Furniture Research - Help!

[cowfoot]

Morning all,

I’m doing a bit of research into the furniture industry so have put together a quick survey -
http://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/8AQ0O/
I’ve just got back from collaring random strangers...who knew that you could begin to sympathise with chuggers!
Anyway, very grateful to anyone who clicks, and if anyone here is interested in the results let me know (so far it turns out that IKEA sell lots of furniture...but hopefully there’s still some other interesting information).

Cheers, Finn

 

[AndyT]

If you want to get any replies at all, I suggest you set out clearly who is paying for the survey, how the results will be used, who will have access to them and how you will safeguard the personal data you are asking for.

 

[cowfoot]

Nobody is paying for it and I’m not selling it to anyone.
I’ll be using the results as part of my personal research for a business plan.
It’s an anonymous survey - by anonymous I mean NO other information than that offered by the respondent is recorded - no IP address, no geographic location.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

You're asking the wrong people. One thing I've noticed about this forum is that the membership is mostly male. Domestic furnishing decisions are pretty much the exclusive preserve of the female of the species. Us fellas just agree, If We Know What's Good For Us.

On a more positive note, how about some background research into the economics of the furniture sector. Compare the annual turnover of IKEA, Ercol and a bespoke cabinetmaker. That's your answer, right there. I suspect a more thorough, careful search of published financial data (annual returns to Companies' House, etc) will confirm that. There may be a niche here and there, but that's the main structure of the sector.

 

[cowfoot]

I can adjust for gender once the results are in!
Off to the British Library IP & Business Centre tomorrow to begin the market research - they can access all the hugely expensive reports that aren’t usually available to us lesser mortals.
Thanks for the advice though.

 

[AndyT]

If that includes the FIRA reports, I expect it will be a lot more use.

 

[cowfoot]

I’ve been running the survey for a few days and some useful stuff has turned up already - more people than I expected across all income groups have paid for fitted/bespoke furniture, for example...or that lots of people have a favourite antique but next to nobody actually buys them!

 

[custard]

You're asking the wrong people. One thing I've noticed about this forum is that the membership is mostly male. Domestic furnishing decisions are pretty much the exclusive preserve of the female of the species

Might be true at Ikea, but when it comes to premium priced custom furniture I find husbands are often the decision makers. They're generally the ones who get besotted with exceptional timbers and tend to value the constructional details of hand crafted work.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

You're asking the wrong people. One thing I've noticed about this forum is that the membership is mostly male. Domestic furnishing decisions are pretty much the exclusive preserve of the female of the species

Might be true at Ikea, but when it comes to premium priced custom furniture I find husbands are often the decision makers. They're generally the ones who get besotted with exceptional timbers and tend to value the constructional details of hand crafted work.

Sure, but without trying to be rude, when the combined turnover of all the bespoke cabinetmakers in the country rivals that of IKEA, it'll be economically significant. Until then, not so much.

Also - who gave him permission to engage a bespoke cabinetmaker in the first place?

 

[cowfoot]

I’ve received some pretty detailed replies from high-earning males, who tend to buy top end (no surprise) and value materials alongside design (this is unusual - materials aren’t deemed important by most).

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I’ve been running the survey for a few days and some useful stuff has turned up already - more people than I expected across all income groups have paid for fitted/bespoke furniture, for example...or that lots of people have a favourite antique but next to nobody actually buys them!

Fitted bedroom furniture seems to be pretty much the norm, these days. It's the only way to get a lot of storage space in a modern small-sized bedroom. Quality varies between abysmal and pretty damn good, but it's all 'fitted'.

 

[cowfoot]

True, and I suspect (although I’m trying my hardest not to make too many assumptions at this stage!) that fitted furniture is one area where the independent/small maker can actually compete.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

I think that's right. There are a quite a few of the 'pro' members here engaged in 'fitted' work, mainly bedrooms and kitchens, but bathrooms and alcove storage crops up too.

 

[whiskywill]

Sure, but without trying to be rude, when the combined turnover of all the bespoke cabinetmakers in the country rivals that of IKEA quote]

How can you compare IKEA's turnover with that of a bespoke cabinet maker when IKEA sells a lot more than just furniture? The comparison would mean very little unless you can filter out the non furniture bits that IKEA sells.

 

[Cheshirechappie]

Sure, but without trying to be rude, when the combined turnover of all the bespoke cabinetmakers in the country rivals that of IKEA quote]

How can you compare IKEA's turnover with that of a bespoke cabinet maker when IKEA sells a lot more than just furniture? The comparison would mean very little unless you can filter out the non furniture bits that IKEA sells.

There are many bespoke cabinetmakers that sell more than just furniture, as well - training courses, for example.

The point is that the economic scale of of one type of furniture supply somewhat exceeds another. My original point was not just limited to mass market vs. bespoke, but included quality mid-market as well. I'm sure a more sophisticated analysis could include far more categories, but I'll bet a pound to a pinch of shale that the conclusion would be pretty much the same - mass market exceeds high-end bespoke and mid-market quality by a large margin. Always has. Probably always will.

That doesn't mean there isn't a niche for the enterprising businessman to exploit, though. Fitted furniture is one such, and quite a few enterprising businessmen make a living exploiting it. I'm sure there are other niches, too, for someone prepared to work hard and take a bit of a risk.

 

[Jacob]

Presumably by "design" you mean style or something. For me 'functionality' and 'design' are just about the same thing.
You get a similar distinction in many areas e.g. web "design" for beginners means how it looks, for more advanced users it means how it works and is put together. They can be completely unrelated; zero visual design but excellent functionality, and vice versa.

 

[bugbear]

I’ve received some pretty detailed replies from high-earning males, who tend to buy top end (no surprise) and value materials alongside design (this is unusual - materials aren’t deemed important by most).

What?! You've obviously never heard people discussing kitchen surfaces (marble, granite etc) or which wood flooring to have!

BugBear

 

[cowfoot]

Unusual in the context of my survey results so far - materials being comfortably the last consideration when buying furniture.
I’d go so far as to posit that, coupled with the ubiquity of IKEA, the vast majority of people couldn’t care less.
Working out who does care and how much they’ll pay is another matter, however.

 

[Jacob]

There is a much more effective form of market research than this.
Basically set about making or buying stuff you want to sell, and have a go at selling it.
Whatever it is, if it's any good, it's a marketing exercise. That is the biggest hurdle, everything else pales into insignificance. With good marketing you can sell almost anything

Frinstance - I used to buy a lot of turned wooden balls for toy making. Market research like this survey would tell you that nobody would want to buy them. So what? The person I bought from was making a tidy living. Luckily he had never made the mistake of market researching beforehand!

 

[cowfoot]

Hi Joseph - you’ll be delighted to know that your “just make stuff then flog it” philosophy is currently having a bit of a moment...except it goes by the name of “minimum viable product”!