Five Key Trends which will impact on the UK home improvement

industry in 2016

Five Key Trends which will impact on the UK home improvement industryin 2016

Key Trend No: 1 Design-Led, Space-Saving Products

Key Trend No: 2Connected Health meets the Connected Home

Key Trend No: 3Make it Personal

Key Trend No: 4Designing out Waste

Key Trend No: 5No More Cleaning

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Introduction

At TREND-MONITOR, we look beyond the latest design fads and colour trends to understand how things like shifts in social behaviour, demographic changes, technological developments and much more will impact on the way our homes are used now and in the future.

We have identified 5 key trends which will impact on the UK home improvement industry in 2016 and beyond. From hybrid-living to designing out waste, these trends focus on how brands can future-proof their product ranges to ensure that they meet the demands of their target market; the UK homeowner

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Design-Led, Space-Saving Products

Key Trend

No:1This has led to intense pressure on urban spaces and according to the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), we are now living in the smallest houses in Western Europe with the average UK new build being only 92% of the recommended minimum size for a home and only half the size of houses built in the 1920’s.

Whilst there are people who actively chose to cut the clutter out of their lives in order to live a simpler life, for many living small is not always a choice, as they simply cannot afford to live in a large space in any of the major UK cities and have to think of ways to live smarter.

With more than 50% of the world’s population now living in cities and this figure expecting to grow to 60% by 2030, never before have so many people been living in urban areas.

This trend goes hand in hand with the hybrid-living movement, which recognises that homes can be dual function; a place in which you can live comfortably and work efficiently. Digital technology has created a highly flexible virtual workforce which allows workers to work anywhere, anytime and on any device and very often this means from their home space.

Source: Ikea

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Design-Led, Space-Saving Products

UK designers and architects are begin-ning to react to the requirement for inno-vative ways of living in smaller spaces. A good example is Berts Boxes (right) launched at Decorex 2015, and a modern take on the prefab houses built in large numbers after the

first world war

Companies such as Crosswater have recently launched products which combine great design with a space saving solution and this new corner ‘slipper’ bath (above) photographed at Sleep 2015, ticks

all the right boxes.

A recent study by AMA Research

confirmed the trend for compact living products, when it showed that the

wetroom is now the fastest growing sector of the UK bathroom market, driven by

the requirement for a space-saving, design-led bathroom solution

for the smaller bathroom or en-suite.

Storage is a vital element of smart living and of course, the master of this is Ikea; visit any of their retail outlets and you’ll see a whole culture built on space-saving, multi-functional living combined with innovative storage solutions.

Hybrid-living is also revolutionising the hotel industry and creating a new category of hospitality aimed at accommodating the travelling professional. Pioneered by Zoku’s Live-Work concept and featured heavily at Sleep 2015, this new category combines the services of a hotel, with the social buzz of a thriving neighborhood and the digital technology of a high-tech office.

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Connected Health meets the Connected Home

Key Trend

No:2

The connected home is already a strong trend for home improvement brands, with blue-chip technology giants, such as Google and Apple, all in the process of developing new products aimed at the connected home consumer.

Household appliances are now coming equipped with sensors and software as standard that allows them to communicate via a wireless connection to a laptop, smart phone, tablet or other devices. Homeowners are increasingly custom-fitting their domestic spaces with gadgets and appliances that enable them to take advantage of the ease of a connected home, while contractors and developers are on top of this trend with new builds.

Hot on the heels of this fast growing trend, is the Connected Health trend with users across all age groups being encouraged to exercise, monitor their weight and improve the management of their health and wellbeing via a wide range of digital devices

Research by the Deloite Centre for Health Solutions estimated that the number of health apps on iOS and Android has more than doubled over the past 2.5 years to over 100,000, with the increased ownership of smart-phones driving this growth.

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Connected Health meets the Connected Home

The growth in wearable technology in particular bio-sensing wearables is another key driver in connected health; these include fitness bands, glucose monitoring contact lenses, smart pills, insole pads for shoes, heart rate monitoring patches, to name but a few.

Oral-B was one of the first to join the dots between Connected Health and the Connected Home, with its wi-fi enabled toothbrush. This was quickly followed this up with the launch of the Oral-B ‘Smart Mirror’ at the Mobile World Congress in 2015. This mirror can be used by both children and adults alike to learn better cleaning techniques, remain entertained and to reach dental goals.

Currently the mirror can sync with an app that can guide you towards particular goals along your journey towards better dental care. For example, the mirror can provide information on how to achieve fresher breath, fight plaque or to whiten teeth via brushing. The goals can be tailor made based on data and can deliver a more engaging hygiene experience for a set period of time.

Source: Oral B

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Make it Personal

Key Trend

No:3

Individualism is recognised as a global mega-trend and refers to the consumers’ growing desire to be recognized as having ‘personal needs’ rather than being part of the ‘mass market’.

Today’s demanding and sophis-ticated consumer increasingly welcomes customised products and services in their aspiration to be treated as an individual, which leaves big brands vulnera-ble to smaller quirkier ‘unbrands’ who are agile enough to provide a bespoke offer. In fact being a big brand can be a disadvan-tage as consumers move away from safe, consiistent brands in favour of seeking out the unique

products and services that no-body else has. In a saturated consumer market, personalisa-tion and customisation are bene-fiting producers looking to differ-entiate their offering. Brands are actively seeking out ways that allow their customers to person-alise a product or service and make it bespoke to their individ-ual needs and requirements.

Big brands, such as Mini, Levi, Coke, Nike, Apple and Vistaprint, have all done this by using ‘mass customisation’ methods, where customers select from a range of options to build their own perfect product, which encourages ‘ownership’ of the product before purchase, with the advantage

of shifting the buying decision from price to other benefits.

