The festive season is well and truly upon us, as the repetition of 'Celebrations' boxes in the office attests to, which means it's not long before the big day itself.
And out on the other side, once the turkey's eaten, the Champagne drunk and the batteries recharged?
2022.
We've been asked a lot recently about what we feel next year holds for KBB retailers. With consensus in the office, here are three of our predictions...
The pandemic will kick on, and so will home improvement.
Let's make no bones about it, the Omicron variant is not what any of us wanted.
But it's here and cements the fact that that we'll still be trying to manage the virus well into next year.
Whilst that's not great news in lots of ways, there is a silver lining for KBB retailers:
The home improvement wave will continue.
With life not going totally 'back to normal', we'll continue to see more people spending more time at home and wanting to improve their homes as a result.
Plus, while holidays will hopefully happen next year, with travel still a challenge, there'll definitely be some more holiday budget reattributed to home improvement, as we've seen in the last two years.
In short, don't expect demand for new kitchens to slow down anytime soon.
Digital marketing will continue to grow in importance.
The last couple of years have highlighted the need to be found online, and that trend will only grow in 2022.
People's tolerance for slow and rudimentary websites has diminished rapidly, and so has Google's, with the search giant factoring user experience (UX) into the results they offer up. So, if you have a mediocre kitchen website, that will increasingly be an issue.
The reliance on Search will continue to grow. So, SEO for your website and/or Google Ads will be even more necessary to compete.
Talking of Google Ads, I expect this advertising option to rise further in relevance and importance for several reasons. One of those is – there's far less scepticism and far more acceptance of ads in a Google search. So, they're increasingly likely to get clicked, resulting in their even greater efficiency and performance.
To ride the continuing wave next year, make sure you can be found for precisely what you offer. And when people choose to click onto your site, be sure to provide them with a relevant, quality, content-rich destination.
Hybrid homeworking is here to stay.
Many people's working habits have changed forever, and thanks to Omicron, many thousands of people will have returned to the kitchen table.
That's not a trend that will be reversed anytime soon, and kitchen retailers need to cater to it.
In the many kitchen projects and case studies that come across our desk, we're seeing an emphasis on zoned living - open plan kitchens that provide a dedicated, de-centralised workspace being the latest order of the day.
In 2022, you can expect that to be a key demand from your customers, so the more design examples and products you've got that cater to that need, the better.
There you have it: three KBB predictions for 2022 – I hope they help you formulate your plans for next year and hit the ground running.
Out of interest, is there anything you'd add in terms of what you're seeing in the market?
