The results of Interconnection Consulting’s annual Online Mystery Shopping Study shed light on the service performance of window dealers in Austria. While the response time of dealers to online customer inquiries is improving and an increased focus on closing deals is evident, customer consultation and quoting remain critical areas with room for improvement.

Increasing Response Rate of Window Dealers to Customer Inquiries

In the study, a total of 132 window dealers were contacted via email to make a specific inquiry about a renovation project. Additionally, three questions were asked to assess service quality. The results show a pleasing increase in dealers’ responsiveness: While only 58.7% of dealers responded to the initial email inquiry last year, this year the response rate rose to 75.8%. After a follow-up email and a call, the response rate increased to 93.2%, although slightly below last year’s rate of 96.7%.

Decrease in Offers, But Increased Focus on Closing Deals

However, the study also revealed some concerning trends. While responsiveness increased, the number of dealers who provided an offer after the email inquiry dramatically decreased – from 60.0% last year to only 44.7% this year. Yet there is hope: the focus on closing deals, i.e., dealers following up after providing an offer, significantly improved from 13.6% compared to 5.4% last year. Nevertheless, this figure is catastrophically low and should be above 80%.

Efficient Service – Window Dealers Score with Quick Response and Fast Quoting

The average response time to customer inquiries improved to 2.3 working days compared to 2.8 working days last year, with a notable 59.1% of dealers adhering to the golden rule and responding within 24 hours. The average time to provide a quote also shortened to 5.6 days, compared to 6.7 days last year.

Regarding communication preferences, the study showed that 49.2% of dealers prefer communication via email. Only 23.7% suggested a personal meeting, while only 13.6% proposed a phone call to advise potential customers.

Quality of Customer Consultation Remains a Challenge

Despite the improved response times, the study indicates a decline in the quality of customer consultation. Only a third (35.5%) of dealers answered all three questions about installation, delivery time, and sun protection, compared to 59.1% last year. Mag. Panorea Kaskani, author of the study, emphasizes the importance of these results: “It is encouraging to see window dealers responding more quickly to online inquiries. However, there is an urgent need to improve the quality of consultation and enhance sales closure.”

Rising construction financing costs, higher energy prices and the uncertainty of economic development have clouded the forecast for the European window market over the winter of 2022. Overall, the sales volume of the window market in Western Europe will decline by 5.3% in 2023. In 2022, sales could still increase by 2.8%, according to a new study by Interconnection Consulting, the results of which will be presented at the Vienna Window Congress (22-23 June 2023).

Above all, window sales in the new construction sector will be affected by rising construction financing costs. Residential construction projects are being postponed or even cancelled. A sustained upswing in the window market in Western Europe is not expected until 2025. The renovation segment, on the other hand, will not fall as sharply as the new construction segment and also has strong potential in the long term. Not least because the EU Commission proposes that the energy efficiency of every residential building in the EU should reach at least class D by 2033. Already in the previous year, the renovation sector performed better than the overall market with an increase of 3.7%. In the meantime, two out of three windows are sold in the renovation sector.

Southern Europe is the Growth Champion

In 2022, government subsidies led to an extreme increase in window sales in the renovation segment, especially in Southern Europe. Sales in Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal) increased by around 8%. In Italy alone, growth was 13.4% last year. However, the new regulations in the “super bonus” will lead to a decline in demand in the window market, explains Laszlo Barla, the author of the study. “Market participants and experts fear a decline in Italy of up to 10%”. Interconnection also assumes a significant decline in the Italian window market, but from a high level, as Barla points out. Overall, the Southern Europe region will shrink by less than 5% next year, less than the Western European average, which is also due to the high renovation rate of almost 80%.

Weak Refurbishment Sector in Austria and Switzerland

The decline in the DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) will amount to 5%. In Austria, in contrast to all other countries in Western Europe, refurbishment was on the decline in 2022. More was invested in photovoltaics and heating system replacement than in the building envelope (window replacement). In addition to stagnating building completions, this led to a slight minus of around 3% in window sales. For 2023, Interconnection expects a decline of 15% in building completions. In Switzerland, window sales stagnated last year. Despite lower inflation, residential construction will also decline in Switzerland, leading to a drop in window sales in the new construction sector. The renovation sector will also decline by about 1% and thus will not be able to compensate for the downturn in the residential construction sector. The decline in window sales is strongest in the UK & Ireland region with around 7%. Overall, the Northern Europe region (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland) is holding up best, losing only about 4.5% in market volume in 2023.

