Interior design is a multi–faceted industry in which innovative and technical design concepts finish or modify an interior environment to the specifications of the clients. The interior design industry includes firms that primarily deal with the planning, designing, and management of projects within a variety of interior spaces. Interior design companies and design consultants must consider the required building codes and health and safety regulations for all projects.
Designers must also to take into account any electrical and mechanical needs, interior fittings, furniture, traffic patterns, and floor planning. Profitability of interior design companies depends upon the volume of the projects they take on, as well as the accuracy of bidding, and timely delivery and completion of projects. Growth over the past five years was primarily driven by rising residential and commercial construction. Among the residential construction market, housing starts were also an important driver for industry revenue. Over the five years to 2023, the Interior Designers industry is expected to continue growing, though at a slower pace. This industry comprises operators that design architectural interiors and their furnishings.
In their operations, interior designers take into account building codes, health and safety regulations, traffic patterns, floor planning, electrical needs, interior fittings and furniture. These services are used by the hospitality, healthcare, commercial and residential sectors. Industry Products Full-service interior design services for residential buildings Full-service interior design services for non-residential buildings Resale of merchandise Other services Interior decorating services Industry Activities Consulting on interior decorating matters Consulting on residential design matters Consulting on institutional design matters. Lew (2006) suggested people to look at their place and surroundings carefully. According to her study, it is essential to assess how we are connecting to our surroundings and analyse what role they play in our daily activities.
Our environment shape the way we live and how we feel. According to Lew, the same objectives can also be considered in terms of their emotional effects: vehicles may affect our emotions of serenity and safety; density can make emotions of nearness and belonging.Understanding the characteristics of the way we correspond with our environment is just one more critical facet to consider in the pursuit to make our places more livable. Stone (2011) focused on Architecture interior and explained that interior spaces must be matched with the overall look of place, irrespective of its real dimension. Since place impacts individuals thought and emotions, the connection between inside and outside of the building should be considered. People would experience feelings of control, when their atmosphere does not allow them to choose connections or isolation with people, inside the building. The emotional results of populating have been associated with excitement and pressure.
In a paper published by Smith (2003), Colour performs a crucial part to the factors of environmental design such as concept, atmosphere, perform, built shape, location, and orientation. Therefore, the correct application of Colour can enhance users’ capability to communicate with their atmosphere effectively. In addition, Colour as a design device is appropriate for introducing the aesthetical, representational or cultural implications of the surroundings by the proper utilization of Colour mixture. There are different requirements, and design objectives for environment that require unique ambiences, provide for varied functions. In addition, Colour can have powerful impacts on people’s feelings, thoughts and choices.
Thus, it has influence on individual’s views and very subjective opinions regarding their physical surroundings. For example, it is revealed that while red symbolizes energy and passion, blue symbolizes pleasure and peacefulness. English and believe that task type, poster presence, and workspace colours have effects on mood, pleasure, and efficiency. Satisfaction and efficiency are not affected by workplace Colour, although efficiency is reduced or increased for the high or low quality of Colour contents over time. Posters make the office enjoyable, and also improve recognized process requirement. Perceived process requirement is also related to office colours.
Industry overview Interior design is the art and science of enhancing the interior of a building to achieve a healthier and more aesthetically pleasing environment for the people using the space. An interior designer is someone who plans, researches, coordinates, and manages such projects. Interior design is a multifaceted profession that includes conceptual development, space planning, site inspections, programming, and research, communicating with the stakeholders of a project, construction management, and execution of the design. Interior designing is the craftsmanship and art of improving the inside of a working to accomplish a more beneficial and all the more stylishly satisfying condition for the general population utilizing the space. An inside architect is somebody who designs, examines, organizes, and oversees such undertakings. Interior designing is a multifaceted calling that incorporates theoretical advancement, space arranging, site investigations, programming, and research, speaking with the partners of a venture, development administration, and execution of the plan.
The home and insides class has fluctuated constituents as various as chalk and cheddar. The home materials, family equipment, stylistic theme things, furniture for home and office, kitchenware, and such related things, constitute this lively class. No single thing is by all accounts out of interest passing by the lodging part’s development and urbanization of numerous urban areas in the nation. The utilization isn’t constrained to new houses yet has even crawled into the mind of those purchasers who are anticipating re-try their home or office space also. Nowadays such re-trying is no more an ideal, one-off event yet continues rehashing the cycle all the more regularly.
