Mid-market office furniture trends

Office World News, May/Jun 2003 by Burdakin, David C

FEATURE FOCUS

These are challenging days to be an office furniture manufacturer or dealer. According to the Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association (BIFMA), the office furniture industry has seen a steady decline since reaching a high of $13.2 billion in 2000. 2001 saw a 17.4 percent decline in sales to less than $11 billion and 2002 sales went down by another 19 percent to $8.9 billion.

Despite January's estimates calling for a 5.6 percent increase this year to $9.4 billion, BIFMA has recently reported that a new study prepared for them by Global Insight, now forecasts an 8 percent decrease in shipments to $8.2 billion for 2003. According to a news release from BIFMA, the anticipation of war with Iraq had a more significant than expected impact on industry shipments during the first quarter of 2003. Kirst quarter shipments declined 12 percent as compared to the first quarter of 2002. Global Insight had expected a drop of only 2 percent.

BIFMA, however, noted that a fairly significant industry rebound is expected in 2004 once corporate investment recovers and should result in the first year of positive growth for the industry since 2000.

Regardless, office furniture dealers and manufacturers are cautious, having learned some valuable lessons over the past two years. Dealers and manufacturers have watched the trends change, buying habits adjust and big budgets shrink as customers adjusted to the changing economy and became smarter about their purchasing decisions.

Nobody has the kind of budgets that dealers saw a couple of years ago. Customers are being more conservative; asked to do more with less and this is where office furniture dealers can help. With manufacturer guidance, dealers can recognize the latest trends, develop a sales strategy and fulfill both the needs of the customer and the needs of the dealership.

Image on a Budget

The days of extravagant office furniture and posh offices appear to be over, at least for this business cycle. The economy has forced many companies to lay people off or cut benefits; splurging on expensive, overstated furniture is a rarity. Image, however, is still important. Nobody wants to look like they've bought off the damaged- goods dock. A professional image is especially important in hard economic times, because it keeps up employee morale, and makes companies appear solid and successful to their customers and other stakeholders.

Because facility managers and other decision makers in the market for furniture understand the need for maintaining a professional image but, don't want to lower their standards regarding good looks, durability, functionality or service, many are taking a "mix-and-match" approach to their purchases. Instead of replacing whole offices or groups of offices, customers are buying pieces of furniture that compliment their existing line or style. Classic or traditional styles are selling well in these situations because they fit in with many different styles without drawing attention.

Customers are asking more and tougher questions than ever before. They still expect technical innovation and they still want creative solutions. They are asking more questions about durability and how long furniture will maintain its good looks. They want to know someone will be there to fix it if something's wrong. They expect good design and, above all, dependable quality backed by good service. Practical and professional are the watchwords across all furniture categories.

Furniture Trends

Even with all the talk about costs and budgets, office furniture manufacturers have continued to study the trends and develop new and innovative products for the office furniture industry.

Seating is still an exciting part of the furniture industry. We're seeing many more mid- market products that incorporate the designs and materials that were previously seen only in image furniture. We are also witnessing a movement toward more user-friendly technology. New seating has been engineered to self-adjust without as many knobs and levers and, without constant occupant involvement. Instead, these chairs incorporate passive ergonomics that respond to the user's weight and automatically adopt a healthy seating posture. While we will never do away with some individual adjustments, we also are no longer seeing adjustments simply for adjustment's sake.

In panel systems, adaptability is the word of the day. Systems are expected to accommodate innovative storage, wiring and lighting solutions, while quick change and flexibility have become more important.

In conferencing, the ability to accommodate video, projection, multi-media and other electronic demands has been a trend for many years. In this market, however, we're also seeing an increasing demand for furniture that can serve many purposes, from conferencing to classroom, large groups to small, without compromising in function or appearance.

Desking solutions are moving toward flexibility as well, with multi-purpose work surfaces, translucent panels, customizable paper management and storage systems with and a lighter overall appearance. These systems give customers the ability to adapt quickly to changing business conditions without buying all new furniture. They also offer the clean and modern look that many mid-market customers have been asking for. Modularity-the ability to "build it yourself" to meet individual needs-is high on the priority list.