High Growth for PVC Windows in Southern Europe

Overall, 70% of window units are sold in residential construction. PVC windows make up the largest share with 43.9%. Especially in Southern Europe, multi-storey residential construction and thermal renovation have favoured the spread of PVC windows. For example, the growth rate for PVC windows in Italy was 16.4% and in Spain 6.3% in 2022. Overall, the share of PVC windows in Southern Europe is 38%. In the UK & Ireland, DACH and France & Benelux regions, the PVC share is even around 50%. Metal windows have a total share of 26.4% and wooden windows 14.7%. In the DACH region and in the Nordic countries, four out of five windows sold are triple-glazed. In the other regions surveyed (Southern Europe, Great Britain & Ireland, and France & Benelux) double glazing dominates. In France & Benelux the share of double glazing is around 90%.

More information on the Vienna Window Congress (22-23 June 2023):

https://www.wienerfensterkongress.at/de/

Window prices in Austria show great variation, both between traders and in a regional comparison, as a mystery shopping test by Interconnection Consulting revealed. The people of Burgenland, for example, have to dig deepest into their pockets when buying a window.

At 621.5 euros, Burgenland is in first place for the price of PVC windows (90×130). Alongside the leader, Lower Austria, Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Styria are also above the Austria-wide average price of 547.0 euros. In Upper Austria, PVC windows are the cheapest at an average price of 492.0 euros. Compared to the previous year, the Austria-wide average price for PVC windows increased by more than 106 euros. The surcharge for increased security (increased window security, lockable handles) was around 25 percent in the PVC segment. Depending on the window brand and various features such as sound insulation, Ug-value (heat transmission through window glass), security class and brand, the price range for PVC windows in the 90x130cm format at the surveyed retailers was between 192.5 and 1,026.1 euros. “On average, the different window brands alone account for about 100 percent of the price difference for PVC windows,” explains Vito Graziano, the author of the study. For wood/aluminium windows, the price range is between 659.3 and 1,890.8 euros. For wood/aluminium windows, Vienna is the most expensive province with an average price of 1,139.9 euros for standard safety, ahead of Burgenland and Vorarlberg. Upper Austria also brings up the rear in this segment at around 960 euros. The average price for wooden aluminium windows was 1,041.6 euros. The average surcharge for increased security is 11.4% for wooden alu windows.

Manufacturers are Discount Shy

The average installation costs including delivery and disposal were 2,844 euros, whereby the price range varies greatly between the federal provinces. In Salzburg, installation is much more expensive at 3,199 euros than in Carinthia at 2,005 euros. More than every third provider (38.7%) also grants discounts. Of the roughly 61% who do not grant a discount, 8.7% did not respond to the discount request at all. The average discount was 4.1%, considerably lower than last year’s 10%. Cash discount was granted by 57% of the traders.

Corona has given e-commerce a new lease of life. However, Interconnection Consulting’s annual online mystery shopping test of the Austrian window market shows major shortcomings in online sales, which can also be attributed to staff being overtaxed.

The study examined the online customer service of 144 Austrian window manufacturers. Almost all manufacturers (96.7%) responded to online enquiries, but only after several interventions (reminder e-mail, telephone contact). Nevertheless, the percentage of manufacturers who responded after the first e-mail rose to more than 58%; in the previous year, this value was still below 50%.

Almost No Follow Up

The percentage of window dealers who submitted an offer after the e-mail enquiry increased in comparison to last year, up to 61.1%, whereby in 2021 it was 55.3%. 27.7% of manufacturers do not send a quotation without a reason, the rest issued a rejection for a quotation due to the lack of personal contact. The bad news, however, is that only 5.4% of dealers who sent an offer followed up to see if there was still interest or if there was any ambiguity. A figure that deteriorated significantly compared to the previous year. “Follow-up is still not working at all,” sums up Vito Graziano, the author of the study. The overtaxed salespersons are often left alone by the companies, says Graziano. Attempts to upsell or cross-sell are also very rare. Only one in four retailers tries to increase sales through targeted upselling measures and one in six retailers uses the customer relationship to offer additional or complementary services.

Companies Quicker To Respond.

