SB awaits double-digit growth
SB Furniture Group is hopeful of resuming double-digit sales growth this year, boosted by recovering furniture and property markets.
Executive vice-president Tanyaruck Chawaldit said the 50-billion-baht furniture sector is likely to turn around this year after flat sales in 2017.
“The company has seen a rebound of consumer spending in the first quarter of this year, with sales growing by almost 10%, compared with only 5% in the earlier forecast,” Ms Tanyaruck said. “Spending on furniture is very active and customers are making buying decisions more easily than last year, resulting in the company’s sales growth both from existing stores and the number of customers.”
She said the overall picture of the 2018 furniture market is trending upward as property developers begin transferring residential units, especially for condominium projects.
Other factors driving the market are furniture brands that have adjusted designs and services to meet customers’ requirements and lifestyle.
The opening of Ikea at CentralPlaza WestGate in Bang Yai district has also stimulated the overall furniture market, Ms Tanyaruck said.
Moreover, increasing sales momentum for furniture stemmed from the government’s shopping tax break that allowed individual taxpayers to deduct up to 15,000 baht for domestic purchases from their personal income tax.
According to Ms Tanyaruck, the company will allocate 700-800 million baht to open a new SB Furniture flagship store in the fourth quarter of this year.
The four-storey building will occupy a seven-rai plot of land and have 15,000 square metres of sales space.
In addition, the company will launch the “52 Weeks of Design by SB Design Square” campaign to inspire home-decorating enthusiasts.
The campaign will showcase the work of professional interior designers and impart new ideas to customers.
Apart from building a network and updating home decoration ideas via the online channel, SB will add luxury import brands to its portfolio to serve demand from mid- and high-end customers.
The new brands include Universal from the US and Habitat from Britain.
The company also provides a customised design service to make leather sofas under the Italian brand Kelvin Giormani with more than 200 styles and 50 shades of leather.
SB expects sales growth of 10% to 7.8 billion baht this year. Of total sales, 90% will be domestic and 10% exports to more than 40 countries.