Furniture Retailing - France - July 2008

Furniture Retailing - France - July 2008

About this report

This report series covers the five leading economies of Western Europe. The furniture sector is a difficult one to analyse, mainly due to the fact that even these large economies still have very fragmented markets. Smaller specialist players still have an important role to play and make up more than 50% of the furniture sector in the markets we have covered. Furniture is a difficult sector in which to build up significant economies of scale (without going down the IKEA flat pack route), a fact that has protected the independents. However, the arrival of non-specialists and the impact of the successful chains is sure to lead to a greater degree of consolidation in the future.

We have provided profiles of the largest furniture chains in Europe. Smaller profiles have also been provided on other significant players involved in these five markets.

The subject of this report is furniture retailing, however due to the increasing convergence of furniture with other complementary sectors such as electricals and DIY, there are very few large players that now focus on the provision of furniture alone. We have provided information on players that achieve the majority of their turnover from the sale of furniture, so mixed goods retailers such as the grocers or department stores are referred to but no firm coverage is provided of them.

While our spending figures refer to all spending on furniture, retail sales figures are more difficult to separate. In France for example, the retail sales figure for furniture retailers’ sales is actually higher than consumer spending in the sector. This can be attributed to the aforementioned sector blending that is seeing more and more furniture specialists expanding their offer into related fields.

The furniture sector is facing major challenges:

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Softer housing market in many countries is reducing the desire to invest in the home and add value.
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Economic issues are undermining consumer confidence leading to greater reluctance regarding the purchase of big-ticket furniture items.
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Specialists are facing greater competition from department stores, grocers and even some clothing retailers.

If you want more details about this particular report, please contact the Mintel information team on +1 312-932-0400 in the U.S., +44 028-90-241-849 in Northern Ireland, +353 048-90-241-849 in the Republic of Ireland or +44 (0)20-7606-6000 in the UK and the rest of the world, or email info@mintel.com.

