Tired of looking for the old curtains or that couch downstairs?Do you need to make greater use of the area of the house since it is no longer only where you live but also your office?It turns out that’s what many Germans have been feeling since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, especially since the developing warnings are preventing many Germans from taking their beloved holidays this year.
For months with nothing else to do, millions of people have continued to clean and throw away old things.Now, still stuck in their own homes with all that extra money in their pockets, they went to buy food to decorate new things.with the value-added tax of 16% of 19% in Germany until the end of the year, they are now buying expensive parts to save an additional 3%.
Holzconnection, a Berlin specialist in traditional cabinets, shelves, tables and other wooden furniture, is busier than ever.Its 12 exhibition halls Germany not only passed the first six months of 2020, but entered the virtual era with the help of the head of the company.Denys Nagel.
During the blocking of the coronaviruses, the company was able to keep its production plant open, as it manufactures its own furniture in Poland; In addition, your plan development branch may remain open.
Denys Nagel, head of Holzconnection
And while the company’s showrooms had to close the public, they temporarily strengthened their functions to “find” themselves and interact practically with consumers.In less than two weeks, home vendors had the generation they needed for consumers who were also at home.
Thanks to these tactics, the company noticed a slight change in its monetary results.Not only that, “we were able to succeed in a new target organization that, after the blockade and travel bans, learned that it’s vital to make his home comfortable,” Nagel told DW.
Other corporations were not as fortunate as the expansion of COVID-19 closed the factories and broke the chains of origin.In all the economic chaos, the interior adornment of the houses was first abandoned.
“Sales of furniture manufacturers fell by 28.7% in April and 23.3% in May due to a lack of incoming orders,” the German Furniture Industry Association (VDM) wrote on August 24.
Now that retail stores have been opened, shoppers are queuing up to buy giant and small family parts.In Berlin, furniture stores are so busy that it’s hard to get help without an appointment.uncommon the slow summer season in a different way.
The Holzconnection exhibition hall in Berlin’s Charlottenburg district
However, this turns out to be more than just a catch-up of lost time buying groceries.Buyers are refocusing on what’s nearby, and what can be closer than at home.Sales in June increased; total sales for the first part of the year were still below last year.
In a survey of VDM members, 42% of corporations said they would end the year in the dark, leading the industry organization to anticipate an overall 5% decline in industry-wide sales.A month ago, we were talking about 10%. This improvement in customers was a consolation for the 83,000 workers of the 469 factories with more than 50 workers, not to mention the many small and other factories supported throughout the industry.
And even though Holzconnection’s order book portfolios are “still complete until it overflows,” Nagel is involved in the coronavirus crisis and at a time imaginable, yet he sees that the year ends well, although “we will have to remain as active and alert, keeping our eyes open at all times to see what the market is doing.”
So far, Germany has lagged behind in terms of virtual investment.The furniture sector in particular is structured around old business models.”Anyone who has manual processes in their business will not be able to do so in the long term, as online outlets will outperform them on the burden side,” Nagel said.
Wood samples and other fabrics that the company can use to do almost anything, of any size.
On July 5, bevh, an e-commerce and mail order retail agreement, announced that overall online sales in Germany increased to 9.2% in the first part of the year for a total of 36.7 billion euros ($43.4 billion).in total, 5.6 billion euros similar to family pieces such as furniture, ornaments and appliances.
For Holzconnection, this is just another sign of the need for virtual strategies. Digital sales without the assistance of sales staff already account for about 25% of the business, well ahead of the industry average. Even after retail outlets reopened to witness – Face-to-face appointments, the call for virtual meetings did not decrease.The company is now investing in more technologies such as 3-d equipment and automatic value calculators.
“Digitization doesn’t mean creating an online store with five products, but rethinking the entire company,” Nagel warned.However, he sees the need for a physical presence.”The showrooms, of course, will remain important, but as the montage puts in place to build trust, for occasions and to see a live product.”
According to VDM figures published on 24 August, Germany exported furniture worth 3.3 billion euros in the first part of 2020 last year, a drop of almost 12%.Switzerland is the largest consumer, followed by France, Austria and the Netherlands.Today, 70% of German furniture production is purchased through Germans.
Cabinets and a table made in Poland in the Holzconnection showroom in Berlin
At the same time, furniture imports amounted to EUR 3.9 billion, 8.4% less than in the first part of 2019.Currently, more than 55% of imports come from Poland, China and the Czech Republic; almost 30% comes from Poland alone.
One of the tactics that the industry needs to attract consumers is to appeal to its German sense of quality with a new initiative called ‘M’bel Made in Germany’ or ‘Furniture Made in Germany’.The label was released on August 1 and is intended to ensure the provenance of a product and ensure its quality.To date, 31 of the 78 interested brands have been legal to use the seal.
Another way to increase sales would be to allow retailers to open in Germany on Sundays, so many stores have struggled.This has long been a source of discord, but as online sales increase, retailers lose out because the Internet never closes.
But no matter how smart a furniture retailer’s online fun is, you can’t practically review a bed and furniture is rarely something other people buy every day. Germans don’t travel like Americans, for example, and it is not yet known whether this summer’s post-coronavirus crisis was a unique redesign of space for other people to take refuge or the start of an interior design revolution in Germany.
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