Styles Art Deco The Art Deco style began in Europe in the early years of the 20th century, with the waning of Art Nouveau. The term “Art Deco” was taken from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Decoratifs et Industriels Modernes, a world’s fair held in Paris in 1925. Art Deco rejected many traditional classical influences in favour of more streamlined geometric forms and metallic color. The Art Deco style influenced all areas of design, especially interior design, because it was the first style of interior decoration to spotlight new technologies and materials.
Art Deco rejected traditional materials of decoration and interior design, opting instead to use more unusual materials such as chrome, glass, stainless steel, shiny fabrics, mirrors, aluminium, lacquer, inlaid wood, sharkskin, and zebra skin.The use of harder, metallic materials was chosen to celebrate the machine age. These materials reflected the dawning modern age that was ushered in after the end of the First World War. The innovative combinations of these materials created contrasts that were very popular at the time – for example the mixing together of highly polished wood and black lacquer with satin and furs. The barber shop in the Austin Reed store in London was designed by P. J. Westwood.
It was soon regarded as the trendiest barber shop in Britain due to its use of metallic materials. The color themes of Art Deco consisted of metallic color, neutral color, bright color, and black and white. In interior design, cool metallic colors including silver, gold, metallic blue, charcoal grey, and platinum tended to predominate.Serge Chermayeff, a Russian-born British designer made extensive use of cool metallic colors and luxurious surfaces in his room schemes. His 1930 showroom design for a British dressmaking firm had a silver-grey background and black mirrored-glass wall panels.
Black and white was also a very popular color scheme during the 1920s and 1930s. Black and white checkerboard tiles, floors and wallpapers were very trendy at the time. As the style developed, bright vibrant colors became popular as well. Art Deco furnishings and lighting fixtures had a glossy, luxurious appearance with the use of inlaid wood and reflective finishes. The furniture pieces often had curved edges, geometric shapes, and clean lines. Art Deco lighting fixtures tended to make use of stacked geometric patterns.
Modern Art “Modern design grew out of the decorative arts, mostly from the Art Deco, in the early 20th century.” One of the first to introduce this style was Frank Lloyd Wright, who hadn’t become hugely popularized until completing the house called Fallingwater in the 1930s. “Modern art reached its peak in the 1950s and 60s which is why designers and decorators today may refer to modern design as being “mid-century.”Modern Art does not refer to the era or age of design. “Modern art is not the same as contemporary design, which is a term that interior designers apply to a shifting group of recent styles and trends.” Arab Materials “Majlis painting”, also called nagash painting, is the decoration of the majlis or front parlor of traditional Arabic homes in the Asir province of Saudi Arabia and adjoining parts of Yemen These wall paintings, an arabesque form of mural or fresco, show various geometric designs in bright colors: “Called ‘nagash’ in Arabic, the wall paintings were a mark of pride for a woman in her house.” The geometric designs and heavy lines seem to be adapted from the area’s textile and weaving patterns. “In contrast with the sobriety of architecture and decoration in the rest of Arabia, exuberant color and ornamentation characterize those of ‘Asir. The painting extends into the house over the walls and doors, up the staircases, and onto the furniture itself. When a house is being painted, women from the community help each other finish the job.
The building then displays their shared taste and knowledge. Mothers pass these on to their daughters. This artwork is based on a geometry of straight lines and suggests the patterns common to textile weaving, with solid bands of different colors. Certain motifs reappear, such as the triangular mihrab or ‘niche’ and the palmette.
In the past, paint was produced from mineral and vegetable pigments. Cloves and alfalfa yielded green. Blue came from the indigo plant. Red came from pomegranates and a certain mud. Paintbrushes were created from the tough hair found in a goat’s tail. Today, however, women use modern manufactured paint to create new looks, which have become an indicator of social and economic change.” Women in the Asir province often complete the decoration and painting of the house interior.
