Exhibition Highlight

The Furniture Global Expansion Research Lab jointly initiated by CIFF Shanghai and MSC (Maker Sustainability Consulting), is now officially launched.

This marks the beginning of a new initiative. Designed for furniture brands exploring overseas markets and global growth strategies, the Furniture Global Expansion Research Lab will focus on the key challenges and strategic questions surrounding international expansion, delivering industry-focused research, market insights, and resource integration to support more informed overseas market understanding and business decision-making. Related consulting services will also be introduced progressively to help enterprises improve the precision and long-term return of their global expansion strategies.

As one of China’s leading professional home furnishing exhibitions with a strong design-driven and brand-oriented positioning, CIFF Shanghai continues to strengthen the efficiency of precise matchmaking between premium brands and professional buyers. Backed by a 300,000 m² exhibition scale, the gathering power of over 1,500 domestic and international brands, a database of more than 500,000 high-quality visitors, and long-term access to over 10,000 international professional buyers, CIFF Shanghai continues to reinforce its integrated platform value across design leadership, brand showcasing, and commercial conversion.

MSC is one of China’s leading sustainability strategy consulting firms, having served multinational corporations including Anheuser-Busch InBev, L'Oréal, and Yum China, as well as major state-owned enterprises such as State Grid Corporation of China, China Resources, and Beijing Enterprises Group, alongside leading private enterprises including Tencent, Alibaba Group, and Kuaishou.

As a strategic partner dedicated to growth-driven global expansion, MSC has helped more than 200 enterprises successfully enter overseas markets through precise market research and brand positioning strategies. In one representative case, the firm enabled a client to achieve explosive growth of 654.6%.

In 2024, China’s furniture and furniture parts exports reached RMB 483 billion, representing a year-on-year increase of 7%. While enthusiasm for global expansion continues to rise, most enterprises still concentrate their resources and attention on execution-level actions such as advertising, product selection, and channel distribution. Yet the outcomes are often determined much earlier — at the strategic decision-making stage. Which market to enter, under what positioning, and with what product logic are decisions that fundamentally shape the result. Once these judgments are misaligned, greater execution efforts often lead to even higher costs and inefficiencies.

Different markets require entirely different strategic responses. The Middle East presents clear opportunities, yet market entry remains heavily dependent on local distribution systems and relationship networks. Central Asia is growing rapidly, but channel infrastructure, language communication, and trust-building mechanisms often need to be established from the ground up. Latin America offers fast-moving order opportunities, yet tensions between compliance risks, short-term growth, and long-term brand building remain constant. Many outstanding Chinese furniture brands already possess mature product capabilities, stable supply chain systems, and continuously evolving design capabilities. However, when entering overseas markets, they still encounter highly practical and complex questions:

As market trends continue to evolve, how can brands identify which opportunities are truly relevant to them?

Can a brand positioning established in China remain effective in overseas markets?

What are the fundamental differences between overseas distribution channels, communication networks, KOL ecosystems, and those in China?

How can brands transform cultural differences across markets into competitive advantages rather than barriers?

Information asymmetry, resource mismatch, and the lack of clear methodologies have become “invisible barriers” on the path toward globalization for many brands. The establishment of the Furniture Global Expansion Research Lab is intended precisely to break through these barriers.

Opportunity Insights

Closely tracking emerging trends, market shifts, and growth opportunities across the global furniture industry, the Research Lab helps brands identify the most relevant opportunities amid overwhelming volumes of information and rapidly evolving markets.

In-Depth Insights

Through systematic analysis of key markets, changing consumer behavior, and competitive dynamics, the Research Lab deconstructs critical business questions, clarifies decision-making frameworks, and helps enterprises move from fragmented information toward more strategic market understanding.

PracticalCase Studies

The Research Lab will continuously engage with frontline practices from domestic and international brands and enterprises, examining real-world expansion experiences, strategic methodologies, and critical lessons learned to provide actionable references for more businesses pursuing global growth.

If you are a furniture brand venturing overseas to explore globalization, regardless of your product category, size, or stage of development, as long as you are considering how to more steadily expand into overseas markets, you are welcome to join us.

In the future, the "Furniture Going Global Research Lab" will continue to exchange ideas and co-create with industry partners through white papers, private seminars, and other means, allowing more insights, experiences, and resources to generate real value through interaction.