February 2024 emerged as a pivotal month for the French furniture market, marking both challenges and glimpses of hope for industry stakeholders. Despite a continued downturn, there are indications of resilience and strategic shifts within the sector.
The French furniture market, which experienced a challenging start to the year with a 6% depreciation in January, continued its downward trend in February, albeit with a slightly milder decline of 3.3%. According to the latest economic bulletin from the IPEA (French Institute for Economic Research and Analysis), this consecutive decline marks the weakest performance since July 2023. Despite the decline, the market managed to achieve its "best" result since last summer.
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Explaining the 3.3% decline in February, the Institute suggests that the last days of sales, ending on February 6, failed to generate the expected momentum in sales for the month. However, the decline was less pronounced than in January, attributed to extensive promotional activities by many brands during the sales period. These promotions resulted in slightly higher revenues, although sales volumes remained significantly lower.
In terms of product categories, bedding emerged as the only segment showing progress, mirroring January's trend. Specialists in bedding witnessed growth, making them the only circuit to show progress in the first two months of the year. Conversely, chairs experienced the most significant decline, while the kitchen sector showed signs of recovery with a diminishing decline in sales.
More information:
IPEA
www.ipea.fr