“You could tell a family’s wealth by the paintings,” Um Abdullah says: “If they didn’t have much money, the wife could only paint the motholath,” the basic straight, simple lines, in patterns of three to six repetitions in red, green, yellow and brown.” When women did not want to paint the walls themselves, they could barter with other women who would do the work. Several Saudi women have become famous as majlis painters, such as Fatima Abou Gahas. Media popularization Interior design has become the subject of television shows. In the United Kingdom (UK), popular interior design and decorating programs include 60 Minute Makeover (ITV), Changing Rooms (BBC), and Selling Houses (Channel 4). Famous interior designers whose work is featured in these programs include Linda Barker and Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen. In the United States, the TLC Network aired a popular program called Trading Spaces, a show based on the UK program Changing Rooms.
In addition, both HGTV and the DIY Network also televise many programs about interior design and decorating, featuring the works of a variety of interior designers, decorators, and home improvement experts in a myriad of projects. Fictional interior decorators include the Sugarbaker sisters on Designing Women and Grace Adler on Will ; Grace. There is also another show called Home MADE. There are two teams and two houses and whoever has the designed and made the worst room, according to the judges, is eliminated. Another show on the Style Network, hosted by Niecy Nash, is Clean House where they re-do messy homes into themed rooms that the clients would like.
Other shows include Design on a Dime, Designed to Sell, and The Decorating Adventures of Ambrose Price. The show called Design Star has become more popular through the 5 seasons that have already aired. The winners of this show end up getting their own TV shows, of which are Color Splash hosted by David Bromstad, Myles of Style hosted by Kim Myles, Paint-Over! hosted by Jennifer Bertrand, The Antonio Treatment hosted by Antonio Ballatore, and finally Secrets from a Stylist hosted by Emily Henderson, Bravo also has a variety of shows that explore the lives of interior designers. These include Flipping Out, which explores the life of Jeff Lewis and his team of designers; Million Dollar Decorators explores the lives of interior designers Nathan Turner, Jeffrey Alan Marks, Mary McDonald, Kathryn Ireland, and Martyn Lawrence Bullard.
Interior designing has chiefly 3 unique zones of specialties’. They are:- 1.Residential 2.Commercial 3.Others Residential:- Residential design is the design of the interior of private residences. As this type design is very specific for individual situations, the needs and wants of the individual are paramount in this area of interior design. The interior designer may work on the project from the initial planning stage or may work on the remodelling of an existing structure.
It is often a very involved process that takes months to fine-tune and create a space with the vision of the client. Business:- Business configuration includes an extensive variety of subspecialties such as:- •Retail: Includes shopping centers and malls, retail chains, claim to fame stores, visual promoting, and showrooms. •Visual and spatial marking: The utilization of room as a medium to express a corporate brand. •Corporate: Office outline for any sort of business, for example, banks.
•Healthcare: The plan of clinics, helped living offices, therapeutic workplaces, dental practitioner workplaces, mental offices, labs, medicinal expert offices.
•Hospitality and amusement: Includes lodgings, motels, resorts, journey ships, bistros, bars, gambling clubs, dance club, theaters, music and show lobbies, musical show houses, sports scenes, eateries, rec centers, wellbeing clubs and spas, and so on.
•Institutional: Government workplaces, money related establishments (banks and credit associations), schools and colleges, religious offices, and so forth.
•Industrial offices: Manufacturing and preparing offices and also import and fare facilities.
•Exhibition: Includes historical centers, display, presentation lobby, uncommonly the outline for showroom and display exhibition.
•Traffic building: Includes transport station, metro station, air terminals, dock, and so forth.
•Sports: Includes rec centers, stadiums, swimming rooms, ball corridors, and so on. Other than the above mentioned areas, interior designing is applied in other areas like railway station, airports, luxury cruise, etc. These are very few in numbers.
Market Segmentation There is a small shift of market share from furniture to décor during last couple of years. This is due to the reason of controlled consumption which resulted in spending less on high value items like furniture. Consumers continued to spend on furnishings as it has been and invested more in upgrading interiors and décor items to get refreshing look at home and office. The furniture segment contributes highest in the overall market with small furniture like chair, table, stools, cabinets, desks etc. Collection of such items generates volume business for the category.