Contents

Market in Brief
The future
Market size and performance
The competitive landscape
Report Scope
Technical notes
Financial definitions
Currencies
VAT
Figure 1: Europe: Standard VAT rates, 2007/08
Other abbreviations
Broader Market Environment
Positive factors
Negative factors
Gradual population growth
Figure 2: France: Population trends, 2003-08
Figure 3: France: Population projections, by age group, 2005-45
Figure 4: France: Household size projections, 2005-30
Economy
GDP – recent improvement
Figure 5: France: Gross domestic product, 1996-2007
Cautious consumer
Figure 6: France: Household consumer expenditure, 1995-2007
Low inflation
Figure 7: France: Consumer prices, 2002-07
The Market in Context
Key findings
Furniture holding its own
Figure 8: France: Consumer spending on selected categories of goods, 2003-07
Channels of Distribution
Sector Size and Forecast
Key findings
Economic outlook
Retail prospects
Figure 9: France: Retail sales, 2003-12
Recent trends in French furniture retail
Enterprise data
Figure 10: France: Furniture retailers, enterprise numbers, 2001-05
Consumer Trends
Marketing opportunities
Figure 11: Change in agreement with lifestyle statements relating to the home in France, 2003-07
Figure 12: Agreement with lifestyle statements relating to the home in France, 2003, 2005 and 2007
Retail Competitor Analysis
Key findings
Complementary sectors increasingly consolidating
Conforama leading the way
IKEA aims high
BUT under new management
Mobilier Européen on the expansion trail
Camif focuses on the consumer
Open Sesame
Merkameuble comes to France
Figure 13: France: Leading players in the furniture sector, 2007
Market shares and evaluation
Figure 14: France: Leading furniture specialists’ market shares, 2007
BUT International
Figure 15: BUT: Sales as share of Furniture retailers in France, 2003-07
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 16: BUT: Group financial performance, 2003/04-2007/08
Store portfolio
Figure 17: BUT: Outlet data, 2003/04-2007/08
Figure 18: BUT: Sales area per outlet (m²), 2007
Retail offering
Market positioning
Product offer
Pricing
Advertising and marketing
e-commerce and home shopping
Conforama (PPR)
Figure 19: Conforama: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Europe, 2003-07
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 20: Conforama: Group financial performance, 2003-07
Figure 21: Conforama: Breakdown of sales by geographical area, 2003-07
France
Figure 22: Conforama France: Share of spending on furniture, 2003-07
Figure 23: Conforama France: Share of spending on electricals goods, 2003-07
Italy
Competitive environment
Store portfolio
Figure 25: Conforama: Outlet data, 2003-07
Figure 26: Conforama: Outlet data, 2003-07
Figure 27: Conforama: Sales area, 2003-07
Retail offering
Figure 28: Conforama: Breakdown of revenue by product category, 2003-07
E-commerce
Habitat
Figure 29: Habitat: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Europe, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 30: Habitat UK: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in UK, 2002/03-2006/07
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 31: Habitat: Group financial performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Store portfolio
Figure 32: Habitat: Company-owned outlet numbers, 2008
Figure 33: Habitat: Outlet data, 2002/03-2006/07
Retail offering
Market positioning
Brands
Product offer
Pricing
Advertising and marketing
e-commerce and home shopping
Ikea
Figure 34: IKEA Europe: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Europe, 2003-07
Background
Strategic evaluation
Financial performance
Figure 35: IKEA: Group financial performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 36: IKEA: Largest markets, 2006/07
Figure 37: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in France, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 38: IKEA France: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 39: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Germany, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 40: IKEA Germany: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 41: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Sweden, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 42: IKEA Sweden: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 43: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in UK, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 44: IKEA UK: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Store portfolio
Figure 45: IKEA: Number of stores per country, 2006/07
Figure 46: IKEA: Outlet data, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 47: IKEA: Planned openings, year ending August 2008
Retail offering
Retail offer
Market positioning
Pricing
Operational issues
Figure 48: IKEA: Purchasing by region, 2007
Advertising
Brand and loyalty card
e-commerce
Figure 49: IKEA: Websites
Mobilier Européen
Figure 50: Mobilier Européen: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in France, 2003-07
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 51: Mobilier Européen: Group financial performance, 2003-07
Figure 52: Mobilier Européen: Sales by fascia, 2006-07
Store portfolio
Figure 53: Mobilier Européen: Outlet data, 2003-07
Figure 54: Mobilier Européen: Outlet data by fascia, 2007
Figure 55: Mobilier Européen: Store sizes by fascia, 2007
Retail offering
Nobia
Figure 56: Nobia: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Europe, 2003-07
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 57: Nobia: Group financial performance, 2003-07
Figure 58: Nobia (UK): Sales by business unit, 2007
The Nordic region
Figure 59: Nobia (Nordic): Sales by business unit, 2007
Figure 60: Nobia (Continental Europe): Sales by business unit, 2007
Store portfolio
Figure 61: Nobia: Outlet data, 2003-07
Retail offering
Market positioning
Figure 62: Nobia: Main businesses’ market positioning, 2008
Brands
Product offer
Figure 63: Nobia (UK, Nordic, Continental Europe): Sales mix, 2007
Pricing
Competition
e-commerce
Tapis Saint Maclou
Background
Financial performance
Figure 64: Tapis Saint Maclou: Group financial performance, 2003-07
Figure 65: Tapis Saint Maclou: Geographical breakdown of sales (estimated), 2007
Allied Carpet Group
Figure 66: Allied Carpets: Sales as share of carpet retailers’ sales in the UK, 2003-07
Store portfolio
Figure 67: Tapis Saint Maclou: Outlet data, 2003-07
Figure 68: Tapis Saint Maclou: Outlet data, 2007
Figure 69: Tapis Saint Maclou: Fascias by country, 2007
Retail offering