The golden rule of a response within 24 hours was only met by around one in three retailers. Nevertheless, the speed of response increased significantly compared to 2021. The average response time in 2022 was 2.8 days, a full day less than in the previous year. The average time to place an offer also fell from 7.4 to 6.7 days. Nevertheless, 14% of traders took more than ten days to make an offer. 59.1% of the traders surveyed responded to all three questions asked (assembly, warranty, delivery time).

New Online Mystery Shopping Study Shows Sellers Are Out of their Depth

Corona has given e-commerce a new lease of life. However, Interconnection Consulting’s annual online mystery shopping test of the Austrian window market shows major shortcomings in online sales, which can also be attributed to staff being overtaxed.

The study examined the online customer service of 144 Austrian window manufacturers. Almost all manufacturers (96.7%) responded to online enquiries, but only after several interventions (reminder e-mail, telephone contact). Nevertheless, the percentage of manufacturers who responded after the first e-mail rose to more than 58%; in the previous year, this value was still below 50%.

Almost No Follow Up with Potential Customers

The percentage of window dealers who submitted an offer after the e-mail enquiry increased in comparison to last year, up to 61.1%, whereby in 2021 it was 55.3%. 27.7% of manufacturers do not send a quotation without a reason, the rest issued a rejection for a quotation due to the lack of personal contact. The bad news, however, is that only 5.4% of dealers who sent an offer followed up to see if there was still interest or if there was any ambiguity. A figure that deteriorated significantly compared to the previous year. “Follow-up is still not working at all,” sums up Vito Graziano, the author of the study. The overtaxed salespersons are often left alone by the companies, says Graziano. Attempts to upsell or cross-sell are also very rare. Only one in four retailers tries to increase sales through targeted upselling measures and one in six retailers uses the customer relationship to offer additional or complementary services.

Companies Quicker To Respond than in 2021

The golden rule of a response within 24 hours was only met by around one in three retailers. Nevertheless, the speed of response increased significantly compared to 2021. The average response time in 2022 was 2.8 days, a full day less than in the previous year. The average time to place an offer also fell from 7.4 to 6.7 days. Nevertheless, 14% of traders took more than ten days to make an offer. 59.1% of the traders surveyed responded to all three questions asked (assembly, warranty, delivery time).

The window market in the top 5 countries in Europe (Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain) could increase its sales by 9.9% to around 49 million window units in 2021. This year, after a strong first six months, there has been a significant deceleration in momentum since the third quarter, according to a new study by Interconnection Consulting. A decline in sales overall is expected in 2023 in the countries studied.

Residential construction is slowing in Europe as the impact of higher interest rates reduces housing affordability. This is leading to a decline in window sales, which will be around 3% next year. However, this downturn is taking place from a very high level, as Laszlo Barla, author of the study explains. Added to this are sharply rising construction and energy prices as well as limited availability of raw materials.

Germany’s Window Market Slows Down

The largest market for windows is Germany, with 15.5 million units sold last year, accounting for nearly one-third of the total sales of all countries studied. While the overall market of the countries studied will still grow 2.6% in volume this year, Germany’s window market will stagnate as early as 2022. For example, the suspension of the KfW subsidy programs for energy-efficient buildings at the beginning of the year caused uncertainty in the residential construction market, which led to reduced construction activity. The countries in the south of Europe with Italy, Spain and France will still achieve an increase in sales in 2022, but it is already apparent this fall that construction starts are declining significantly, which will not have an impact on completions and therefore also on the window market until 2023. In the UK, catch-up effects will ensure somewhat higher growth figures until 2022, so that the window market will approach its pre-Brexit level again. However, the UK window market will in all likelihood not be able to escape a decline in sales in 2023 either, as the outlook for the UK economy as a whole is rather gloomy for the near future. The Bank of England, for example, expects a recession by the end of 2023.

PVC Windows Dominate the Market

Due to the decline in new construction, the renovation sector shows greater growth momentum and ensures that the decline is not sharper. Overall, the renovation sector accounts for 66.1% of the market. The residential construction sector accounts for around 70% of the total volume of the industry. Plastic windows are the dominant segment, accounting for almost 50% of sales. Metal comes to 30% and wood to 13.2%. The countries with the highest PVC share in residential construction are Great Britain with 73.5%, ahead of France with 63.5%. In contrast, metal windows are very popular in Spain with a share of almost 58%. However, it is also evident in Spain that plastic windows have shown the strongest growth in recent years and are therefore gaining market share. Over 16 million window units with triple glazing were sold last year. Most of the sales in this segment came from Germany. In the other countries surveyed, the market share for triple glazing is mostly well below 15%.

