Shared Living drives typical demand for home products

Rapid urbanisation, rising housing prices and increasing social isolation are forces that are driving customers into a new form of living. According to Global Real Estate Experts, communal living seems like a natural response to the current market and affordability concerns. But how does this influence the European home decoration and household textiles market?

Homes are increasingly adapted or designed to hold both communal and private spaces, following the concept of ‘shared living’. This trend creates new development and consumption for products in the Home Decoration and Home Textiles market sector. Furniture and accessories for the communal spaces will need to be more flexible. Besides, product values related to convenience and multipurpose will become more important in home product innovations. As a result, there will be an increased demand for products that are lightweight (easy to move), collapsible, flat-packed and easy to store.

Sharing over owning

In the private quarters of these shared living concepts, consumers find it especially important to distinguish themselves in terms of style and choice of accessories from their co-habitants. Here, the interior collections will be built on values related to differentiation, personal taste and style. For example, products that can be (re-)arranged according to use and personal taste with several (style) options, to cater for an individual choice.

As urbanisation increases, this trend of Shared Living is expected to grow significantly. Moreover, it will be reinforced by the so-called Millennials (people born between 1980 and 2000). This will soon be the dominant group of consumers in the market and they tend to prefer sharing over owning. Therefore, the impact on development of solutions for this kind of living is expected to last for quite some time.    

Stay up-to-date

To stay up-to-date on the latest developments in Home Decoration and Home Textiles, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter via the following link: Subscribe to our newsletter

This news article has been written for CBI by Globally Cool