Furniture Industry Outlook 2016

The potential of the furniture industry in Romania is impressive, it can be seen and it is easy to see. But to have a business in this industry, it is not enough just to make furniture. Success also comes if you have a good product and if you have a market to sell it to and if the market knows that you exist, but also if you have information that helps you to position yourself correctly in the market and act in relation to it. An analysis of the furniture industry with figures, names, forecasts, local and global market issues is Furniture Industry Outlook 2016 by Financial Trends.

Alexandru Bratosin - CEO of Financial Trends - assures us that this is a valuable report containing real and factual information. A new and interesting publication, we asked him a few questions:

RdL- What is Financial Trends?

A.B.-Financial Trends is a company that provides industry statistics, analysis and trends, being the first company in Romania to exclusively analyze the furniture industry in the country. The information from our research and analysis helps companies to develop their expansion strategies in the coming years, to base their decisions on industry trends and to know their position in relation to the industry and the competition. In short, working with Financial Trends saves you time and effort and gives you the information you need to better understand your industry, the factors influencing the industry and how you can gain a strong competitive advantage in the industry.

RdL- We also noticed on financialtrends.ro that the main product promoted is the furniture industry outlook. Is this the first analysis of a Romanian industry made by Financial Trends or have there been others? If it is the first, why did you choose the furniture industry? Why not another?

A.B.-"Industry Outlook 2016. Furniture Industry" is the first analysis on the Romanian furniture industry exclusively by Financial Trends. We have chosen to analyse the furniture industry from 3 perspectives:
a. We chose to look at this industry first because it has a long history of transforming a simple piece of wood into what the customer wants for their home, or to give them the comfort and peace of mind they need.
b. From a statistical and economic perspective, it is one of the only remaining manufacturing industries in Romania and one of the industries that brings positive results to the country's economy, as exports exceed imports.
c. The latter perspective emerged from discussions with entrepreneurs who own large companies or SMEs in the furniture industry. Immediately after the first discussions we realised that in the current context the only thing they lack in order to increase their market share is the lack of structured information about market history, cause-effect links, in-depth industry analysis to establish new markets and expectations about market evolution. Thus, the need of the market led to the creation of such a report to support the Romanian brand both at home and abroad.

Rdl- What did you want to achieve with this analysis? What was the Financial Trends target?

A.B.-The purpose of this analysis is to help any furniture manufacturer make strategic decisions based on industry trends. Through the analysis "Industry Outlook 2016. Furniture Industry" we want to bring the furniture industry as close as possible to furniture manufacturers at all levels, to show them how the industry looks outside their company and how you can plan the next steps by detaching yourself in the decision making process from current issues such as paying supplier invoices, receivables, order fulfilment etc. The information in this report will help build an identity of the Romanian furniture sector in the world, giving entrepreneurs the framework to act at the right time and in the right place.

RdL- How interested has the market been, in the time since launch, in this product?

A.B.-The market reacted positively when it found out about this industry analysis. Today our customers, due to the quality of the information provided, have asked us to translate the analysis into other languages in order to send it on to the parent company they represent. From this point of view we believe that the market is interested in this analysis and it is important for us to reach furniture manufacturers with this information and for them to know that such an analysis exists in Romania.

RdL- How do you see the Romanian furniture industry after this analysis?

A.B.- Following this analysis, the industry in Romania is similar to the European industry in terms of structure. In short, the number of large, medium-sized, small and micro-enterprises out of the total number of active companies is approximately the same in Romania as in Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. Market segmentation is similar across the European Union in terms of revenue, number of employees and profit.

RdL- What do you think will be the challenges in the coming years? What will the global market look like? Where are we heading?

A.B.-From our point of view, the furniture industry will change in the coming years due to technological advances. There will remain players in the market who can afford to invest in production plants, new production technology, information to know the trend of the industry in order to keep abreast of every change in the industry and keep pace with the global changes. The evolution of the industry will lead to automation and mass production of products with a wide range of designs. This context will lead to the elimination of small companies producing custom-made furniture because they will not be able to afford to produce large quantities due to lack of investment and will remain increasingly isolated until they disappear. This trend is emerging in other furniture-producing countries, and small manufacturers are starting to exit the market or specialise in producing a single item to supply to a larger player, and under contract with the larger player to invest in the production line to meet demand.
The global market will grow in the coming years being influenced by several factors of which I will highlight only 4 as follows:
1) Growth in per capita income (GDP/capita) which is expected to increase both in the country and globally. The estimated increase in Romania's GDP/capita is 33.69% over the period 2016 -2020, which means that if the share of household expenditure on furniture remains at the same level as in the last 7 years, the amount spent by the population will increase.
2) Increase in the number of people living in urban areas. By 2030, the number of urban dwellers globally is expected to increase from 54% today to 66%, which will lead to higher living standards, higher incomes and an increased need for comfort that will lead to investment in housing.
3) Housing growth over the next 20 years will increase consumer need for new furniture.
4) The increase in the number of office space built, based on the migration of the rural population to urban areas, will lead to an increase in the market for office space development.

RdL- Why buy this analysis of the furniture industry?

A.B.-In such a competitive market influenced by external investors, Romanian furniture manufacturers are obliged to strengthen their position on the market by all possible means. "Information is power" sounded like a cliché not long ago; today it is a reality. Entrepreneurs who have the maturity and vision to know their market, to know their competitors, to discover competitive advantages from analysis and different sources of information will be the only ones who will stay in the market.
The quality of the information provided by Financial Trends is based on a direct and honest approach with clients, our analysts are independent and the analysis process is based on quality information received from national, European and global sources. I urge any entrepreneur in the furniture industry to have the maturity to be informed about the market in which they operate. Information about Outlook can be found here.