Window prices in Austria show great variation, as a mystery shopping test by Interconnection Consulting revealed. A total of 80 window dealers were put under the microscope. Increased security raises the prices of windows. There are also geographical price differences. Burgenlanders, for example, have to dig deepest into their pockets.

Security Surcharge for Windows

At 552.2 euros, Burgenland is in first place when it comes to the price of PVC windows. Besides the leader, Vorarlberg, Tyrol and Vienna are also above the Austria-wide average price of 488.1 euros. In Upper Austria, PVC windows are cheapest with an average price of 450.4 euros. Compared to the previous year, the Austria-wide average price decreased by 4 euros. The surcharge for increased security (increased window security, lockable handles) was around 23 percent in the PVC segment. Meanwhile, the price differences between the individual dealers are huge, especially for windows with increased security. Here, the window prices of the most expensive supplier are five times more than those of the cheapest manufacturer.  For wood/aluminium windows, Vienna leads the price spectrum with an average price of 888.8 euros for standard security, ahead of Upper Austria and Salzburg. Right at the bottom in this segment is Styria with around 780 euros. For increased security, one has to spend on average about 18 percent more for wood/aluminium than for basic security.

Dealers Are Discount Shy

The average installation costs including delivery and disposal were 2,534 euros, whereby the price range varies greatly between the provinces. In Vorarlberg, installation is about twice as expensive at 3,700 euros as in Carinthia at around 1,900 euros. Around every third provider also grants discounts. “Of the roughly 66 percent who do not grant a discount, 13.2 percent did not respond to the discount request at all,” explains Panorea Kaskani, the author of the study. The average discount was around 10%. Cash discounts were granted by about two-thirds of all retailers. “Besides the security features, however, it is also the brand that plays a decisive influence on the price, as the study clearly shows”, as Kaskani, concludes.

Window prices in Germany show great variation, as a mystery shopping test by Interconnection Consulting revealed. According to a study by Interconnection Consulting, the south-western region of the country is the most expensive when buying windows. A total of 80 window dealers were examined for this study.

At an average of 598.9 euros, the south-west region is in first place when it comes to the price of PVC windows. In the West, on the other hand, the prices are the lowest at 410.7 euros. The average price across the whole of Germany is 468.9 euros. The surcharge for increased security (increased window security) was around 17 percent in the PVC segment. Meanwhile, the price differences between the individual manufacturers are huge. For standard windows, for example, the highest price was around 700 euros, the lowest 284 euros. The south-west also leads the price spectrum for wood/aluminium windows with an average price of 1,193.2 euros, ahead of the north region. The lowest prices in this segment are in the West region, at around 820 euros. For increased security, one has to spend on average about 11 percent more for timber/aluminium than for basic security.

Hardly Any Discounts

The average installation cost was 1,736 euros, the most expensive in the north and the east at almost 1,900 euros, the cheapest in the southeast at about 1,400 euros. Here, too, there were huge price divergences among the individual dealers. The most expensive supplier charged almost four times as much for a simple installation as the cheapest supplier. In Germany, granting discounts is not common. Only 8.8% of all dealers gave a discount. The average discount was around 9%. One in eight dealers granted a cash discount. The average rate offered was 2.2%.

In Germany, over 90% of buyers use the internet as their first source of information and initial contact. However, it turns out that many window dealers have not yet fully seized the potential of the internet, as shown in a mystery shopping test by Interconnection Consulting among the 176 dealers with the highest market share. There are usually big differences between the dealers, both in the speed of processing pure email enquiries and in the quality of the answers.

Only Half Make an Offer

The 176 window dealers were contacted by Interconnection via email, regarding a specific request for a new project. For about half (46%) of the companies, an online enquiry alone is not sufficient. Only after a reminder email and telephone contact, around 93% of the surveyed dealers responded. The number of window dealers who made an offer fell dramatically compared to previous years, reaching only 51.8% this year. The dealers chose different communication channels to submit an offer. Of the 85 dealers submitting an offer, about one third suggested a telephone conversation or a face-to-face meeting, even if this was only possible to a limited extent due to the pandemic. Almost two-thirds send their offer by e-mail. The follow-up rate is dramatically low: only two of the 85 traders who submitted an offer asked whether there is still interest.

