4 Overview of handicrafts and e-commerce

The handicrafts market in the UK, Europe and globally covers a range of different sectors. Thus artisans (whether describing themselves as exponents of fair trade or otherwise) may produce hand-crafted or hand-finished products which fall into a number of commonly identified market sectors:[1]

Sector	Examples	UK Market (2001 est)
Giftware:
Toys and games	Children’s’ wooden puzzles, Jigsaws Traditional toys and board games	£2,020m
Jewellery, watches and silverware	Earrings, necklaces, pendants Solid-silver and silver-plated ornamental ware and tableware	£1,865m
Ceramics	Traditional pottery Domestic tableware (eg dinner services)	£828m
Glassware	Hand-blown glass Glass ornaments, vases, figurines etc	£230m
Small leather goods	Wallets, purses, handbags, bags etc	£26m
Total Giftware:		£4,969m
Home Furnishings:
Window Dressings	Ready-made curtains, accessories, blinds (fabric, wood, plastic, bamboo)	£1,790m
Bedding	Duvet covers, sheets, pillowcases, blankets etc	£1,580m
Bathroom textiles	Towels, bath mats etc	£580m
Cushions & covers	Cushions and covers	£250m
Table linen	Tablecloths, napkins etc	£40m
Total Home Furnishings:		£4,240m
Total giftware and furnishings		£9,209m

Figure 1 Handicrafts UK market sectors (est. 2001)

In addition handicraft products also fall into other sectors such as furniture, garden furniture, perfumes and cosmetics, clothing and miscellaneous items such as candles.

Key Note estimates that the UK markets for giftware and home furnishings will grow over 2001 to 2005 as follows:

Figure 2 Forecast giftware market by sector by value (£m at retail selling prices) 2001-2005

Source: Giftware 2001 Market Report, Key Note Ltd.

Figure 3 Forecast total UK market for home furnishings by sector by value at current prices (£m retail selling prices), 2001-2005

Source: Home Furnishings 2001, Key Note Ltd.

Overseas Trade Statistics show that £1,807.4 million of Giftware items and £379.7 million of Home Furnishings were imported to the UK from outside the EU in 1999.

Furniture (as itemised below) accounted for £645.4 million imports from outside the EU. In many cases the main exporters were less developed countries.

Sector	Intra-EU	Extra-EU	Total
Giftware (1999)
Toys[2]	151.1	744.3	895.8
Jewellery	222.8	817.8	1040.6
China & Earthenware[3]	112.3	172.5	284.8
Glassware	95.4	57.4	152.8
Fancy leather goods[4]	3.5	15.4	18.9
Total Giftware:	585.1	1807.4	2392.9
Furniture (1999)
Chairs (including cane and bamboo)[5]	254.6	180.5	435.1
Other wooden furniture	126.6	275.6	402.2
Metal furniture	57.9	105.9	163.8