2023 will certainly not be remembered as the best year for the design/furniture sector. Many upholstered furniture companies have observed a decline in sales; more so for those who by nature have a more multi-brand retail distribution, a little better for those who can count on a more controlled and/or exclusive distribution (DOS, etc.) or in any case mixed, and definitely better for those brands that have, perhaps not at the last minute, set up production, investments and networks with a view to contract and design in general. The latter, especially in the hospitality and nautical sectors, also performed well in 2023. So say the observers contacted.
Hay
As far as the performance of upholstered furniture brands is concerned, in 2023 we witnessed a very well-defined podium. The Danish Hay (first in all three surveys) is firmly in the lead, followed by Vitra (always second in the surveys) and Minotti, always third, and the undisputed first among the Italian brands.
B&B Italia
B&B Italia (a brand of the Design Holding group) ranked fifth in the average of the 2023 surveys, the second best performing upholstered furniture brand within the group was Maxalto (ranked 25th), while the group’s two lighting companies, Flos and Louis Poulsen, were firmly in first and second place in all surveys, obviously in their ‘decorative lighting’ category.
Among the Lifestyle Design Group’s upholstered furniture brands, Cassina is the best performer, coming seventh, and Poltrona Frau ninth.
In Italian Design Brands, among the upholstered furniture brands, Gervasoni (ranked 38th) is ahead of Saba Italia (ranked 48th) and Meridiani (ranked 56th, with a sharp decline in the last survey in 2023). Within the group, the performance of Davide Groppi stands out, twelfth among the decorative lighting brands and the most dynamic digital brand of the group, recently listed on the Milan Stock Exchange.
Vitra
Among the Italian brands not belonging to any group, in addition to the aforementioned Minotti, owned by the family of the same name, Poliform is in fourth place, followed by Natuzzi in sixth, Molteni in tenth and Baxter in thirteenth.
Among the non-Italian brands, in addition to Hay and Vitra (the undisputed first and second places), the Danish Muuto is in eighth place, the French Ligne Roset, which made a strong comeback in the second half of the year, is almost there in eleventh place, and Fritz Hansen is in twelfth place.
As mentioned above, we have used Google Trend data to identify which regions and countries are proactively searching for brands on Google. To be clear, this has no direct correlation with the performance of these brands in the geographical areas shown. If anything, it is an index of (potential?) interest in that brand in the country indicated. Several keywords were used in conjunction with the brands, a number of filters were applied to make the searches more precise, and a 5-year period was considered, including before, during and after the covid. Some of the most interesting results are presented below, and we remain at your disposal for any specific requests.
Cassina
Meanwhile, a first consideration that is quite obvious and absolutely predictable after a first glance at the results. The best performing non-Italian brands (the top 50 in terms of digital performance were analysed), with the exception of Swiss Vitra and French Ligne Roset, are all of Danish origin, and the areas in which these brands are most sought after are first and foremost Denmark, then the other Scandinavian countries (Sweden and Norway), then other Nordic countries (Iceland, Finland), followed by the Benelux area. Vitra has a strong interest in China, followed by Lebanon and Italy.
Poliform
For Italian brands, Italy and Switzerland show the largest pool of targeted searches, followed by China and Lebanon. (Remember that Google Trend data is calibrated to the total number of searches in that country, effectively parameterising it to the population of Google searchers, otherwise India and China would be at the top of all rankings). Lebanon seems to have a penchant for high-end Italian brands. B&B Italia and Minotti are proportionally more searched for in Lebanon (first place for both) than in Italy or Switzerland. And it is the third country for Maxalto, Poltrona Frau and the second for Baxter.
Meridiani
The latter, Baxter, was the Italian company proactively searched (significantly) in the most countries (59). We can therefore virtually choose it as the most international upholstered furniture brand (based on Google searches).
Some analyses at group level are also interesting: Design Holding has a much more international matrix than Lifestyle Design (much more Italo-Swiss centric) and Italian Design Brands. B&B Italia’s searches in Italy come after those of Lebanon, Switzerland, China and Belgium.
Muuto
Other curiosities: Molteni is the only one of the brands analysed where the UK is in the top 3 countries where it is the target of searches, and India is in the top 5. Gervasoni is the only non-Scandinavian brand that is significantly searched for in the Scandinavian countries. And Flexform is the only upholstered furniture brand to have Kuwait as its first searched country and the only one to have a South American country, Brazil, in its top 5.
Founded in 2022 by Andrea Mamprin and Massimo Marchesin, meAAns is an observatory of relations in the specific design furniture market. This market is rich in interactions, exchanges and actors integrated in a single ecosystem. meAAns actively monitors it and captures its insights with the aim of helping the companies that make it up to understand it more strategically. www.meAAns.com