Some Dealers Do Not Answer Any Questions

The average response time was 4.3 days. Around 40 percent of the dealers fulfilled the golden internet rule- reply within 24 hours. The average time for making an offer was 3.7 days. The enquiry not only contained a concrete request, but also three questions on the topics of window handles, warranty and installation. Less than one third of the dealers responded to all three questions asked. Around eight percent of the dealers did not answer a single question. The importance of dealers answering questions is obviously underestimated. “Especially risk-averse prospective customers are lost due to unsatisfactory answers to the questions,” explains Panorea Kaskani, the author of the study.

Windows as a product are becoming more and more technologically alike across Europe, but international differences in buying behaviour are gigantic, shows a recent study by InterConnection Consulting. While the brand is what counts in Austria and safety is the main factor in Germany, Polish buyers are especially interested in innovations, although this may seem surprising. This information is based on a survey of 500 homeowners from Germany, Poland, France, Austria and Great Britain.

Brand Awareness Highest in Poland

 There are big differences in Europe when it comes to the importance of window brands. Poland is the country in which brands play the biggest role. Oknoplast, Drutex & co. have managed to create a brand awareness, achieving a free recall of 16% – 32%. The brand per se is also an important reason for purchase in Poland. Austria is similar, with Internorm and Josko performing just as well with free recall values ​​around 20-30%. The situation is quite different in Germany, where the top window brands are experiencing a low-single-digit free-recall, while Velux (a roof-top window manufacturer) and Schüco (a system supplier) have reported significantly higher values.

Bargain Hunters Dominate the German Market

There are also European differences when it comes to reasons for purchase and price sensitivity. Germany has the largest share of „bargain hunters“ at 35%. Here, the window buyers are often focused on discounts, they compare prices and are not willing to pay more for brands. France, however, is the opposite, boasting 35% high-priced window buyers. These customers are enthusiastic about innovations and like to pay more if the product meets their high requirements. The distribution across buyer types varies greatly in each of the countries studied.

Wooden Windows Fail to Retain Customers

The Interconnection window study also examined window materials across homes. PVC is the most commonly used frame material among homeowners and is the most popular in all countries studied. Overall, homeowners are satisfied with plastic windows and are barely willing to switch to another material. The willingness to change is 15% lower than with any other material. Wooden windows paint an entirely different picture. Across Europe, home owners with wooden windows were extremely happy to switch to another material: between 53% and 67% of the owners of wooden windows would opt for another material at the next purchase, preferably PVC. The main reason for this trend is the high maintenance wooden windows require. Furthermore, it seems wooden windows have not (yet) benefitted from the new ecological and climatic awareness.

Online Affinity Highest in Poland

Poland boasts a particularly high use of online channels for window- research and purchases. 75% of Polish buyers use online resources, such as manufacturer- or retailer-websites, to inform themselves about brands and products before buying their windows. Poland is also the country with the most online window-purchases in Europe. By contrast, window buyers from France show the least willingness to purchase windows directly online.

No Such Thing as the „European Window Buyer“

The international differences in the buying behavior of window buyers will remain relatively stable over the next few years. If you want to be successful in the European window market, you should be aware of the different purchasing habits and align your sales and marketing strategy accordingly.

In 2016, the Austrian window market posted a moderate increase for the first time in years. Since then, the trend has solidified in the following years (17-18) due to the good economic development. For 2019, Interconnection Consulting expects the growth rate to ease off again slightly (+ 0.3% growth by volume and + 1.0% growth by value). The Austrian window market has a volume of 2.5 million window units in 2019, with manufacturer revenues amounting to 837 million euros.

Decline in Renovation

Around 56% of the market volume comes from refurbishment. However, new construction has gained a lot of market share in recent years. The proactive residential construction strategy in Vienna and robust building completion rates in the federal states have been strong market drivers for the window market in new construction since 2017. Interconnection expects renovation to remain negative after sales rates of -2.4% in 2019. The reasons for this are the lack of transparency with regard to available subsidies, and in some cases lack of  appeal to make use of subsidies, as these are associated with high construction requirements

Solid Increase for Object Construction

The contract segment for window sales is developing positively in 2019 (+ 2.5% expected). Again, new construction is the stronger market driver (+ 3.9%). The construction of industrial buildings in Austria is the strongest market force for commercial construction.

