Research trip identifies marketing opportunities for furniture in China
Published by Communications and Development
11 November 2009
A UC master’s student has identified an increasing demand for DIY furniture among the emerging middle class in China.
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Wendy Xian. |
Wendy Xian has recently returned from a 10-day study tour to China as part of her research for her Master of Forestry Science degree.
With home ownership in China increasing by 30 per cent a year, the demand for interior home furnishings is also increasing, especially for wood products such as flooring, mouldings, interior doors and staircases.
Wendy said the housing boom was creating flow-on opportunities for furniture makers.
“In many Western countries, do-it-yourself furniture is quite popular because of its lower price and some consumers actually enjoy assembling the furniture or decorating the house by themselves. However, in mainstream Chinese culture, self-service is something that only the most discount-minded Chinese will accept,” said Wendy.
“Chinese consumers are more likely to ask for assembly services from the retailer or other professional workers.
Therefore, the do-it-yourself furniture in China is more like do-it-for-us furniture.”
Wendy said that China’s special cultural and economic environment had created a new type of DIY market.
“How to deal with them and achieve a competitive advantage over rivals is the main challenge for both domestic and foreign furniture companies and retailers.”
Wendy has identified key strategies which could be successfully used by companies wanting to break into the Chinese DIY market: product branding, price strategy, design strategy and customer service strategy.
“In addition, building interior decoration teams can also be seen as a helpful strategy based on the particulars of the Chinese situation.”
During her visit to China, Wendy held talks with the Shanghai and Beijing furniture associations.
“I also visited several big furniture markets to see what kind of furniture design and price may attract Chinese customers.”
She said the next step would be to focus on beech timber to see if products would be accepted by the Chinese furniture market.
Wendy’s trip to China was funded by UC’s School of Forestry and a Sustainable Farming Fund project devoted to expanding the viability of the beech industry co-sponsored by the SILNA group and the Indigenous Forestry Section of the Farm Foresters.
Wendy’s supervisor, Adjunct Professor Robert Donnelly, said China was attracting great interest from the wood products industry with the major British DIY group, B&Q, already having more than 500 factories in China.
“Development economists have also postulated that a developing world consortium of BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) operating outside of the G7 would lead the way for economic development in the Third World over the next 25-35 years, supplying resources and low-cost production.
“Our interest has been for the southern beech industry, a resource ranking among some of the best quality woods of the world,” Professor Donnelly said.
“Wooden furniture, as in New Zealand and other global markets, is selling at a significant discount. But higher quality items retain value, as homeowners buy to show off their affluence.
“Wendy’s fine research paper outlines the growing demand for higher quality wooden furniture which could benefit New Zealand at the upper end of the quality spectrum.”
For further information please contact:
Jeanette Colman
Communications Manager
University of Canterbury
Ph (03) 364 2260 or 027 233 0974
jeanette.colman@canterbury.ac.nz