Education is evolving today – from a mass teaching program to a personalised and customised learning experience based on the students’ aptitudes. This is especially true of university education where the number of courses and specialisations are increasing exponentially each passing year. Extracurricular activities, cultural activities and sports are being given equal importance as academics. To cater to the students’ varying needs, even new colleges are mushrooming. However, there has hardly been any progress on one life-defining aspect of university and college education – ergonomics!

College Furniture – Outdated Or Never Updated 

Go online and run an internet search for important points to keep in mind while choosing a college. Multiple results will show up which emphasise on budget, career goals, faculty, campus culture, reputation etc. But you will find almost no results focusing on the quality of the furniture at college! There may be a smile on your face reading that statement but it is no laughing matter. While college students spend almost 9 hours at the desk every day, research shows that almost 83% of them sit on furniture that is not suitable for their body structure! While the college regularly updates its courses, teachers and, not to forget – fees, it rarely upgrades its furniture.

Two Opposing Perspectives?

The students may belong to the same age group but, just as their aptitudes need customised courses, their body structures require customised furniture. Bad posture can cause severe and chronic pains, especially in the back and neck. It also affects the students’ ability to concentrate in class. This, in turn, makes the teachers’ job harder and ultimately affects the college’s results! So, it is time that colleges give up the conventional plug-and-play furniture and invest in customised solutions.

However, there is also the college administration’s perspective to consider. It is a practical impossibility to have personalised furniture for each student who will be replaced with another student in a span of a year. Customisation also costs a lot. Colleges mostly look only for durability in the furniture because it is a big investment and the students are not always careful with them. The second-most important criteria is looks. Ergonomics probably does not even make it to the criteria list!

A Turnkey Solution

This is where experienced designers and fabricators of commercial furniture can come into picture to provide assistance in design-development, value-engineering and professional installation. The furniture should not only be resilient for everyday rough use, it should also be flexible to meet the differing needs of the students as well as the curricula. That is why, equipping the colleges and universities with furniture should be considered as a turnkey project rather than a piecemeal one.

This requires a thorough recce of the campus followed by the development of an appropriate design concept. Needless to say, innovation and versatility in design are absolutely essential to ensure that there is at least some level of customisation in the furniture without burgeoning costs.

Education is evolving today – so must ergonomics!

Whether we accept it or not, the human race is conducting the most dangerous experiment in the history of the planet – determining how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can hold before a catastrophic environmental meltdown!

Climate change has been a very debated topic for decades now, but as the heat of the planet is being turned up (by​​about 1.9 degrees Fahrenheit in just 2021), the heat in the debate is cooling off. There is comprehensive scientific evidence now to show that climate change is a brutal reality and that it is tampering with major earth systems – ocean currents, wind patterns, reefs, water levels and icesheets.

 Maldives – Facing Dire Sea Level Rise Threat

Look no further than India’s southern neighbour, Maldives, which is diverting cash from tourism to purchase land in an increasingly likely scenario of rising sea levels submerging the low-lying country. The frequency of extreme weather events – floods, droughts, heatwaves, hurricanes – is on the rise.

For instance, though the amount of rainfall that India receives annually has remained almost the same for the last two decades, the volatility in its distribution, intensity and timing has increased manifold. This has caused havoc in sowing and harvesting crops which in turn has made food and clothing much costlier. It has also led to displacement and loss of lives. In other words, climate change has ceased to be just a ‘macro problem’ to be ‘discussed and debated’ and has started affecting individual lives at social, economic and personal levels too.

Two-Pronged Effort Needed

A critical problem affecting both the macro and micro levels require solutions at the global and individual levels. Decarbonising the world food system and making it robust is important and requires emergency policy decisions at national and international levels, no doubt. But it also needs individual participation to consciously move away from meat and dairy products.

Phasing out fossil fuels to reduce the global carbon footprint has to definitely supersede geopolitical and profiteering interests. However, it also begs us to make changes to move into a simpler and more natural lifestyle. Changing land-use patterns and saving virgin forest lands require international cooperation to ensure countries that serve as lungs for the earth do not lose out on economic growth due to that. But it also calls for us to educate our children, the future denizens of the planet, to place larger interests above individual ones. As the Dalai Lama eclectically puts it – Be Selfish; Therefore, Be Selfless.

 It’s Time to Bring Change

Change is the only changeless constant in the world, and it always seems difficult. And so, making a ‘climate-change’ change feels like an uphill task. But it all begins with our perspective and attitude. Knowing that we are in it together – whether I am an eskimo in Iceland, an aboriginal in Australia, a tribesman in Africa or a global citizen – is a great unifying factor that goes beyond geographical, religious and racial boundaries. 

Remember, whatever it is that you do, it makes a difference to the planet. But that difference has to be a positive one.

The budget 2022–2023 is reshaping the furniture industry of India with infrastructure upgrades, exemptions, and investments.

The furniture industry was expecting a lot from the budget 2022–2023 for its growth and to make the industry more competitive. The budget announced on 31st January, 2022 met their expectations up to a great extent. Various initiatives, investments, revisions in duty, and tariff rates will make room for massive opportunities in the retail sector this year.