Plastic and Combinations Dominate the Market

The largest product group in Austria is the plastic window with a quantitative market share of 41.5% in 2019. Plastic windows benefit from growth segments such as social or multi-storey housing, among others. While plastic window imports from Eastern Europe are rapidly increasing in other European countries (such as Germany and France), import pressure in Austria is not particularly high. Austria has a very high proportion of combinations (plastic / aluminum or wood / aluminum) in international comparison, which goes to show the unique and innovative strength of the Austrian window market and its strong domestic brands.

A mystery shopping test conducted by Interconnection Consulting revealed that 66% of dealers offset their high window prices by offering automatic discounts. Overall, there are large price differences among the 20 window brands surveyed. There also happen to be geographic price differences. Southern Germans, for example, have to dig deeper into their pockets when purchasing windows than their compatriots in the north.

With an average price of EUR 342.70, Northern Germany has the least expensive PVC windows on offer. Far more expensive are the Southeast and Southwest regions, where average prices for PVC windows are 10% and 18% higher, respectively. However, the most expensive region in this segment is the East (EUR 408.30). In the wood/aluminum window segment, the highest average price of EUR 704.60 can be found in the Southwest, followed by the West, the Southeast, and the North at EUR 655.90.

Installation Most Expensive in the East

For comparable wood/aluminum windows (1000 x 1400), the price difference between the cheapest and most expensive providers is 100%. “You’re not just paying for security features or good heat values, you’re also paying for the brand,” explains Viorica Jeler, author of the study. In the case of PVC lift-and-slide doors, the average price was EUR 3,405 and thus significantly lower than in Austria (EUR 4,280). The mystery shopping test also inquired about installation prices. The average price in Germany was EUR 2,557, slightly higher than in Austria (EUR 2,274). Interestingly, the cost of installation was highest in the East (EUR 3,096) and lowest in the West (EUR 2,007). Regarding window suppliers, many of them offset their high installation prices by offering generous discounts. Around two-thirds of the dealers (66%) grant automatic discounts.

Safety Pays Off

Features like lockable handles that increase window safety generally go hand-in-hand with higher prices. Compared to standard models, prices for safety windows are on average roughly one-third higher. In Austria, customers pay significantly more, namely 61.1%, for safety windows than for standard models. Interestingly enough, increased safety in wood-aluminum windows is much more expensive than with PVC windows. “This is just one indication that there are still many price potentials to be exploited in the German window market, in spite of what one often hears that the customer is only interested in the price,” explains Viorica Jeler, author of the study.

The global window market reached a volume of €68.8 billion in 2017, corresponding to a sales volume of 442.9 million window units and representing a growth of 2.4% over the previous year. According to a new study by Interconnection Consulting, annual sales will continue to rise by 3.3% until 2021.

China’s Bull Economy Stagnating
China is by far the largest global window market, with nearly one in three windows (30.8%) being sold there. In terms of sales volume, however, China’s market share of 15.9% is only third worldwide, lagging behind Western Europe (25.8%) and North America (21.5%). This disparity stems from China’s attempt to accomplish its massive urbanization efforts with inexpensive sash windows and simple metal frames, whereas demand in Europe, for example, is clearly for high-quality, energy-efficient windows (with a high R-value). On account of the cool down in China’s housing construction, due in part to anti-corruption measures adopted by the government, double-digit growth rates would seem to be a thing of the past. For this reason, Interconnection Consulting expects only a moderate annual growth of 2.9% up to the year 2021. By comparison, India is the region with the largest growth worldwide (+5.9%), stemming in part to gradually rising labor costs in China and South Korea, which, in turn, has resulted in a higher employment rate and increased construction activities in India.

North American Market Edging Towards Saturation
Growth in North America is expected to rise 3.3% this year, which is “already a sign of market saturation,” according to Laszlo Barla, author of the study. Market dynamics in recent years have grown increasingly weaker. In addition, the Trump administration has given rise to a degree of uncertainty among both buyers and lenders across the country. Similar growth (+3.1%) is forecast for Latin America in 2018. The most-recent economic figures have raised expectations that the national economies in South and Central America will continue to recover. Certain risks do remain, however. Certain South American currencies (the Columbia peso and the Brazilian real) are still among the most volatile in the world.

