Dreams are wishes, but also trend indicators. Relationship between Portuguese consumers and the purchase of furniture can be mentioned as an example: on the one hand the dream of owning a big house with open spaces, but on the other the necessity of having smaller and smaller homes. In the middle, the choice of multifunctional furniture with a simple design, but capable of giving a visible sign of its comfort.
In this context, Italian furniture could be right for the Portuguese market aiming at the esthetical originality and the scalability of furniture solutions. Two factors which would allow sector companies to consolidate export flows towards Portugal where performances are positive, but also fluctuating. According to ITA (Italian Trade Agency), trend is +12,1% when comparing 2015 and 2016 (from 50 million 621 thousand to 56 million 741 thousand euro), but -1,2% in the last comparison of January – August 2016 with the same period in 2017 (from 37 million 329thousand to 36 million 872thousand euro). Sometimes even in 2017, trend was negative (in relation to the same months).
These sector oscillations could be considered as a metaphor of the entire Portuguese economy. The country shows remarkable signs of improvement (exportations and tourism increase the new growth), but it is deeply marked by the crisis, mainly about downturn in consumption and employment.
A recent survey of CECEJ (Centro de Estudos em Ciências Empresariais e Jurídicas do Istituto Superior de Contabilitade e Administraçao do Porto), the Portuguese Center for Studies in Business and Legal Sciences, confirms that the loss of purchasing power, unemployment and tax burden reduce the number of potential buyers and force them to postpone furniture purchases. Instead, mid and high/medium segment consumers choose a qualified mass market capable of proposing upper market elements at affordable prices.
New Portuguese houses are designed with built-in solutions causing a decrease demand for wardrobes and dressers. Dimensions of apartments tend to be reduced (families have fewer children, couples without children and single people) with implications for the furniture design (not very voluminous but functional) in the direction of a growing demand segmentation.
The inspiring concept is flexibility in all its forms: multifunctionality of spaces (the ending of the distinction between kitchen, living room and dining room) and multi-style aesthetics. The latter aspect represents the main trend for Portuguese consumers, according to an assessment of Conforama published at the end of 2016. The French retail chain confirms the distance separating the dream of 150-square-meters house in a rural area and the reality determined by small apartments, also in prestigious residential areas. But for Portuguese people, the mediation between wish and everyday life lies in the eclectic exercise of styles and tastes. Big sofas are in multifunctional rooms where the space from one area to the next is defined by simple furniture (neutral and soft colors), but of exception, with an original design and without style continuity. Unlike in the past, trend is no longer the characterization of a room with an only style, but a well-ordered mash-up created with modern and old styles. A mix which may also create a composition of all different chairs around a table. With a particular predilection, among younger consumers, for secondhand, recycled and vintage goods, mainly shabby chic.
Multifunctionality also concerns the kitchen where furniture must be smarter and more stylish. Even in this segment Italy owns all the creative and productive features necessary to increase its quota in the total turnover. A turnover that according to Statista.com (one of the leading statistics companies on the internet) is expected to be 308 million dollars in 2018 with an annual growth of 3,3% within 2021.
That’s way Gabriele Magliola is setting up a commercial network for the Portuguese market aiming at increasing his customer portfolio and representing an Italian company producing high style kitchens (interested agents can write to: info@gabrielemagliola.com)
In this commercial context, it is worth recalling that a remarkable peculiarity for the future of this country is its influence on Portuguese-speaking African states which turns out to be quite attractive for Italian export. According to the Italian Ministery of Foreign Affairs, the deep relationships between Portugal and the above-mentioned states qualify the Iberian country as a privileged platform for Italian small and medium enterprises interested in emerging markets where Portuguese market has a turnover ten times higher than the one of Italian companies in the same areas. This is the case of Angola and Mozambique where Portuguese support has been and is very strong in achieving peace processes and economic growth.