With the growing trend of a leaner, meaner family structure and a general fall in the number of children born in most industrialized economies around the globe, more individual care and attention can be afforded for the youngest members in the families. As a result, custom-built furniture for children has become a new driving force in the furniture market. Parents are now putting more resources into the care of their kids. Combining fun, colours and gaming elements, kid's furniture is a new branch of half-toy and half-furniture to fulfill the little guys' and gals' toying and living needs at the same time.
Children are the king
Due to vast changes in the economic and social environment, the "graying" of advanced industrialized societies comes faster than predicted. In affluent nations like the U.S. and Japan, the "silver clan" is expected to exceed the number of children by as early as the first quarter of this century. In the 2002 World Assembly on Aging, the United Nations projected that the number of people of 60 years of age or older will exceed that of the children at 14 years old or younger by 2050, implying a major demographic shift in the immediate decades ahead.
The two-adult, one-child nucleus family model is expected to continue dominating most of the advanced industrial societies for decades to come. In fact, according to the statistics by "Furniture Today", a renowned American trade magazine of the furniture industry, parents and grandparents are now more willing to spend a large sum of money on decorating their children's rooms. The magazine reported that more than US$3.5 billion were spent on children furniture in 2002 alone, and it has been increasing year by year. Industry veterans and contenders are geared up to take a slice in the children's furniture market.
Cheryl Shaw, CFO of Little Colorado Inc., an active American manufacturer in the children's furniture business, expressed the same sentiment in a recent interview with toydirectory.com, a U.S. toys buyers' online trade guide, "Certainly with the changes in our society with two-earner families, houses have gotten bigger, so there's more physical room to add to the furniture in a child's room or play room. There was inexpensive furniture and there was high-end furniture. You either got cheap or you went all out, but there was nothing in the middle of the road."
In the U.S., the world's largest consumption market, furniture is one of the top consumption markets to be explored. Pat Bowling, director of communications of the American Furniture Manufacturers Association (AFMA), also remarked at toydirectory.com, "Today's teenagers represent one of our nation's fastest growing consumer segments. Estimated at 31 million, this group is commonly referred to as 'Generation Y', but the furniture industry may want to describe them as Generation 'I' for individuality, independence and imagination."
"Of the children surveyed (by AFMA), the youngest aged from 8 to 10 expressed the greatest desire for a change in colours and accessories. The older kids will declare their need for additional furnishings, such as a place to sit with friends or storage room for computers and electronics."
At the other end of the Pacific, kid's furniture is also a growing business. In Hong Kong, a new breed of children's furniture specialty stores is beginning to emerge even though the city is famous for cramped living space. These stores specialized in custom-built children's furniture, including beds in the form of a bus, or double-deck beds with funny cartoons inscriptions. An owner of a local custom-built furniture maker remarked, "We note that children in Hong Kong are becoming a precious few due to the falling fertility rate. We believe that this market carries potential in the long run. In fact, we are primarily targeting high-income families which devote serious attention to their own living environment."
Toy-makers ride the first wave
When it comes to adding fun and colours, toy-makers are naturally the group of manufacturers that possess comparative advantages.
According to a recent report by the Associated Press, toy industry giants like Hasbro, Mattel, Spin Master, and even media giant like MGA Entertainment, are now eyeing the children furniture market with great enthusiasm. In fact, the children's furniture business generates a more stable income than toys which are limited by seasonal variations. Anton Rabie, president and co-chief executive of Spin Master Ltd , remarked in the report, "We see our company becoming the P&G (Procter & Gamble) for kids. Why is that we should be making just dolls and airplanes? Why can't be broaden out?"
After launching the Marshmallow series, Spin Master's first test of the water in 2003, non-toy items now constitute 20% of the company's annual revenue. Spin Master has launched a full children home decors and furniture series in 2005, including pillows, canopies and foot rest, etc. These furniture-toys had been showcased in the American International Toy Fair in February 2005.
Having fun at home
Even with the new popularity and enthusiasm in the market, decorating a child-proof home remains a tedious task for most parents. On the other hand, furniture makers often have to constantly look out for new and never-been-tried ways to create furniture welcomed by kids of all ages.
IKEA, the world's top furniture brand with a massive presence in the children's furniture market, had offered the following tips in child furniture designs through its PS Unlimited Plays series in a 2003 interview with Metropilsmag.com, an American online home-living magazine. "We started by how we could make family life better, and how we could make life for children better," said Todd Steele, commercial manager for IKEA North America, "When we looked at market intelligence, it was easy to identify that children don't get outside and play as much as they did twenty years ago. They're now not nearly as active as they once were."