The large furniture items such as beds, sofa set, dining furniture set, large wardrobes, cup-boards are high ticket items which require higher investments. The market share of small furniture is 75 per cent and that of large is 25 per cent. Home furnishings segment bed linen, towels and robes, kitchen linen, curtains, upholstery, blankets, rugs carpets. Among these sub-segments bed linen has the largest share close to half of total market. But the faster growing sub-segments are curtains, upholstery, blankets, rugs and carpets.
New concept market – This comes to fore when a new house/ office is planned. This will require everything including design, architecture, interiors, furnishings, furniture and décor new to create a concept to live or work in. Though this market has low frequency of consumption but drives huge ticket sales. This market will always survive on innovation and aspiration.
Refurbishment market – This is more regular market which thrives on upgradation, renovation and improvement within living or working space. The consumption frequency is relatively higher but with lower ticket sale items. The CII looked at the turnover of a number of 170 design studios. In the interior design, landscape and furniture category, the turnover varied as follows: 47% made less than Rs. 2,50,00,000.
10% made between Rs. 2,50,00,000 and Rs. 4,99,50,000. 26% made between 5,00,00,000 and 25,00,00,000. 17% made 25,00,00,000 or above.
Go Interio is a 1 and a half year old bootstrap startup in Kolkata. It is a turnkey interior designing company who offers different types of Residential and commercial spaces like interior designing, renovation services and vastu consultation. It is co-founded by Mohit Behal and Rohit Jaiswal. With more than 50 plus skilled professionals, they take care of all the requirements and offer tailor made solutions which suits individual customers best. Moreover, they adopts different project management techniques, customers gets a superb end result along with a smooth journey during the whole course.
They provide designs from 3 different interior designers at the beginning to provide customers with different choices. To keep the customers informed throughout the project duration, they audit individual projects weekly and keeps the customers informed. OBJECTIVE There were multiple objectives for the SIP. The objectives in details are as follows:- Industry Size (Nationally/Regionally/Zone-Specific) and Dimensions of Interior Designing Growth Drivers Target Segment and Preferences (Define the segment, preferences and their parameters of choosing the interior designing service) Effective Channels of Finding an Interior Designer (Lead Generation and Marketing Channels – Measure the effectiveness depth of the channels) Demand Side (Clients: Gather Responses, In-Depth, F2F Interviews) and Supply Side (Interior Designers: There business processes/customer acquisition measure, marketing channels etc) Potential Geographic Areas (Map areas) and Channels Go Interio should target for customer acquisition APPROACH The approach taken for fulfilling the different objectives was unique and not a linear approach.For calculation of the industry size, the no of flats available for sale (including new and resale) were taken into consideration from online portals and the rate of the flats were multiplied.
For competitor Analysis, interaction with the interior designer of Kolkata was taken into consideration. In General, Secondary research combined with filed interaction was adopted for gathering information and findings. Overall, a total of 25 interior designers were interviewed for analyzing the competitor analysis. The number of customers interacted were 88 for understanding their requirements and what they want. There are multiple factors which helps a industry to grow.
The factors are different for different industries. The factors which are responsible for the growth of interior designing industry are as follows:- People have started taking their home as the reflection of themselves Working women are spending a lot on home fashion. Disposable income, better education Growing trend of individuals opting for professional services Indians are well travelled now and have an exposure to lifestyles in other countries The factors have been taken into consideration by interacting with industry experts, supply side and secondary research. KOLKATA Population:- By 2025, the Kolkata urban area will have an estimated population of 20.1 million. Currently, around 15 million is the population. The City of Joy is home to 9600 millionaires, Hyderabad boasts of 9000 such high net worth individuals, Bangalore 7700, Pune 4500, Gurgaon 4000 and Chennai 6600 millionaires.
Interior Designers at UrbanClap served 1499 requests in Kolkata, Kolkata in the last 30 days as of 9 March, 2018. An average request in Interior Designers Category costs around Rs. 8735.60. Kolkata’s nominal GDP is expected to reach US$169 billion in 2030, with a per capita nominal GDP of US$7,400 (Source: ibef) Tollygunge, where prices range between Rs 5,500 and Rs 13,500 per sqft, depending on the development, has witnessed the biggest price dip of 17%. This is followed by 12% correction in Rajarhat-New Town where prices range between Rs 4,000 and Rs 6,000.
