On a sweltering weekend, a dimly lit home furnishing store in a first-tier city was nearly deserted, a far cry from the bustling scenes of long queues for contracts. Market shrinkage and fierce price competition are the real feelings of many in the home furnishing and building materials industry. An industry veteran pointed out that the industry was once closely linked to real estate development, but the explosive demand of the past is unlikely to reappear. However, this does not mean the industry has lost its future. The “Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Building Materials Industry,” jointly issued by six departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, has pointed the way for the industry, promoting its transformation from “scale-oriented” to “high-tech, high-value-added.” By 2026, the revenue target for China’s green building materials industry is expected to exceed 300 billion yuan. The Chinese home furnishing and building materials industry is undergoing a profound paradigm shift. The core driver of market growth has shifted from relying on new home sales to the renovation and remodeling of existing homes. Data shows that renovation demand for existing homes is expected to exceed 50% in 2025 and reach over 70% in 2030, becoming the dominant force in the market. Businesses face challenges such as shrinking customer traffic and high costs, while consumer demand is also evolving. Consumers are no longer satisfied with single products but seek “lifestyle implementation,” requiring businesses to provide holistic solutions that match living scenarios. To survive in this new market, businesses need to reconstruct their value logic, moving from “trading products” to “managing lifestyles.” Leading companies should build emotional connections with consumers by creating immersive scenarios, and their performance indicators should shift towards customer retention and lifetime value. Component manufacturers need to break through “single-product thinking” and transform into “integrated + full-cycle” solution providers, ultimately becoming “comprehensive residential service providers.” Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an “efficiency revolutionary” in the industry. Small and medium-sized stores can leverage mature tools; AI plays a significant role in marketing, customer acquisition, terminal sales, and design, and can also serve as a “24/7 gold medal trainer” for employees, solving product knowledge training challenges. Enterprises should focus on certain blue ocean markets. The renovation of existing housing stock is a definite future track, with national policy support activating the market for improved housing demand. Home renovation for aging in place is also an opportunity not to be ignored, with a huge market size and substantial policy subsidies. Green and intelligent technologies are the direction for product upgrades; keeping up with trends can increase product added value. When industry rules change, companies clinging to tradition struggle. The owner of a whole-house customization store said that his employees spend years finding customers in new housing developments. Meanwhile, stores that leverage AI tools, position themselves as “residential service providers,” and cultivate niche markets are building new competitive barriers. The industry hasn’t disappeared; customers are moving with new demands to service providers who better understand the times.
Transformation of China’s Home Furnishing and Building Materials Industry: Finding New Opportunities Amidst Adversity
The Chinese home furnishing and building materials industry is currently grappling with challenges such as market contraction and cut-throat price competition; however, the *Work Plan for Stabilizing Growth in the Building Materials Industry* has charted a course for transformation. As the sector undergoes profound change, enterprises must seize critical shifts and focus on "blue ocean" markets to adapt to the new rules of the game.
