Surveys, entities and experts show that the home and decoration market should resume growth after the “boom” of reforms in the Covid-19 pandemic. Luciana Locchi, business consultant, has been working closely with this market and warns: “The home market is recovering, but I see that many importers are not knowing which direction to take”.
According to ABCasa, the expectation for 2023 is for almost double-digit growth, being a very promising year for the sector. In an interview with BandNews, the entity’s president, Eduardo Cincinato, said that a sector that employs around 2.4 billion in Brazil and that some economic situations can serve as motivating factors for the heating of the market, such as inflation, the drop in freight import and exchange rates.
However, during her participation at ABCasa Fair 2023, in São Paulo, Luciana Locchi listed some points of attention for manufacturers and importers to be able to keep up with these promises of growth in the sector. According to the expert, brands and importers need to be aware of the major market trend, which is to think about consumer behavior. “The beauty of the products needs to be linked to the habits of consumers”, explains the expert.
Locchi cites a recent survey on the Consumer of the Future 2024, carried out by the Worth Global Style Network (WGSN) to help brands understand what will be the new habits of an audience that will buy, or even co-create their products, listed 4 different profiles consumers: the Regulators (who, after years of uncertainty and change, rely on consistency as a survival mechanism); the Connectors (against rush culture and determined to rewrite the rules of entrepreneurship and sharing); the Memory Builders (post-lockdown feelings of guilt and remorse are being transformed into leaner lives and new concepts of family); and Neosensorialists (they love technology, but don’t want to see life through a virtual reality headset).
According to the expert, another big mistake made by brands and importers is thinking that only shopkeepers are their consumers, which is not true. “Today, the customer who consumes is the final consumer, so I believe that all communication has to be designed for this public, with the objective of generating desire and building the brand”.
Locchi says that he has been working in this sector with consultancies to detect and propose solutions for new market approaches. “These are consultations lasting more or less 6 months, which include analysis, definition of new strategies, monitoring of development and maturation time”.
Months after the World Cup, Black Friday, Christmas and the new political scenario, what remains for companies operating in retail is the uncertainty of what the market will be like from now on. For this reason, Luciana Locchi emphasizes the importance of participating in fairs such as the ABCasa Fair to get directions on what to invest in, how much to invest and how to do it consciously and strategically. “In this process, I believe that the role of the supplier is to offer this vision and guide the store owner on some action strategies”, she emphasizes.