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Information collected during a personalised purchase process is invaluable when collated via CRM systems, enabling more customised marketing messages via channels such as email.

Luxury brands, in particular, must take bespoke experiences to the next level in order to stand out. Offering high value customers the opportunity to design some of the core elements of a product will become a powerful differentiating factor. In turn this will balance the power back to the brands, as customers will aspire to be considered valuable enough to gain preferential access.

Technology has played a major role in this trend, making it easier for brands to offer online design tools which are easy to understand, and to fulfill orders for customized goods in a timely, efficient manner And now with the advent of the 3d printer, there is the potential to create a new more efficient business model for bespoke design and personalised products.

A pioneer of this 3d print technology is American Standard Brands, who have

already launched the first ready-for-market,

fully working taps created with a 3d

printer.

Make it Personal

Source: American Standard Brands

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Designing out Waste

Key Trend

No:4

The Millennial consumer has high expectations in terms of social and environmental issues and looks beyond just the financial cost of their purchase. Having grown up in a politically active and connected world, they understand the effect the products they purchase have on the environment.

This means the Millennial generation is becoming increasingly interested in brands which use a more ‘Circular’ business model as an alternative to the traditional linear business model of “take, make, dispose”.

This Circular model involves a smarter, more restorative way to create, use and dispose of products, designing products which not only use the minimal amount of the earth’s valuable resources, but are also manufactured in a way that designs out waste throughout the life cycle of the product.

Key brands across all industries, from the worlds’ largest car manufacturers such as Ford, through to major retailers like M&S, are all moving slowly towards the ‘circular’ business model. They are doing this by not only looking for creative ways to minimise manufacturing waste and recycle old products, but also developing partnerships with manufacturers in other industries where the waste from one manufacturer can be used as a resource by a partner manufacturer.

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As an example, concerns about the fact that the energy needed to wash a garment is 6 times that needed to make it in the first place, has led to Xeros, a design company based at Leeds University to look at developments in technology that allows for (almost) ‘waterless washing’.

During the wash cycle, more than a million tiny polymer beads are added into the load along with a cup of water and a few drop of Xeros’s special detergent. These beads have an inherent polarity that attracts and the dirt is absorbed into the centre of the beads, where it remains trapped.

The beads provide a gentle tumbling action in the wash as they lift the dirt from fabrics. This action puts less stress on the fabric than the prolonged soaking and agitation of traditional washing machines. This means that fabrics have a longer useful life than those washed with a traditional washing machine.

The machines require less than 20 per cent of the water used in normal washing machines and use just 50 per cent of the electricity needed to complete a cycle with a traditional machine. The beads also resist dye transfer between colours and whites, so less wash cycles need to be completed.

Furthermore, Xeros claims that their beads are completely recyclable after use and can be turned into plastic for other uses

Designing out Waste

Source: Xeros

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No More Cleaning

Key Trend

No:5

Self-cleaning surfaces have in the past been touted for their convenience factor. However recently, a strong emphasis on self-clean technology has come from with the green lobby, who see it as potentially having a positive environmental impact

The idea and implementation of self-cleaning surfaces and materials have been applied to different facets of building and home improvement for a number of years, both externally and internally.

The recent intervention by the green lobby has however had a dual impact on this growing market. Firstly, it has made for more discussion and thus has created increased awareness among those looking for a more environmentally friendly cleaning solution.

While secondly, it has resulted in self-cleaning materials being extended to a wider range of different surfaces and materials

The green benefits here are clear to see. A self-cleaning surface doesn’t require the often environmentally harmful cleaning agents or chemicals most of us use – something that’s ecologically beneficial on a number of levels and it also results in less water being utilised for cleaning.

Organisations such as Veolia, the UK leader in environmental solutions, see self-cleaning surfaces as the future and their Imagine 2050 report indicates that all wall, surfaces and windows within the home will be self-cleaning by 2050.

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No More Cleaning

The current trend for self-cleaning ceramic coatings for bathrooms was clear at ISH 2015 and a number of other trade events during 2015. Industry leader in this area is TOTO, who have used technology to revolutionise the way toilets are cleaned. Their Washlet toilet with Actilight uses a UV light along with a self-cleaning surface and antibacterial electrolysed water to clean and remove germs and bacteria from the toilet bowl. Something which other toilet manufacturers have been very quick to copy.

Source: Toto

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Information Sources

Decorex 2015 www.decorex.com

Sleep 2015 www.thesleepevent.com

AMA Research www.amaresearch.co.uk

J M Blake Associates www.jmblake.co.uk

Zoku www.livezoku.com

Oral B www.oralb.co.uk

Xeros www.xeroscleaning.com

Veolia www.veolia.co.uk

Toto www.gb.toto.com

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About TREND-MONITOR

A: Royal House, Sovereign Street, Leeds, LS1 4BJT: 0113 209 3288E: hello@trend-monitor.co.ukwww.trend-monitor.co.uk

What is TREND-MONITOR?

TREND-MONITOR is an online resource for business professionals, delivering important and timely insights into trends which affect the UK home improvement industry

Owned and operated by J M Blake Associates, TREND-MONITOR provides insight, intelligence and ultimately inspiration for buyers, marketeers, brand agencies, journalists, PR, business owners, investors and other stakeholders involved with home improvement product categories.

What we do

Combining a number of different resources including primary and secondary research, insight generation, data gathering, industry events, consumer surveys, social media and interviews, TREND-MONITOR identifies emerging consumer, industry and macro trends, and assesses the impact these trends will have on home improvement product categories.