• Most furniture makers themselves do not sell their furniture.
• Russia will ease transit restrictions
• New accounts to pay a single social contribution
• Mixed consumption model – the reality of the current furniture market
• Zero seam is no longer a dream, but a reality

Everything that happened last week in Ukraine and the world and is relevant for the furniture maker, read our digest:

1. Analysis of the activities of two hundred world top furniture companies that were identified by the Milan Center for Industrial Research “CSIL” in one way or another also indicates trends that are characteristic of the furniture industries of individual regions and even countries.
Yes, the picture is as follows: about 65% of the companies from the top 200 are engaged exclusively in production activities, the remaining 35% act as both producers and sellers with their own retail network. Their retail chains are represented as mono-brand stores, and showrooms and retail outlets where furniture from different manufacturers is sold. There are also companies operating through dealers, under a franchise agreement or via the Internet.
Analysts say that companies are beginning to engage in retail trade of their products as the enterprise develops. The share of such companies is higher in the segment of upholstered furniture and lower in the segment of office and kitchen furniture, where other sales channels are often used. In particular, this is the conclusion of contracts with companies for the supply of office furniture and the search for partners among construction companies for the implementation of the project of new buildings with a finished kitchen. At the same time, a higher percentage of leading players is observed in the office and kitchen furniture segment.

2. For those furniture makers who are suffering from the ban imposed by Russia on the transit of Ukrainian goods, it seems, it can “spread out”. The Government of the Russian Federation is developing amendments to the legislation relating to the transit of Ukrainian goods from the region through Russia to the territory of other countries of the Eurasian Economic Union, in particular to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. This was told to journalists by the first deputy head of the government office of the Russian Federation, Sergei Prikhodko.
“Following the consideration of appeals from the Kazakh and Kyrgyz sides, transit shipments from Ukraine of a priority list of industrial goods from Ukraine may be allowed,” the official said.
At the same time, a prerequisite is compliance with the procedure for carrying out such transportation established by presidential decree of January 1, 2016 through certain stationary and mobile control points at road and railway stations, he added.

3. On May 1, the old accounts for the payment of a single social benefit (ERU) ceased to function. From May 2, new non-budget accounts, 3719, opened in the name of the territorial bodies of the State Fiscal Service of Ukraine ERUs and for financial sanctions began to operate.
The change in accounts is caused by the reorganization of the territorial bodies of the State Fiscal Service (it is divided into two parts – tax and customs), and the opening of new accounts on the balance of the central office of the State Treasury Service of Ukraine (bank code – 899998).
Now the funds that payers will transfer to old accounts for crediting of ERUs, but will not be counted, but return back.
The transition to new accounts is carried out fairly quickly, there is no transition period. For those who did not have time to accrue wages for April before the end of the month and will be engaged in payments in May, difficulties may arise. If, however, credits of ERUs will not be returned automatically, and the payment will be displayed in your personal account as counted, then it is highly likely that the taxpayer will find the problem within a month when he receives a message about the ERU debt and a penalty for it.
To obtain new account details, payers should contact the administrators of the single contribution funds to the SFS and the Pension Fund of Ukraine.

4. The furniture market is changing rapidly. Changed and consumer. Accordingly, the principles of work, which operated earlier, are not effective now. And in order not only to stay afloat, but also to develop successfully, it is very important for furniture enterprises to adapt to these changes.

A mixed consumption model is present in all segments of the furniture market. What it is, illustrates this example: when buying an apartment you need to furnish it – something is bought from the expensive one, but in some details of the interior the client is ready to save. Therefore, buy, for example, furniture for the bedroom, where the body of the bed is five times cheaper than a mattress for him. Or vice versa: a beautiful bed with a headboard, which is several times more expensive than a mattress. Are the outlets ready for such a mixed consumption model? In most cases, not ready. The client comes to the salon, and there everything is represented only in the segment of the economy class. And he buys only chairs, and orders an expensive table from another seller. The logic here is simple: “I will not pull the expensive table and chairs, but the expensive table and cheap chairs are exactly what you need.” Accordingly, in order to be successful on the market now, it is necessary to offer goods in accordance with a mixed consumption model. There were cases when people chose expensive kitchen fronts and cheap accessories. Or they took the facades cheap, but they bought expensive household appliances. A special example is the implementation of kitchens. Furniture companies, as a rule, do not sell appliances, because, at first glance, it seems: “Why? We are selling kitchen furniture. ” But if you think: what kind of kitchen without household appliances?

5. On the possibility of laser or seamless edge cladding already know many furniture makers. But for a long time the use of this advanced technology was hampered by the absence of special edging materials in our market. The edges with a functional layer produce only a few European companies, and then mostly on order. The Fusion Edge edges in 13 decors from the well-known German company Döllken change the situation for the better: they have a polymer functional layer for glue-free facing. Edge Fusion Edge is made with ABS, PP or PMMA (acrylic) and allows the use of all existing technologies of gluing tapes with a functional layer – laser, plasma, using hot air, NIR, microwaves. Döllken applies an improved polymer functional layer that provides all the advantages of modern bonding methods, regardless of the equipment used.