Study: Customer satisfaction in European furniture coatings

12-Oct-2001

Latest research from international market analysts Frost & Sullivan reveals that in the European furniture coatings business, the customers for these products - furniture manufacturers - place more emphasis on technical performance and supplier responsiveness to changing requirements than on price in supplier selection criteria. The study interviewed coatings customers throughout the European furniture industry and discovered how they choose suppliers and make purchasing decisions, their perceptions of coatings suppliers and how satisfied they are with the service of the leading suppliers.

Over half of the customers interviewed use more than one supplier and review them on a regular basis. Technical performance had the highest rating of importance for supplier selection, but the ability of coatings manufacturers to develop new and innovative solutions was currently seen as a weakness. Brian Balmer, Research Analyst with Frost & Sullivan explains: "With trends relating to fashion and increasing technology, the onus is on the suppliers of coatings to keep up with the pace of this change. Companies who are best at responding to rapidly changing demands from their clients are most likely to increase their market share, either by attracting new clients or by helping their current clients to succeed."

The total European market for wooden furniture coatings is valued at $880 million in 2001, representing shipments of 283,000 tonnes. This accounts for approximately 70 percent of the total industrial wood coatings market. Although there is almost no growth in this market, there is a considerable change in the types of product being used. Environmentally friendly alternatives such as UV curable and waterborne systems are increasing in popularity, whilst acid-catalysed systems are gradually being replaced by compliant alternatives with higher solids contents and consequently lower VOC (volatile organic chemical) content. However it is a consolidating market (a trend that is increasingly being viewed with caution by end-users) that is also subject to strong price pressure. In this buyer's market it is increasingly important for suppliers to fully understand these changing customer requirements.

Coatings manufacturers who buy the report will be able to see exactly what their customers think about them and their competition, and gain an understanding of the drivers, restraints and challenges in this highly competitive market.

Sales Contact Customer Satisfaction Analysis for the European Furniture Coatings Market (report code 3995-39) published October 2001 is available to purchase from: Frost & Sullivan, 4100 Chancellor Court, Oxford Business Park, Oxford, OX4 2GX, UK. Sales Contact: Bill Stringer +44 (0) 1865 398651,bill.stringer@fs-europe.com

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