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Interior design as a revenue generator

Estudio de tendencias de APE Grupo.

Interior design generates revenue in hotels and shops. It also improves productivity in offices. In fact, interior design contributes up to 67% of a hotel’s revenue and determines up to 79% of a retailer’s success. In addition, good interior design in offices can improve employee productivity by 78%.

These data are collected in the study: “The new habitat: how the spaces we inhabit change”, promoted by APE Grupo. The research involved Futurea, World Design Capital Valencia 2022, Casa Decor and the CDICV.

Our report looks at how the Coronavirus pandemic has influenced the design of the different spaces we inhabit: homes, hotels, offices and shops. The report is based on international trend research. It also involved a panel of 11 national interior design experts. In addition, a survey of interior design, architecture and product professionals was carried out, with 302 participants.

José Miguel Pellicer, CEO of APE Grupo, stressed that interior design “is a discipline that not only helps to create pleasant spaces, but also has the capacity to transform the present and create a better future”.

He pointed out that this project, which began in 2021, “is part of APE Grupo’s commitment to reflect and act hand in hand with architects and interior designers so that the spaces we inhabit respond better to the challenges of the future”.

Housing: opening up to the outside

The issues that clients and, consequently, professionals prioritise most when designing a home are openness to the outside world and flexibility. In fact, 90% of experts consider flexibility to be a determining value for the houses of the future, 10% more than last year. The same growth has been experienced by sustainability, an added value in home design for 70% of the professionals surveyed.

The use of resilient spaces and products will be the basis on which new homes will be built. What are the main factors? Organise space to be as flexible as possible through the use of ergonomic and proximity products. Through design and build to rent constructions, rooms designed for private living will be reduced and made more flexible.

The most emotionally charged space is the kitchen. It has gone from being an area for preparing food to a place for social gatherings. This is forcing designers to develop more pleasant kitchen models. Kitchen, living room, dining room and terrace are hybridised in a single space that opens up to the outside.

Hotels: tourist destinations and sensory experiences

The survey data are convincing: interior design generates revenue in a hotel. Up to 67% of a hotel establishment’s turnover is determined by its interior design.

Design and architecture are becoming a pole of attraction for a new generation of travellers and hotels are becoming true tourist destinations in their own right – museum hotels – thanks to the contribution of interior design.

Likewise, the hyper-tourism of some destinations has given rise to a traveller framework that seeks to connect with the destination and local communities.

In contrast, there is also the lifestyle hotel, which seeks to generate a brand experience through the five senses. This is achieved through design with indigenous craftsmanship, creating emotional connections and stimulating the olfactory personality.

Offices: between teleworking and attracting talent

Flexibility is one of the most important values, along with ergonomics and sustainability. 42% of the surveyed professionals think that the office will be the most important space to apply flexibility criteria. Therefore, interior design requires creative solutions to give several functions to the same location.

In addition, experts say that good interior design improves productivity in an office by 78%.

‘Rotating offices’, which propose models of workspaces shared by several companies, are on the rise. But, on the other hand, for many firms, the office is just another asset that allows them to attract talent and make employees happier.

The secret lies in choosing solutions that are easy to transport and bring a sense of corporate culture to the customer. And the offices of the future will have multi-purpose conference rooms and teamwork desks through constructive and demountable solutions.

The hoffice combines the office with a place to live, creating spaces that favour family reconciliation and promote health.

Retail: improving the customer experience

Retailers have reinvented the way they sell. As a result of this change, 40% of experts believe that the in-store experience is the most important thing when creating the space. On the other hand, 6 out of 10 professionals believe that introducing technological solutions is one of the first criteria for the design of a shop. In addition, they look for immersive experiences both online and in-store. Also, interior design generates revenue for retailers: it determines around 80% of a shop’s success.

According to experts, the focus in the retail sector is on creating immersive exhibition spaces, i.e., spaces that offer new motivations to visit physical shops.

In response to the rise of online commerce, logistics solutions are emerging that improve the quality of delivery services, such as ‘click & collect’ and ‘curbside pick-up’. These options facilitate the delivery of products ordered online within a few hours.

Finally, the APE Grupo study includes the concept of the contemplative shop. Therefore, it highlights establishments with very little product and shops converted into areas that bring together experiences for calm and relaxation, strengthening the physical and mental safety of customers.