Research cast floors & stone carpet

PXL University College recently conducted a survey on behalf of SIDEC among installers of cast floors and/or stone carpets about their choice of supplier(s) and the possible impact of this on the growth of the company. The anonymous results of this survey were bundled in this exploratory report from the sector. Discover the results below and how your organisation compares to the trends and developments at other Belgian and Dutch players in the market for cast floors and stone carpet during the last 2 years.

Suppliers and general trends

Among the participants in the survey, more than 9/10 respondents install floors in homes and offices. 7/10 also install within the industry. The most chosen floor systems are stone/marble carpet and cast floors. Cast floors are installed almost as much in epoxy as in PU. The choice of the installer’s favourite floor system clearly depends on the surface area of floor that he installs annually. An installer who installs > 5,000m² per year will usually opt for a cast floor. An installer who installs < 5,000m² per year, on the other hand, will often opt for stone/marble carpet.

The results also showed that 2 out of 3 installers have great confidence in 1 regular supplier. Almost 7/10 indicate that they usually order all products from the same supplier. Only 1 in 10 indicates that they order from multiple raw material suppliers and combine the raw materials themselves during installation. If multiple suppliers are used, this is often limited to just 3 regular partners.

Despite the decline in the construction sector and the rising prices of building materials, which puts a brake on new projects, stone carpet and cast floors remain a niche market that knows how to retain its customers. On the total market, we even see that 1 in 3 can record a turnover increase of 10% or more in the past 2 years. A smaller group, around 20%, could also speak of an increase in turnover, although limited to 10%. Just under 40% of the installers indicated that their turnover had remained more or less stable during the past 2 years. Only a limited group of 3% said that their turnover had decreased during the past 2 years.

As a general conclusion, this research showed that the favourite floor of the installers depends on the annual installed surface area, with epoxy cast floor, PU cast floor and stone carpet/marble carpet being installed most often by most installers. The market offers opportunities for installers who distinguish themselves through expertise, innovation and sustainability. Their strategic focus on quality, customer focus and flexibility will help tackle the market and keep a competitive advantage in stone carpet and cast floors.