Let’s take a look at the budget 2022–2023 highlights that will impact the furniture industry.

Budget 2022 Impact On The Furniture Industry

Infrastructure Upgrade

PM GatiShakti initiative focuses on infrastructure upgrades. It includes the development of Roads, Railways, Airports, Ports, Mass Transport, Waterways, and Logistics Infrastructure for economic transformation, seamless multimodal connectivity, and logistics efficiency. The government has announced to invest INR 100 lakh-crore in PM GatiShakti National Master Plan. It incorporates the development of a digital platform to bring 16 Ministries together for integrated planning and coordinated implementation of infrastructure connectivity projects.

The up-gradation of the infrastructure under the PM GatiShakti initiative will make a positive impact on the furniture industry. Better connectivity throughout the country will boost transportation, making it fast, robust, and affordable. Better transportation will result in a price drop on the products and services offered by the retail industry. The main impact will be on small and medium enterprises. And the end-users as well.

Duty Exemption

In the year 2022–2023, 350 customs duty exemptions have been withdrawn to boost domestic manufacturing. A 7.5 percent tariff is applied on duty on capital goods and project imports to promote ‘Make in India’ and ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’. The exemptions are removed from the products that are or can be manufactured in India and concessional duties are provided on raw materials that go into the manufacturing of advanced machinery that is not manufactured within the country.

The reduced customs duties on raw materials and intermediaries will support the domestic manufacturing of capital equipment and hence the small companies that want to manufacture in India. This will make the Indian furniture market more competitive which will lead to massive growth in the retail industry.

Export Incentives

Exemptions are provided on various items including embellishment, trimming, fasteners, buttons, zipper, lining material, specified leather, furniture fittings, and packaging boxes to help Indian industries secure foreign markets. 

Furniture export is a developing segment in India. The exemptions will boost the growth of furniture export businesses and help the country to recover from the impact of covid-19 on the economy.

Investment In The Furniture Industry

To push flat private investment levels and demand in the coming financial year, the government has increased the capital expenditure by over 35.4 percent from INR 5.54 lakh crore in 2021–2022 to INR 7.50 lakh crore in 2022–23. The expenditure has increased more than 2.2 times from the budget 2019–20 and constitutes about 2.9 percent of the country’s GDP.

It will encourage private and public investments in the country, overcoming the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The retail sector of India has a lot of potential to attract FDI. The massive investment from the government will accelerate the virtuous cycle of investments and growth.

A satisfied customer is a happy one, and a happy customer is loyal too. 

We believe customer satisfaction is the building block of any business. It is a long-term investment to keep the business thriving. That’s why we keep customer satisfaction as the topmost priority in our sales strategies.

But it’s not just our belief. A lot of studies and surveys show the importance of customer satisfaction too. Let’s find out.

Important Statistics About Customer Satisfaction

•   59% of loyal customers will leave the company after several unsatisfactory experiences.
•   17% of customers won’t come back again after a bad customer experience.
•   69% of customers recommend the business after a satisfactory customer experience.
•   50% of customers are more likely to become loyal customers after one satisfactory experience with the business.
•   The probability of converting a new customer ranges between 5–20% while selling to an existing customer ranges between 60–70%

Five Reasons Why Customer Satisfaction Means A Lot To Us

1. Customer Loyalty: When a customer is treated with respect combined with a wonderful shopping experience, they are more likely to purchase from the same business again and again. Keeping customer satisfaction the main component of our business marketing strategy at Autumnwood, we have managed to gain plenty of loyal customers.

1. Competition Differentiator: 81% of marketers believe customer satisfaction is a key competitive differentiator. A business with a lot of satisfied customers will thrive in the market, whereas low levels of customer satisfaction will result in a massive decline in sales despite expensive marketing campaigns and promotions. At Autumnwood, we have created a reputable image in the market with our exceptional customer service. 

1. Brand Ambassadors: A happy customer doesn’t keep things to himself, the same goes with unhappy ones. They will tell their friends or post it on social media about their experiences. With wonderful customer relations and after-sales services, our customers became an ambassador for our business. We attracted plenty of new customers solely based on their recommendations. 

1. Healthy Sales Revenue: For steady sales growth, every business needs a steady flow of customers. Customer satisfaction has always helped us in keeping our sales revenue high as always. Even in times of crisis, our customers became our support pillars and helped us keep our business up and running.

1. Gives Us Room For Improvement: Businesses conduct a lot of studies and surveys, but only a handful of their customers want to become a part of it. Why? Why would they, what’s in it for them? 

Due to multiple satisfactory experiences with our business, our customers believe helping us with surveys will, in turn, result in better future experiences. This helps us with finding our weak points and keeping marketing expenses low. 

Why Customer Satisfaction Is An Essential Factor For The Growth Of Any Business?

Every business stands on a foundation of business and customer relations. If your business doesn’t care about the customers, they will not care about your business too. And it’s not happy news when the market is filled with numerous competitors trying their best to build their customers list. Unsatisfied customers not only hinder your business growth but can also take your business to rock bottom. 

That’s why, Autumnwood always focuses on keeping the customers happy and strives hard to make customer experience a class apart.