Prices in Ballygunge, Park Street and Rawdon Street have remained static while Salt Lake, Behala, BT Road, Jessore Road, Madhyamgram and Narendrapur have witnessed a lower price correction in the 2%-4% range. MARKET POTENTIAL The market potential for interior designing industry is calculated on the basis of no of flats available for resale and new bookings. The basis of calculations is done by taking into the no of flats multiplied by different price slabs under which they are available. The no of flats available in kolkata are as follows:- The no of resale flats available area wise in Kolkata:- This shows the market potential calculation in terms of money .For South Kolkata:- The total valuation for new flats comes to RS 198,02,50,000. For North Kolkata:- The total valuation for new flats comes to RS 25,25,00,000.
For East Kolkata The total valuation for new flats comes to RS 104,45,00,000. For West Kolkata, The total valuation for new flats comes to RS 85,77,50,000. For South Kolkata:- The total valuation for resale flats comes to RS 13,28,40,00,000. For North Kolkata:- The total valuation for resale flats comes to RS 318,25,00,000. For East Kolkata The total valuation for resale flats comes to RS 823,97,50,000. For West Kolkata, The total valuation for flats comes to RS 801,47,50,000.
The Total valuation would be 1/5th of the total cost of the flats. Total Valuation= Rs 3685,60,00,000 1/5th = 737,12,00,000This is TAM ( Total Addressable Market). List of New flats in kolkata The average total no of new flats and under construction flats which will be delivered within 2020 available in Kolkata is 67,335. This shows a glimpse of the potential present for interior designing industry in Kolkata. Non premium service providers Other than the top service providers, there is a presence of interior designers who charges less than the others and more in numbers. There business process is more less same.
They key areas of their business process are as follows:- “Whatever the customer wants” attitude Lower cost than the premium level service provider Provides same kind of design at an overall lower cost Lack of proper project planning Lack of customer interaction and follow up. Demand Side Analysis:- Overall, the factors which are important for customers range from emi option to no differentiating factors. The factors which were common for all the customers visited are as follows: Among the 88 customers I interacted, 71 people had concern/doubt about the end result 57 people had Lack of information about the types of products used and their warranty 60 people found No differentiating factor among different interior designer and their pricing.
66 people mentioned about lack of Emi option Customer Channelization In Kolkata, customers either prefers references from their acquaintances while choosing an interior designer or they prefer online directories and Google results for choosing an interior designer. Among the 88 customers I interacted, 63 customers said they choose interior designers through online portals. 25 customers referred word of mouth (relatives and known people). It is clearly visible that majority of the people preferred online results as their primary source for choosing an interior designer.
Go Interio should focus on better online presence such as SEO, listed in online directories such as just dial, sulekha, urban clap etc for lead generation. According to investopedia, BTL is defined as “An advertising strategy in which a product is promoted in mediums other than radio, television, billboards, print and film. Types of below-the-line advertising commonly include direct mail campaigns, trade shows and catalogs”. In Interior Designing, especially in Kolkata, BTL activities do not have a substantial effect on the customer channelization or influence.
The cost and the outcomes of the BTL activities is not satisfactory. At an Average, the cost of BTL activities are as follows: The BTL Activities are not effective because of few important reasons. One of the main reasons are other than South Kolkata, rest of the areas are not open to BTL activities. This leads to a loss in customer engagement.
Moreover, Under Construction complexes do not have people (Target Market) residing in them. So, BTL Activities would not be that effective. Similarly, most people complete their interiors and shift to their houses, so complexes with people residing will also have less impact as most of them have done their interior designing prior to moving in. Email also will not be effective as Interior designing cannot be explained over words; it requires face to face interaction to make customers realize what one is offering. At a superficial level, Digital Marketing is marketing conveyed through computerized channels, for example, search engines, websites, social media, email, and mobile apps. While this term covers an extensive variety of advertising exercises, which are all not generally settled upon, we’ll look into the most widely recognized techniques.
