Listening to international buyers of handcrafted furniture

What is shaping wood & timber

Wood, plywood, laminates and furniture are sold through a chain of influencers: carpenters, contractors, architects and dealers often decide the brand before the homeowner does.

• Carpenters and contractors heavily influence brand choice
• Dealers balance margins, credit and brand pull
• Sustainability and certified timber matter more to buyers

A furniture export council, working in Buyers in the USA, UK, Germany, France & Italy. Client identity is withheld to protect confidentiality.

Organisation

A furniture export council

Sector

Wood & timber

Team engaged

Market Research

Services

Business panel, Qualitative research, Online surveys

Exporters of handcrafted wooden furniture faced rising competition. The council wanted to know how buyers judged suppliers and where Indian exporters could improve.

• Deliver on the brief: listening to international buyers of handcrafted furniture.
• Measure how widespread each pattern is, and explain the reasons behind it.
• Give the client evidence it can act on within 7 weeks.

Scope: 25 interviews, 120 survey responses.

Audiences we typically reach in wood & timber

Carpenters and contractorsArchitects and interior designersDealers and distributorsHomeownersFurniture buyers

Coverage: Buyers in the USA, UK, Germany, France & Italy. Markets: India, United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy.

• India
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Germany
• France
• Italy

A mixed-method design: structured research measured how widespread each pattern was, and qualitative conversations explained why.

1. 1Brief
2. 2Buyer interviews
3. 3Online survey
4. 4Insight

We interviewed buyers and sourcing agents, then surveyed a wider group about quality consistency, finishing, packaging, lead times and sustainability documentation.

Business panelQualitative researchOnline surveys

• Business respondents were screened on role, company size and involvement in the decision before being invited.
• Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
• Qualitative participants were recruited purposively to cover the full range of experiences that mattered, rather than for statistical representation.

interviews

25

survey responses

120

• The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
• Interviews and discussions were led by experienced moderators using a guide agreed with the client.

• Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
• Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
• Review of open-ended answers
• Recordings and transcripts for every session
• Re-screening of qualitative recruits
• Logic and range checks on the final data
• Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures

• Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
• Significance testing on the differences that mattered
• Thematic coding of interviews and discussions
• Journey and decision mapping

• Buyers valued Indian craftsmanship but worried about finish consistency and transit damage.

Strengths and weaknesses were both clearer when buyers spoke in their own words.

• Build on the core insight: strengths and weaknesses were both clearer when buyers spoke in their own words.
• Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: buyers valued Indian craftsmanship but worried about finish consistency and transit damage.
• Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.

• The council organised finishing and packaging training for member exporters.

What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.

• Insight report and management presentation
• Cleaned data file and data tables
• Interview summaries and key verbatims

• Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
• A natural follow-on question: how much does sustainability influence choice?