Top Ten Future Development Trends in the Building Materials Industry
Release Time:
2015-07-18
Source:
Top Ten Future Development Trends in the Building Materials Industry
Top Ten Future Development Trends in the Building Materials Industry
According to publicly available data, in 2013 the Chinese building materials and home furnishings industry reached a market size of RMB 3.72429 trillion. However, whether measured by scale, influence, or brand strength, the gap in brand positioning within the building materials and home furnishings distribution sector is steadily widening. The integration of new channels is injecting greater dynamism, while diverse personalized demands in the building materials and home furnishings sector continue to grow. and are increasing in number as well. Regarding the future development trends of the building materials industry, professionals have offered the following insights:
Trend 1: The scale of company-operated chains is shrinking, with brands increasingly moving toward greater concentration.
Over the past decade or so, consumers’ priorities have shifted from practicality and price to style, environmental sustainability, health, and fashion, while home-furnishings retailers have increasingly stringent quality requirements for the brands they carry.
Trend No. 2: The Post-1980s and Post-1990s generations have become the mainstream consumer group.
Currently, the post-1980s and post-1990s generations, who have entered the stage of starting families and building careers, are gradually integrating into society and emerging as its backbone, while also becoming the mainstream consumer group. Unlike the successful cohort born in the 1960s, who favor nostalgic classics, and the discerning cohort born in the 1970s, who prioritize simplicity and practicality, the post-1980s and post-1990s generations have their own Consumption attitudes and patterns. For post-1980s consumers, the primary considerations when making purchasing decisions are, in order: brand recognition, environmental friendliness, functional practicality, price, and style. The bottom line is precise marketing, market segmentation, and competing on product quality and service excellence.
Trend 3: Personalized Home Furnishings—Whole-Home Customization Emerges as the Dominant Development Trend
Currently, for consumers, custom whole-home solutions and integrated home decoration not only offer one-stop shopping but also optimize space utilization while delivering stylish, aesthetically pleasing results. Moreover, they can be seamlessly integrated with smart-home technology, catering to individualized preferences while saving time and simplifying the process. Most importantly, these solutions come with reliable after-sales service and support. 。
Trend Four: The advent of the low-carbon era makes the development direction of green and environmentally friendly building materials unshakable.
Green, eco-friendly, and healthy are key considerations for the new generation of consumers when purchasing furniture and building materials. The green and environmentally friendly philosophy has evolved from focusing solely on the product itself to encompassing the entire lifecycle—green design, green materials, green manufacturing, green packaging, and green recycling—while fully taking into account ecological harmony and the natural balance between humans and nature. health and sustainable development. The low-carbon era, the green era, and the era of resource conservation have become synonymous with the new consumption era, with water-saving, energy-saving, electricity-saving, low-carbon, and health-conscious products—embodying natural, eco-friendly, and fashionable values—enjoying growing consumer appeal.
Trend 5: Home integration is the overarching trend, and the O2O model is gaining popularity in the market.
The O2O model—combining offline experience and delivery with online transactions—is the most widely favored operating model in the home furnishings and building materials industry. In this model, online platforms facilitate the completion of transactions, while offline logistics, experiential services, and product delivery take place; consumers then return to the online space to leave reviews and share their experiences, thereby closing the loop. This approach has already been proven effective through real-world application and holds enormous potential.
Trend Six: A Shift in the Focus of the Home Furnishings and Building Materials Industry—Bringing Building Materials to Rural Areas
As early as 2012, the Chinese government introduced farmer-benefiting policies such as “furniture to the countryside” and “building materials to the countryside.” Going forward, the vast second- and third-tier markets will become a key battleground for mid- and low-end brands.
Trend 7: Promotional activities at home-furnishing malls will increasingly adopt a branded approach.
Trend 8: Optimization of the home furnishings and building materials industry chain, with a clear trend toward integrated R&D, production, and sales.
Trend 9: A high-quality customer experience remains paramount.
In the future business landscape, it is ultimately the product that determines a company’s value, and user experience is what defines that product’s value.
Trend 10: Smart homes in the cloud era—enjoying a cloud-powered lifestyle
“High-tech” and “intelligent”—these terms, which encapsulate the latest technological advancements, are now frequently associated with home furnishings and building materials.