Today’s generation spends most of the time on the internet. Social Media apps have made a striking effect on our lives. Every other company is moving onto the digital platform to enhance the chances of customer acquisition and improving customer experience. The scenario in Kolkata for interior designing companies is also no different. Digital Marketing is a cyclic process. It’s a never ending cycle where companies have to keep on changing and adapting to the ever changing requirements and check with the outcomes.
The following graph from statista.com shows the emergence and penetration of the social media and internet in today’s world:- Source:- Staista.com Digital Marketing has many aspects, which are used to enhance the marketing and customer interaction. Each one of these helps a company in some or the other way. Every other type has its own significance in digital marketing world. For Example, Social Media Apps helps in increasing Brand Awareness’ whereas SEO and SEM help in generating Leads and business development.
Why Digital Marketing is needed? Facts and Figures:- The typical searcher is creating more specific searches and 93% of them only review the search results on page Just 7% of searchers will look at page 2, and only 1% will get as far as page 3. 96% of marketers of marketers are using social media to drive business The cost of Digital Marketing in Kolkata are as follows:- Seo costs around 20k to 30k per month. Social media marketing costs around 15k to 30k per month. For pay per click, rs 3000 for 100 clicks. FINDINGS:- There were many findings after meeting and doing face to face interviews with the demand side and supply side. The findings are:- No differentiating factors among the different competitors.
There are many players in the market who are offering the service of interior designing. But there are hardly any differentiating factors present among the different competitors. More or less, the services offered by different competitors are same. Customer interaction is the main focus point for the companies. The companies are more or less dependent on the customer interaction which they have while meeting with the clients.
Lack of use of technology There is a dearth of use of technology among the companies. Most of the companies still use manual ways to deal with the project management, informing and updating customers. Lack of explaining “why professionals” All the interior designing are mentioning about ” space planning” but none of them are explaining what is proper space planning and what is a ” bad space planning”. Customers are not properly informed about what space planning is! Huge price variations among the supply side For the same requirements which I suggested, the price quoted by the interior designers ranges from 16 lakhs to 32 lakhs. This creates a confusion among the customers.
Lack of trust None of the companies provides warranty for any products/services. Though they are charging a hefty amount of money, yet they are not providing any kind of warranty. This results in lack of trust from the demand side. Lack of after sales service There is no after sales services provided by the interior designing company. So, for any kind of problems after the completion of the project, customers need to someone for fixing the problem.
Lack of EMI option There is no EMI option provided by the companies. Many customers mentioned the lack of emi option as an potential reason for not investing more money over the interiors. Word of Mouth and Online search is most preferred channel. Customers either take references from their known people before choosing an interior designer or they search online for choosing one.
So, in terms of channels for lead generation, one should focus on online marketing and video testimonials for lead generation and customer acquisition. BTL Activities are not effective for lead generation. Most of the under construction complexes do not have potential customers who will be informed about the services. In the same time, the complexes which have been completed and handed over, most of the residents have completed their interiors as most people preferred completing the interiors before moving in. There has been many suggestions suggested by me in terms of lead generation, customer channels, creating differentiating factors and how to improve customer experience. These suggestions are in line with the demand side analysis and overall understanding of how other competitors are working.
The suggestions are: This would help the customers to be more informed about the materials and designs available and the rate of the individual products. As many customers mentioned about the presence of doubt about the end result, AR and VR would help them to visualize the end result much before they invest the money. This will create a positive effect among the customers. Like AR and VR, 3D Printing will help customers visualize the product design, shape and the aesthetics much before it is actually made. With every passing year, customers are becoming much more tech savy, so providing them with tech savy hardware will create a differentiating factor for the company. Very few customers know about what proper space planning is! Customers should be shown examples of bad space planning and this will result in customer appreciating a good space planning and the value of professionals. Provide details about the total cost which has to be incurred by the customers.
This increases the trust. Provide warranty of for the branded products and extended warranty on service bundling. Better presence in digital world High customer interaction Hire a person who has digital marketing knowledge. His/her salary will be less than the cost incurred for hiring a digital agency. Start with social media posts.
Start finding out keywords. Later, hire a agency.
