- Contents
- *Overview
- What you need to know
- Products covered in this report
- Carpets and rugs
- Smooth flooring
What you need to know
After several years of weak demand, consumer spending on carpets and floorcoverings has revived, stimulated by a more buoyant housing market. Retailers, which had struggled to make any gains in sales, have seen an uptick in sales volumes because of this. But, the carpet market has been changing fast and there has been a swing away from wool to synthetics with a corresponding fall in typical prices charged. Plus, the long-term trend towards smooth flooring means that wood, laminates, tiles and vinyl all compete for attention against fitted carpets, yet favour demand for loose carpets and rugs.
Products covered in this report
This report profiles the retail market for two distinct sectors, namely carpets and other floorcoverings. Carpets are the traditional method of floorcovering for the UK residential market. Fitted carpets dominate the sector, although it also includes loose rugs. Other floorcoverings, known as smooths, comprise a disparate group of other products made from a variety of materials. The range of products covered in this report includes:
Carpets and rugs
woven carpets including wool or wool/synthetic mix, synthetic fibres (including polypropylene, nylon)
tufted carpets – manufactured by punching the fibre into a jute or synthetic backing that is then kept in place by use of an adhesive
fibre-bonded carpets – made by meshing together a blend of fibres to form a web that is treated by heat or resin impregnation
carpet tiles – may be fibre-bonded, fusion-bonded or tufted
non-fixed textile floorcoverings – include loose carpets and rugs but excluding doormats, bath and toilet pedestal mats
underlay
Smooth flooring
vinyl/vinyl tiles – cushion vinyl sheet, which is offered both with and without a cushioned underlay, vinyl tile
wood
laminate – including those manufactured from resin-impregnated paper that is sandwiched together by either direct or high-pressure methods
ceramic tiles
other smooth flooring – includes linoleum, cork, stone.
The report concentrates on the UK consumer (residential) market for carpets and other floorcoverings, although it recognises the importance of the contract market to the wellbeing of many manufacturers. This is particularly the case in the market for smooth floorcoverings, where a smaller proportion of output has traditionally gone through domestic sales.
Underlay is included in the market definitions in this report, although has been excluded in the past. Carpet fitting costs are also covered.
Crown copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen’s Printer for Scotland. Value figures throughout this report are at retail selling prices unless otherwise stated. Market sizes at 2015 prices are calculated using Mintel’s Household Goods deflator.
