Household appliance consumption, "upgrading" to meet "upgrading"
In the hot summer, the household appliance consumer market has set off a small upsurge. Whether it is seasonal products such as fresh air conditioners and mini fans that meet the needs of people to relieve the heat, or new products such as clothes dryers and floor washers that are popular at the moment, they are selling very hot. Nowadays, people's consumption concept and consumption level are constantly upgrading, quality has become the lifestyle pursued by consumers, and green, intelligent and high-end have become the new trend of household appliance consumption market. Recently, a series of policies such as "Several Measures to Promote the Consumption of Green Smart Home Appliances" have been issued, and various regions have carried out preferential activities such as issuing consumption vouchers and exchanging old for new, to further start the wave of green smart home appliance consumption.
1. Quality consumption leads the home appliance market
This summer's "sauna" weather is particularly long, and seasonal household appliances such as air conditioners, fans and refrigerators are beginning to be popular with consumers. Mr. Li Yu, who lives in Chongqing, has finally made up his mind to eliminate the old air conditioner with frequent problems at home and replace it with a popular new air conditioner. "In the past, when I turned on the air conditioner, I always felt stuffy in the room. I didn't expect that the current air conditioner can bring fresh air and become a small oxygen bar at home. It's really much healthier." Li Yu sighed. This time, he not only enjoyed the coupon discount, but also converted the old air conditioner into hundreds of yuan in cash through the "old for new" activity, and the price was reduced a lot.
The reporter walked into an electric appliance store in Beijing, and the slogan of "maximum subsidy of 400 yuan for a single shopping voucher" was very eye-catching. Ms. Su, a salesperson, introduced to the reporter that the emerging categories such as dishwashers, dryers and integrated stoves are not only more and more popular with consumers, but also the functions of the products are rapidly upgraded. There are also many small household appliances such as multi-function tea bar machines, floor washers, small desktop air conditioners, which represent the fashion taste of the younger generation.
With the improvement of living standards, people's consumption needs have gradually upgraded, intelligence, fashion, health, energy conservation and other issues have become the focus of attention, and new categories of household appliances have begun to lead the consumption trend.
According to the data of Ovi Cloud, influenced by factors such as the spread of the epidemic and the rise of commodity prices, in the first half of this year, China's home appliance market achieved a retail sales volume of 338.9 billion yuan, down 9.3% year on year, but some new home appliance sales rose against the trend, of which the retail sales volume of clothes dryers reached 3.3 billion yuan, up 31.3% year on year; The retail sales of integrated cookers reached 12.4 billion yuan, up 9.6% year on year; The retail sales of dishwashers reached 5.2 billion yuan, up 11.4% year on year. The new category of household appliances is becoming the core driving force to promote the renewal of household appliances for the whole people and boost the transformation and upgrading of the industry.
In recent months, the consumer market has gradually warmed up, and the home appliance market has also ushered in good news this summer. A few days ago, the "2022 National Household Appliances Consumption Season" led by the Ministry of Commerce was launched to provide consumers with more benefits, more choices and more convenience. The "Several Measures on Promoting the Consumption of Green Smart Home Appliances" issued by the 13 departments focuses on the new needs of consumers, proposes to carry out the national household appliances trade-in activities, promote the green smart home appliances to the countryside, expand consumption scenarios, improve consumer experience, optimize the supply of green smart home appliances, strengthen the recycling of waste home appliances and other measures to accelerate the release of consumption potential. Recently, e-commerce companies such as JD and Tmall have also actively responded to the policy, launched various preferential benefits and service experiences, and established cooperation with Haier, Midea, Hisense and other brands to promote the exchange of old appliances for new ones.
The industry believes that people's demand for household appliances has changed from "food and clothing consumption" to "quality consumption" focusing on appearance, function, brand, quality and service. In the future, we should focus on the new trend of low-carbon, green and intelligent, and take consumer demand-oriented measures to further release the consumption potential through such measures as replacing the old with the new and moving household appliances to the countryside.
2. "Green" and "smart" become the key words of home appliances to the countryside
Recently, the children working in Chengdu sent a Hisense 4K laser TV with an 80-inch large screen to their parents in the countryside. "The thin large screen hanging on the wall is like moving the theater to the home. It can be on-demand programs, and also watch TV channels that parents like. It can also protect the eyes. It's worth the money!" Xiaojun said with a smile.
"In the past, big cities were the main market for large-screen TV consumption, but large-screen TV also put forward requirements for space. The housing area in rural areas is larger, and the improvement of consumption level has made large-screen TV have a broad consumer market," said the head of a Suning E-shop.
"Green" and "smart" have become the key words of the new round of household appliances going to the countryside. At present, household appliances have been popularized in urban and rural areas, and many of them have reached the maximum service life. These "over-age" household appliances not only consume energy, but also may have potential safety hazards. According to the data, China's electricity ownership has reached 2.1 billion units, and it is estimated that more than 200 million units will be scrapped this year, which is gradually entering the replacement period. The explosion of users' demand for green smart home appliances and the acceleration of enterprise technology iteration have become opportunities to promote green smart home appliances to the countryside.
