It’s never a good idea to label anything any kind of -proof. That’s a good way to get people in trouble for misleading advertising of their bullet-proof reliability, future-proof scalability, fool-proof functionality, and what not. But the data that’s out there for the motorized shades and window treatments market makes a better case for being “recession-proof” and increasing in demand than just about all other custom integration technology–except for lighting control and lighting fixtures, both of which are directly tied to automated shades in application and as an interior design darling.

A key potential driver of increased motorized shades business is a still-emerging market among commercial and resimercial clients. There is also increasing but untapped demand for wire-free, battery-operated shades that are more retrofit-friendly, as well as outdoor awnings, pergolas, and other structures to address these extended living spaces.

Read on for the latest data, application trends, end users, best room candidates for shades, integrator priorities for vendor partners, and amount of different shade types and fabrics in the motorized shades market. Plus, hear from leading manufacturers about their perspectives on homeowner and interior designer requests, as well as unique innovations in the CE Pro Motorized Shades Deep Dive.

Insights and Market Data from the CE Pro Motorized Shades Deep Dive

Commercial/Resimercial Market Makes Increasing Sense

Even though automated shades is an ever more popular category, especially with interior designers, architects, and builders, only 8% of integrators include some type of shades on three-quarters of jobs. Remarkably, 11% install no shades at all. 

The breakdown combines exterior motorized shades/awnings/pergolas; hardwired motorized window treatments/shades; and battery-powered treatments/shades.

The Future of Digital Lighting & Control

As a custom integrator, lighting is in demand. Effective communication, education and showcasing the value proposition of LED light fixtures in conjunction with integrative control systems are the keys to overcoming challenges and closing sales in this specialized market. Join us as we discuss the future of digital lighting and control with David Warfel from Light Can Help You and Patrick Laidlaw and Mark Moody from AiSPIRE. Register Now! 

Motorized window treatments are a tougher sell to commercial clientele, as 40% of dealers were shutout or did not offer the category. Just 11% of companies sold shades on half or more jobs.

The biggest jump in this market came in projects of 4-5 shades, which gained 9 percentage points. The median number of shades per residential project is 10.

The MDU market may be the lowest-hanging fruit right now for dealers. Resimercial projects are becoming more common, and “proptech” (property tech) that serves property management and their tenants have multiple areas that need easy-to-operate shades. 

Think about HOA clubhouse gyms that suffer from sun glare and poor solar energy utilization; lobbies with floor-to-ceiling windows and skylights; leasing office privacy; attractive tenant amenity, etc. Or energy savings for urban high-rises and the amount of volume one of those jobs can produce.

Motorized Shading Jobs by Structure Type

The luxury market demand for motorized shades is evident. Designers and homeowners love the category and various types and fabric combos — more than half (57%) of new builds, a majority of which likely cover more than 2,500 square feet, include shades.

Despite continuously improving wire-free and battery-powered solutions, 15% of integrators do not include shades in retrofits.

Integrators are leaving automated window treatment opportunities with commercial customers as nearly 3 out of 5 (59%) include them in 0% to 10% of jobs.

Shade Projects by Location & Size

Motorized shades installation business is healthy in within whole-house control projects. Three-quarters job jobs include shades 67% (two-thirds) of the time. 

When you consider how many rooms are in new-construction homes these days, integrators are doing solidly with single-room installs, but clearly there is room for much more growth.

Outdoor technology installations have been on fire since the pandemic. This data shows CE pros are overlooking awnings, pergolas, gazebos, and other structures that can benefit from automated shades.

The majority — almost three-quarters (72%) — are addressing narrower shade solutions, as glass up to 30 inches represents nearly a third (0% to 30%) of the projects.

Larger shades are installed much more commonly than those less than 31 inches wide. Again, underscoring the luxury residence end user, half of shade installations 61 inches and wider is 23% vs. 16% combined for half of installs less than 61 inches wide.

Motorized Shades by Room

Not only are motorized shades applicable to every room in the house, each area has increased substantially in percentage of projects. The great outdoors is a great place to discuss with customers, having nearly doubled year over year.

The primary bedroom/suite still sits atop this list, with 50% of projects including shades there, which makes sense for privacy purposes as well as energy efficiencies.

Next are the multipurpose great room and living room areas, which rely upon well-designed and precise shade installation to reduce glare when viewing displays. They also can be programmed to correlate to the astronomic clock/circadian rhythm daily.

The sizzling-hot outdoor category also includes automated shades, which address areas such as pergolas and help bring indoor lifestyle tech conveniences to another outdoor zone.

Garages and basements are getting more lit these days too, with each experiencing excellent traction this year.

Types of Shades Installed

The automated window treatment business has the potential for high-margin, high-profit projects. Larger and more labor-intensive shade projects should equate to more profits for custom integrators. 

The categories that dropped from last year are blackout shades, exposed roller shades, and hard-to-reach windows; soffit work and outdoor awnings experienced the biggest jumps, by 11 and 13 percentage points, respectively. 

Like the transition from hardwired to wireless audio and video, motorized shade reliability via wirefree controls is slow going. Three-quarters (75%) of dealers say they only use battery-operated window treatments on 30% or fewer projects. 

Motorized Shade Installation Pricing

The biggest growth sector in budgeting and end-user costs was $10,001 to $15,000. Other installation pricing ranges remained steady. There’s still room for upselling the luxury market.

One big, overlooked prospect for expanding business is partnering with an expert in lighting design. Today’s interior designers, architects, and well-heeled clients want the same expertise integrators are providing to extend to the layered lighting, professional approach.

But 50% of integrators barely team up with this important trade partner, including 22% that never work with a designer on a project. That’s why CE Pro has enlisted Light Can Help You’s David Warfel as a bimonthly columnist. 

Anticipated Growth Rate in 2024

Half of dealers anticipate solid up-to-25% increase in hardwired interior shades business in 2024, despite the looming economic uncertainties.

Nearly 10% of integrators predict growth of greater than 50% next year in battery-powered motorized shades. Outdoor business is expected to remain steady, and one-third (34%) of dealers are optimistically forecasting 11% to 50% growth.

Once again, third-party automation support ranked as dealers’ most vital aspect of motorized shade solutions, and motorization speed/quietness leapfrogged product availability as the next most in-demand priority. 

Interested in learning more? Be sure to download the full CE Pro Motorized Shades Deep Dive to stay up to date on the latest data and trends in the category. And be sure to check out our past Deep Dives for more insight into the Custom Integration industry.

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