Furniture Retailing - Germany - July 2008

Furniture Retailing - Germany - 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:

*

Softer housing market in many countries is reducing the desire to invest in the home and add value.
*

Economic issues are undermining consumer confidence leading to greater reluctance regarding the purchase of big-ticket furniture items.
*

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
Fitful recovery
Gloomy outlook
Little enthusiasm for the home
The big get bigger
Fragmented market
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
Population
Figure 2: Germany: Population trends, 2002-07
Figure 3: Germany: Population, by age group, 2006, 2010 and 2015
Economic recovery
Figure 4: Germany: Gross domestic product, 1996-2007
Inflation in check
Figure 5: Germany: Consumer prices, 1999-2007
The Market in Context
Minimal spending growth
Figure 6: Germany: Consumer expenditure, 1997-2007
Figure 7: Germany: Consumer spending on selected categories, 2003-07
Figure 8: Germany: Spending on furniture as % all retail sales, 2003-07
Housing
Depressed market with little chance of raising prices
Figure 9: Germany: Consumer prices, change in furniture and carpets, 1998-2007
Channels of Distribution
Figure 10: Furniture and carpets: Estimated channels of distribution, 2007
Sector Size and Forecast
Key findings
Retail sales
Figure 11: Germany: Furniture retailers sales, 2003-12
Enterprise and outlet data
Figure 12: Germany: Furniture specialists outlet data, 2002-06
Consumer Trends
Figure 13: Agreement with lifestyle statements relating to the home in Germany, 2003, 2005 and 2007
Figure 14: German attitudes to the home relative to France, Spain and UK, 2003, 2005 and 2007
Retail Competitor Analysis
Key findings
Leading players
Figure 15: Germany: Leading furniture retailers, 2007
Market shares
Figure 16: Germany: Leading furniture retailers market shares, 2007
Höffner/Möbel Kraft/Sconto
Figure 17: Höffner/Möbel Kraft/Sconto: Sales as share of furniture retailers sales’ in Germany, 2003-07
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 18: Höffner/Möbel Kraft/Sconto: Estimated sales performance, 2003-07
Store portfolio
Retail offering
Market positioning
Product offer
Brands
Prices
Customer service
e-commerce
Ikea
Figure 19: IKEA Europe: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Europe, 2003-07
Background
Strategic evaluation
Financial performance
Figure 20: IKEA: Group financial performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 21: IKEA: Largest markets, 2006/07
Figure 22: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in France, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 23: IKEA France: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 24: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Germany, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 25: IKEA Germany: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 26: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Sweden, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 27: IKEA Sweden: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 28: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in UK, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 29: IKEA UK: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Store portfolio
Figure 30: IKEA: Number of stores per country, 2006/07
Figure 31: IKEA: Outlet data, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 32: IKEA: Planned openings, year ending August 2008
Retail offering
Retail offer
Market positioning
Pricing
Operational issues
Figure 33: IKEA: Purchasing by region, 2007
Advertising
Brand and loyalty card
e-commerce
Figure 34: IKEA: Websites
Jysk
Figure 35: Jysk (Europe): Sales as share of furniture retailers in Europe, 2003-07
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 36: Jysk: Group financial performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 37: Jysk: Share of furniture retailers’ sales in Denmark, 2002/03-2006/07
Store portfolio
Figure 38: Jysk: Outlet data, 2002/03-2006/07
Retail offering
Market positioning
Brands
Product offer
e-commerce and home shopping
Porta
Background
Financial performance
Store portfolio
Retail offering
e-commerce and home shopping
Roller
Background
Financial performance
Store portfolio
Figure 39: Roller: Outlet data, 2003-07
Retail offering
e-commerce and home shopping
Segmüller
Background
Financial performance
Store portfolio
Figure 40: Segmüller: Outlet data, 2003-07
Retail offering
e-commerce and home shopping
XXXLutz
Figure 41: XXXLutz: Sales as share of Furniture retailers sales in Germany and Austria, 2002-06
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 42: XXXLutz: Group financial performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 43: XXXLutz (Germany): Sales as share of furniture retailers in Germany, 2003-06
Figure 44: XXXLutz (Austria): Sales as share of furniture retailers in Austria, 2003-06
Store portfolio
Figure 45: XXXLutz group: Outlets, 2008
Figure 46: XXXLutz: Outlet data, 2003-07
Retail offering
Market positioning
Product offer
e-commerce