Furniture Retailing - Italy - July 2008

Furniture Retailing - Italy - 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
Population – growing but greying
Figure 2: Italy: Population trends, 2002-06
Figure 3: Italy: Population by age, 2007
Households getting smaller – slowly
Figure 4: Italy: Proportion of households by number of members, 1998 and 2000-03
Economy
GDP – a short-lived upswing
Figure 5: Italy: GDP, 1996-2007
Subdued outlook for consumer spending
Figure 6: Italy: Consumer spending, 1996-2007
Inflation on the up
Figure 7: Italy: Consumer price inflation, 2000-07
The Market in Context
Key findings
Weak furniture driven by rising prices
Figure 8: Italy: Consumer expenditure on furniture, 2003-07
Channels of Distribution
Sector Size and Forecast
Key findings
Economic outlook
Retailers’ prospects
Figure 9: Italy: Retail sales, 2003-12
Recent trends in Italian furniture retail
Enterprise data
Figure 10: Italy: Furniture retailers, enterprise numbers, 2001-05
Retail Competitor Analysis
Key findings
Leading players
IKEA continues to steam ahead
Mercatone Uno expands with new banners
Conforama struggling
Mondo Convenienza – a rising star?
Smaller players have ambitious plans
Figure 11: Italy: Leading players in the furniture sector, 2007
Market shares and evaluation
Figure 12: Italy: Leading furniture specialists’ market shares, 2007
Conforama (PPR)
Figure 13: Conforama: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Europe, 2003-07
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 14: Conforama: Group financial performance, 2003-07
Figure 15: Conforama: Breakdown of sales by geographical area, 2003-07
France
Figure 16: Conforama France: Share of spending on furniture, 2003-07
Figure 17: Conforama France: Share of spending on electricals goods, 2003-07
Italy
Figure 18: Conforama: Sales as share of furniture and home appliance retailers’ sales in Italy, 2003-07
Competitive environment
Store portfolio
Figure 19: Conforama: Outlet data, 2003-07
Figure 20: Conforama: Outlet data, 2003-07
Figure 21: Conforama: Sales area, 2003-07
Retail offering
Figure 22: Conforama: Breakdown of revenue by product category, 2003-07
E-commerce
Ikea
Figure 23: IKEA Europe: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Europe, 2003-07
Background
Strategic evaluation
Financial performance
Figure 24: IKEA: Group financial performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 25: IKEA: Largest markets, 2006/07
Figure 26: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in France, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 27: IKEA France: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 28: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Germany, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 29: IKEA Germany: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 30: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in Sweden, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 31: IKEA Sweden: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 32: IKEA: Sales as share of furniture retailers’ sales in UK, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 33: IKEA UK: Performance, 2002/03-2006/07
Store portfolio
Figure 34: IKEA: Number of stores per country, 2006/07
Figure 35: IKEA: Outlet data, 2002/03-2006/07
Figure 36: IKEA: Planned openings, year ending August 2008
Retail offering
Retail offer
Market positioning
Pricing
Operational issues
Figure 37: IKEA: Purchasing by region, 2007
Advertising
Brand and loyalty card
e-commerce
Figure 38: IKEA: Websites
Mercatone Uno
Figure 39: Mercatone Uno: Sales as share of Furniture retailers’ sales in Italy, 2003-07
Strategic evaluation
Background
Financial performance
Figure 40: Mercatone Uno: Group financial performance, 2003-07
Store portfolio
Figure 41: Mercatone Uno: Outlet data, 2003-07
Retail offering
Market positioning
Brands
Product offer
Pricing
Advertising and marketing
e-commerce and home shopping