Get the year off to a good start by following the trends for the furniture market in 2021.
It’s fair to say that this year has brought a number of upheavals in French people’s behavior. Social distancing, confinement, curfews and other non-essential store closures have prompted your customers to consume differently. As you know, many of them have turned to the online market. But that’s not the only shift in consumer behavior.
“Deprived of the opportunity to get out and about, and confined to the home while telecommuting, many French people have concentrated their spending on refurbishing their interiors. The decorating and furniture sectors are doing particularly well, especially those professionals who had a well-established presence on the Internet. Consumers are taking more time to look for decorating inspiration on the networks – and are also taking advantage of them to buy more and more – and prefer furniture that is customizable, made in France and sustainable.
Focus on trends for the furniture market in 2021 in 6 points.
Online sales soar with Covid-19
It’s no secret that online sales took off on an unprecedented scale during the confinement and in the months that followed. And it’s furnishings and home decoration that have come out on top, with a 13.7% increase in sales between August 2019 and 2020. Those who were already well established on the net, with an appropriate logistics structure and a well-established reputation, benefited greatly from this effect, which is unlikely to be short-lived.
Indeed, although online furniture sales will no doubt lose some of this “containment” effect, many customers will have experimented with online purchasing and will certainly derive a positive customer experience from it, prompting them to repeat their purchase or invite their acquaintances to do the same. In 2021, the furniture market will continue to expand online. A furniture brand can no longer be satisfied with a physical presence: being active on the web has become an obligation, whatever your core target.
Trends for the furniture market in 2021: new network markets
Being present on the Internet doesn’t necessarily mean joining a marketplace like Amazon, although this is becoming increasingly necessary if you don’t want to be left behind by the competition.
Social networks are becoming increasingly popular. For players in the furniture market in 2021, we advise you to make your brand shine on networks like Facebook but especially Pinterest and Instagram where you can broadcast attractive visuals of your furniture. These last two networks focus on photos: the more attractive they are, the more likely they are to be shared and your brand to go viral.
This strategy doesn’t stop at improving your brand awareness, since on Instagram, for example, you can now sell your products. Your posts, embellished with beautiful visuals, will be shared, attract traffic to your brand and web users will be able to place orders directly, without leaving the Instagram application. This has several advantages: web users feel confident buying from a well-known platform, but above all, you reach your prospects when they’re highly receptive: they log on to their Instagram when they’re looking for a moment of relaxation, and are therefore more receptive to your messages.
In 2021, consumers will rely more on visual search
Have you heard of search based on similar content on Pinterest? Starting with a photo you like, the app searches for visuals with the same attributes: a gray-colored chair, a parasol, a rattan living room, etc.
Introduced by Google Images, this functionality is becoming increasingly widespread. In 2021, it will become imperative for furniture market players to focus on producing quality visuals, showcasing their furniture in the most beautiful way. But in these times of health insecurity, producing photo shoots is no easy task. That’s why more and more professionals are turning to Le Studio 3D for highly realistic, atmospheric visuals. Thanks to the services of a 3D computer graphics artist specialized in furniture visuals, you can get your visuals without leaving your home office!
Furniture market in 2021: personalization sells!
Personalization is a key trend for the furniture market in 2021. Your prospects are increasingly looking for objects that can be personalized, that blend harmoniously into their interior, or that allow them to stand out from their friends.
If you make your own furniture, try to offer your customers as many customization options as possible: they’ll appreciate it! Allowing your customers to choose which shape of sofa or chair, which fabrics or colors, what level of comfort, will get them more involved in the decision-making process and encourage them to finalize their order.
Whether it’s for customizable sofas – allowing them to choose their fabric or the firmness of the seat – for mattresses – type of foam or firmness adapted to morphology – for bedding – different dimensions or choice of woodwork colors – or for extremely personalized furniture, your customers are undoubtedly looking for furniture that reflects their tastes and personalities.
Furniture market trends in 2021: go green made in France
This was confirmed in the last municipal elections, but also in their consumption patterns: the French are environmentally aware. The furniture market in 2021 will therefore continue a trend already observed in 2020: sustainability and made in France.
More and more consumers want to give meaning to their purchases. They understand that a piece of furniture made in China from Indonesian Teak, which has to travel halfway around the world to reach their home, is not very good for the planet. Consuming locally is all the rage, and it’s furniture manufacturers made in France who are benefiting.
Players in the furniture market in 2021 whose business model is based on import/export will have to adapt their communications, even if it means adding 100% French products to their catalogs. If your products aren’t French, you can always set your products in settings reminiscent of France, like this series of visuals created in the South of France.
Your competitors are already using 3D, so don’t get left behind!
In times of Covid, and even when this pandemic is behind us, using 3D to produce visuals has become a real trend in the furniture market in 2021. More and more of your competitors are using it, and not just the big names.
Many of you realize that it’s vital to showcase your products, but that the logistics involved are rather daunting. If indoor photo shoots are a pain, photographing outdoor furniture in the middle of winter for a summer catalog is a feat in itself.
However, the solution exists and is just a click away: 3D visual creation services allow you to place your furniture wherever you like. Do you want blue skies as far as the eye can see, or are you looking for a chalet in the mountains to enjoy the winter season? It’s all possible, without leaving your desk. It’s all done remotely, using simple photographs of your items.
