. The furniture market is a "barometer" for the carpet industry; the sluggish furniture market led to a similarly weak carpet market. The carpet industry market cooled down. Sun Zhijiao, marketing director of Federal·Boda Carpet, told the author that in the first half of the year, many carpet companies' sales performance was flat compared to the same period last year, with some experiencing a decline. Although Federal·Boda Carpet's performance increased year-on-year, the situation in the carpet industry this year is indeed severe. This year, more carpet companies have requested marketing cooperation with Federal·Boda, including some large brands, indicating that the carpet market is not optimistic. Yang, manager of a carpet distributor at Guangdong Lecong International Furniture City, also stated: "Sales have dropped significantly this year. In the first six months, four months' revenue was not enough to cover store rent, employee salaries, and other costs, resulting in serious losses. We are considering whether to continue." Faced with difficulties, many carpet companies have had to sell to protect their brands and survival. They stated that this approach is mainly to avoid disappointing existing customers and to maintain hope for the future market, enduring temporary losses to achieve long-term development. How the carpet industry can break through the predicament during the economic downturn and find new development opportunities is a question that carpet companies urgently need to consider. Rigid demand leads to market recovery. Currently, the economic environment is sluggish, but market demand still exists. With the advancement of urbanization, the influx of rural residents into cities has increased the purchasing power of the real estate industry. It is understood that real estate control policies have had a certain inhibitory effect on housing prices in Tier 1 and Tier 2 economically developed cities. However, the impact on real estate in county-level cities is not significant; housing prices have not only not fallen but have even risen slightly. With the development of Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities, residents have a certain level of consumption capacity, so the rigid demand for housing in these cities will inevitably drive the vigorous development of the pan-home furnishing industry. Sun Zhijiao believes that rigid demand will inevitably lead to market recovery, and the second half of the year will be a turning point. In the face of the consumption characteristics of Tier 3 and Tier 4 cities, cost-effective carpet products are more popular. Combining local climate and geographical conditions, producing targeted and characteristic products is believed to be a new direction for the development of the carpet industry. Consumer concepts and the market. For a long time, in the minds of domestic consumers, soft furnishing products are only auxiliary products for decoration, optional rather than essential. Carpets, in the eyes of many consumers, are luxury goods, and many consumers have not included carpets in their home decoration purchase list. However, with the post-80s generation becoming the main consumer group, "emphasizing soft furnishings and downplaying hard furnishings" has become a new trend in home decoration. With the improvement of people's quality of life and taste, consumers are increasingly pursuing the comfort, warmth, and fashion sense of "home," and carpets are a symbol of taste and culture, which coincides with consumers' psychological needs. In this era of pursuing individuality, consumers pay more attention to the selection of soft furnishing products. Xiao Yao, a home decoration designer, told the author: "A client once visited several shopping malls to find a satisfactory carpet." The second half of the year is the peak season for consumption. The pan-home furnishing industry has always had a distinction between the off-season and the peak season, with the off-season generally in the first half of the year and the peak season in the second half. September and October are the peak consumption periods of each year, known as "golden September and silver October." During the off-season, companies mainly conduct product research and development and strengthen various systems. When the peak season arrives, they concentrate their efforts on marketing, promoting new products, and striving for sales performance. Therefore, the second half of each year is the key period for the development of enterprises. There is also a saying: For consumers, they earn money in the first half of the year and spend it in the second half. Years of consumption habits have led most people to choose to buy houses, get married, and shop in the second half of the year. These habits have also contributed to the booming market in the second half of the year. In the second half of the year, the carpet market is expected to recover, and carpet companies should seize this market demand.
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