In order to seize the market of ergonomic chairs, Herman Miller's launched Asari chair looks so much like...
According to the research on ergonomic office chair market data by Betzers Consulting, the global ergonomic office chair market will reach 56.69 billion yuan (RMB) in 2022, and the Chinese ergonomic office chair market will reach 17.619 billion yuan. China's office furniture market is very large and lacks a brand that is in an absolute leading position for the time being. High-end imported brands and cheap and unknown ODM and OEM companies have formed a polarized situation. More than 80% of ergonomic chairs of domestic companies are ToB businesses (including foreign trade exports), and there is no "dark horse" in ToC brand business scale and technology research and development.
The benchmark in the office chair industry!
According to the survey, the main manufacturers of ergonomic office chairs in the world are Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth and HNI Corporation, and the top four manufacturers in the world account for more than 10% of the market share. The high-end brands in the Chinese market are still dominated by Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth, etc. The product design and technology research and development of these companies are also the vane of the entire industry, and their every move has attracted the attention of the industry.
In 2023, Herman Miller launched an ergonomic chair called Asari. This product was launched in cooperation with Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa. The launch of this product means that Herman Miller values the C-end cake of ergonomic chairs. Originally, 95% of Herman Miller's business was aimed at the B-end market, and now it is also targeting the ToC market share, especially with the changes in the office environment after the epidemic. Workers' demand for working from home is also increasing, and they have higher requirements for the function and appearance of the office environment and chairs.
Ben Watson, president of Herman Miller, said: "The evolution of working methods means that the needs of home and office space have changed. In collaboration with visionary designer Naoto Fukasawa, the Asari chair meets the needs of today's workers through intuitive adjustment, novel leather and textiles, simple and beautiful appearance, and ergonomic performance."
After further investigation, it was found that Naoto Fukasawa is a professor at Tama Art University in Japan, the chief design consultant of MUJI, and the founder of the ±0 brand. At the same time, he has also designed products for Apple, Issey Miyake, Toshiba, and Hitachi. In addition to MUJI, Naoto Fukasawa has been honored and has become a top figure in industrial design in the industry.
In the early days, Naoto Fukasawa joined "ID two", which later became the world-renowned company IDEO. In 1996, he returned to Japan and established the IDEO Japan branch to provide design consulting services to Japan's leading companies.
This company had already noticed the trend of sponge chairs that international brands were involved in two years ago.
It is reported that this piece of ToC market cake was also favored by another brand ZUOWE in 2020. In 2020, ZUOWE cooperated with IDEO, a world-renowned consulting firm, to conduct in-depth research on the evolution of China's working environment. It was found that after the epidemic, more and more people choose to work from home, which will inevitably bring about changes in the working environment and mood.
In response to this change, BOAO Group and IDEO (with 30 years of luxury car seat manufacturing and R&D background) built an office chair brand from scratch to adapt to the office needs of the new era-ZUOWE, which advocates the comfort and efficiency of working from home. In response to the wider demand for office chairs in the retail market, it pays more attention to the comfort, design and functionality of sponge chairs, and started a B2C brand strategy.
In 2020, IDEO and ZUOWE designed a unique product on the market, the Inspiration Fit ergonomic chair. Different from 99% of the chairs on the market, ZUOWE Inspiration Fit has quickly become a dark horse in the industry since its launch, causing a sensation in the industry. Since its launch, ZUOWE office chairs have entered the international market and have been launched in the UK, Japan, the United States, Australia, Thailand, Malaysia and other countries, and have won many international design awards, including the 2021 German Red Dot Design Award, the 2021 Japanese G-mark Design Award, and the 2021 IDEA American Outstanding Industrial Design Award.
Foam chair is a fashion trend for home office!
After in-depth research, it is not difficult to find that the Asari chair launched by Herman Miller in 2023 and the Fit ergonomic chair flagship launched by ZUOWE in 2020, both products represent the same design concept, that is:
"Hard working soft seating" (the product concept conveyed by Asari) VS "creating a superior sitting experience" (the product concept conveyed by Fit).
The industry has long coveted the "cake" of ergonomic chairs and sponge chairs, but ZUOWE and Herman Miller have "wise eyes" to identify trends, predict the development of the market, keep up with market demand, and quickly launch new products to seize market share.
Just like the product concept conveyed by Herman Miller and ZUOWE, today, office chairs have become a symbol of the balance between work and life, and comfortable and functional sponge chairs have become the darling of home offices. At a time when work and living environments are increasingly integrated, office chairs are no longer just an efficiency tool. They must not only meet people's ergonomic functional needs, but also provide emotional comfort and overall health perception.