Based on this finding, experts at IKEA centre their designs on three important elements in children's lives: movement, play and rest. Most importantly, they had addressed the lack of children's outdoor activities by providing movements in indoor objects.
IKEA's PS line includes a swinging chair, which can be used in many ways by innovative children; A balanced cushion, allowing children to roll and crawl on; A curved rocking board, on which children can exercise as much imagination as they can to create new games out of it. Robin Moore, design researcher at the Natural Learning Initiative of the Colorado State University in the US said in the same interview, "Play is the primary way in which children-especially young children-learn. They need to have time and space to explore the world around them at their own pace and not always under the control of adults."
In recent years, IKEA had rolled out children furniture which took into accounts the need of children to play while serving the functions of a piece of general furniture. Items like a play-table with simple brick or puzzle games embedded, or a minimised slide which is part of a double-deck bed, are all reflection of such "game in the furniture" philosophy. They have also brought forth lucrative business opportunities to the world's largest furniture conglomerate worldwide. Today, almost all IKEA chains in different cultures and markets are carrying a children furniture department.
The four market segments
Even though the prospect of children furniture seems promising, experts have urged that companies in the business should avoid marketing their products in a simple and straight-forward approach. Instead, they should pay attention to the division of market within, as according to Joe Baumgartner, vice president of Children's Furniture Warehouse in west Palm Beach, Florida, during a recent interview with the "Baby World" magazine.
According to Joe Baumgartner, there are literally four market sectors in the kids' furniture industry:
1. The Baby Market: The focus of the baby furniture market should be on parents and grandparents, "These consumers, especially first-time parents, are looking for guidance and reassurance that they are making the right choice," said Joe Baumgartner. In addition, as child-bearing is a new experience to them, they are usually more eager to look for as much product information as they can, and the manufacturers should be as informative as possible.
2. The Toddler Market: The primary focus of this sector is still on parents and grandparents, but the messages will be different. In this stage, their children are at the crossroad between babies and toddlers, so they need more care and love from their parents. Toddlers at this stage show some similar traits, such as afraid of the dark, and hard to get used to a scheduled bedtime. To help the transition, furniture makers should try to make bedtime a time for fun and games. They can do so by utilizing funny cartoon characters on their products, such as Barney, Teletubbies, or Bugs Bunny, etc.
3. The "' Tween" market: This market sets between toddlers and teens. The children at this stage have grown to start having their own opinions. Therefore, the manufacturers should direct their messages towards both the parents and the kids by instilling more fashion and styling appeals to the furniture.
4. The Teen Market: At this stage, the teens have their strong preferences and they usually like to be in control, yet parents still foot the bills. As in the case of fashion-wear marketing, makers of teen-focused furniture products should direct their message towards what's "In", with strong emphasis on styles and fashions.
To ensure adequate coverage of the markets, Joe Baumgartner then suggests a two-fold marketing approach, "First, it is the broad, general marketing approach, aiming at all facets of the children's market. The idea is to let consumers know that you have the solutions for every segment."
"The second part of your message should target each of the four audience segments. This is not easy, as it involves finding the right media and possibly developing a database of these prospects, but it is more cost-efficient to pinpoint your target audiences than to use wider but more wasteful general marketing approach."
Owing to a general rebound in the economy, parents in the North America have shown greater willingness to invest more in their children's bedrooms and living rooms. Bryony Bouyer, senior vice president at Hasbro's properties group, said in the Associated Press interview, "We look to the bedroom as a great place to express their love for a particular brand."
More are coming up at toys outlets
Other than children furniture in full sets, separated items such as kid's chairs or tables are also in hot pursuit by customers. In this domain, mainland Chinese manufacturers are showing their potential with cost advantage. Chinese-made products such as foam sofas, for sale in Spin Master, can cost less than US$40, while a plastic chair can cost as little as US$4.99 at Mattel.
With a successful presence at toy chains and local stores, major up-scale retailers are also showing interest in the opportunities presented in this market. J.C. Penny, traditionally a more established and "matured" department store, will start to carry more home decor merchandises from toy companies this year. Kelly Cullen, a spokeswoman from Toy 'R Us, remarked that the company will actively search for kid's furniture and home decors in all upcoming toy fairs.