Low Interest Rates Bolster Europe’s Window Market
Not until 2015 did the Western European window market start seeing renewed growth following the heavy toll it took from the financial crisis of 2008. Currently, the region is benefitting from low lending rates, making investments in private housing construction attractive and thereby bolstering the window market. In the previous year, window sales grew 3.2%. Yet the window sector is threatened by ever-diminishing land available for construction and the concomitant rise in real estate prices. In similar developments, Eastern Europe also saw a turnaround in growth as of 2015 – though with even higher growth rates. Sales grew 6.0% in 2017. Low interest rates, rising salaries, and an efficient labor market with sinking unemployment are all factors enabling more and more people in Central and Eastern European countries to be able to afford a home of their own.

Housing Construction Gains Market Shares
Metal frames still manage to represent the highest-volume product group globally with 187.4 million units, followed by PVC windows (164.2 million units) and wood windows (73 million units). PVC windows are expected to register the largest growth in sales, with an average annual growth rate of 4.0% to the year 2021. Double-pane windows continue to be the dominant window type with a sales volume of 270 million units, followed by single-pane windows (104 million) and triple-pane windows (67.4 million units). Triple-pane windows also have the greatest growth potential (5.2% annually to 2021). In general, the share of housing construction to non-residential construction is increasing and is currently (2017) at 61.5%.

Percezione del mercato delle finestre italiane attraverso agevolazioni fiscali

A causa degli incentivi fiscali del governo, i quali stanno dando i suoi frutti soprattutto nel settore delle ristrutturazioni, il mercato delle finestre in Italia crescerà del 4,4% nel 2019, secondo un recente studio di Interconnection Consulting. Complessivamente, lo scorso anno il mercato delle finestre ha raggiunto un volume di 1,57 miliardi di euro. Nei prossimi tre anni, si prevede che il mercato italiano delle finestre avrà una crescita annua del 2,7%, dovuta soprattutto all’incremento nel settore delle costruzioni.
Il settore delle ristrutturazioni è particolarmente vantaggioso
Lo Stato italiano assegna alle famiglie uno sgravio fiscale del 50% in caso di ristrutturazione. Inoltre, la fiducia nel settore delle costruzioni e delle finestre è alimentata anche dalla promessa di un cosiddetto “eco-bonus”. Ciò permette alle famiglie di avere un alleggerimento fiscale del 60-65% in caso di ristrutturazione delle loro case. D’altronde il settore abitativo continua a guidare il mercato delle finestre avendo una crescita media prevista del 6,4% entro il 2022, con una quota di ristrutturazione pari all’83,8%.
Il PVC prende il comando
Nel 2017, per la prima volta in Italia sono state vendute più finestre in PVC che finestre in metallo. Sei anni prima, le vendite di finestre in PVC erano dietro a quelle di metallo e legno, che erano tradizionalmente i componenti della produzione vetraria italiana. La tendenza del 2018, nella quale vede la quota di finestre in PVC al 36,9% e il metallo solo al 30,6%, continuerà con molto probabilitá anche in futuro. Nel 2022, Interconnection stima che la quota di mercato del PVC arriverá al 40,9%, quella del metallo si abbasserá al 29,1%, e le finestre in legno si aggireranno intorno al 15,6%. “Questa tendenza è dovuta alla richiesta di materiali più economici e all’ingresso sul mercato dei produttori di finestre polacchi”, spiega Vito Graziano, autore dello studio. Mentre in altre parti dell’Europa occidentale le combinazioni stanno vivendo una ripresa, in Italia il PVC/Metallo (+ 0,9%) e Legno/Metallo (+ 1,3%) continueranno a perdere quote di mercato nel 2019, con una crescita bassa.
Fornitori dall’Europa dell’Est con prezzi più bassi
I produttori dell’Europa orientale, in particolare, beneficiano della forte domanda di finestre in PVC. L’azienda polacca Eko-Okna, entrata nel mercato europeo come un grande principiante, è cresciuta lo scorso anno di circa il 40% ed è molto ben rappresentata in Italia. L’arrivo di molti produttori dall’est ha anche abbassato i prezzi delle finestre in PVC, facendo registrare un abbassamento intorno al 2,4% nel 2018. D’altra parte, combinazioni come PVC/Metallo sperimenteranno un aumento sostanziale dei prezzi. Difatti, entro il 2022 i prezzi di questo segmento aumenteranno dell’1,6% l’anno.