According to experts, the main increment space of household appliance consumption is increasingly coming from cities, towns and rural areas below the third tier. As the pole with the most growth potential in the household appliance market, the sinking market has become an important arena for the household appliance industry.
According to the 2021 China Home Appliance Market Report released by the China Institute of Electronic Information Industry Development, China's home appliance market will fully recover in 2021, with the transaction volume of domestic sinking market reaching 277.5 billion yuan, which has exceeded the overall market by 30%. According to the data of JD Appliances in 2021, the retail sales of high-end appliances in the rural market increased by 61%, far exceeding the growth rate of 35% in first-tier cities.
"The new node will certainly bring new hope. Guided by the policies and measures of moving home appliances to the countryside and replacing old appliances with new ones, we will actively promote the upgrading of consumption in the sinking market. We believe that the whole channel of home appliances will also usher in a new round of growth in the second half of the year, and the industry growth potential is huge." The relevant responsible person of JD Home Appliances said that we should steadily promote the moving home appliances to the countryside, based on the upgrading demand of home appliances consumption, supply multi-level demand at a higher level, and help improve the quality and capacity of consumption.
"In the new round of home appliances going to the countryside, the density of retail outlets is higher than before, which has improved the convenience of consumers to buy nearby. The rapid growth of the home appliance industry and the rise of more domestic brands have enriched the categories and brands that consumers can choose. At the same time, the popularity of information technology such as electronic payment has made relevant information more traceable and improved the supervision." Zhao Ping, vice president of the Research Institute of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, told reporters.
Zhao Ping pointed out that under such a general trend, enterprises should also pay more attention to personalized needs in household appliance R&D design and function selection according to the differentiated characteristics of urban and rural consumption demand, consider the needs of different market segments, and sell appropriate products to appropriate consumers through accurate R&D, production and marketing.
Some experts also believe that at present, the communication protocol is not uniform, the interoperability is weak, and the infrastructure is imperfect, which is still the main factor preventing consumers from buying green smart appliances. In response, the relevant person in charge of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that it would promote the construction of new infrastructure represented by 5G and gigabit optical networks, improve coverage, consolidate the network foundation of smart home appliance applications, and extend to towns and rural areas.
3. High-end and intelligent become a new trend
"Turn on the theater mode." When the voice falls, the projection curtain falls, the electric curtain is pulled, and the light is adjusted to the brightness most suitable for viewing. Such scenes are very common in Li Qingqing's home: "The whole house smart home has changed our life, such as getting up in the morning with music, opening the fresh air system for ventilation, voice control lights, sweeping robots, and many electrical appliances are also very smart."
He Yaqiong, Director of the Consumer Products Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said about what he had seen in the survey: "To what extent can the smart home scene experience created by some well-known enterprises be achieved? The refrigerators produced can be connected with the food manufacturers, food distribution and cooking thousands of miles away. If users want to eat Beijing roast duck, click the order directly on the refrigerator screen, and then they can receive the roast duck auxiliary materials sent from Beijing. After being baked in the oven, they can eat the very authentic Beijing roast duck."
From AI speakers, smart door locks, to smart kitchens, televisions and air conditioners, smart appliances cover almost all kinds of life scenes, making people's lives move towards intelligence. With the younger generation becoming the main force of home appliance consumption, smart home appliances and high-end home appliances have a broader market space. According to the data of CITIC Securities Research Department, the composite annual growth rate of China's smart home appliance market in the past five years has reached 18%, and the scale is about to exceed 600 billion yuan.
Under the new trend, all major electric brands are aiming at the market demand and actively creating the whole house intelligent scene experience. The Midea Group recently launched the "active" whole-house intelligent solution. The air conditioner can determine whether the user is exercising or sitting still through infrared perception, the refrigerator can detect the freshness of things, the water purifier can sense the regional water quality, and the smart kitchen can generate customized menus based on personal health and preference data. Haier Smart Home launched a new product that integrates three systems of whole-house intelligence, whole-house water and whole-house air. When you go home from work, you can adjust the temperature, open the living room entertainment equipment, and prepare hot water for bathing.
Experts believe that the goal of WHI is to realize the interconnection of household equipment and let consumers enjoy digital and intelligent life. With the advent of the era of the Internet of Things, the application of intelligent technology by home appliance manufacturers has led to the intelligent upgrading of products, and a new wave of popularization of green smart home appliances is coming.
"From the perspective of the general trend of information development, with the continuous improvement of the intelligent degree of household appliances, the interconnection of household appliances will become an inevitable trend in the future." Zhao Ping believes that at present, there are differences in the information technology interface between different categories of appliances and different brands, so the next step is to continue to improve the level of interconnection, improve the standardization degree of the entire industry, and break the barriers between brands and categories as soon as possible, Accelerate the intelligent level of the whole industry, and provide better conditions for consumers to enjoy higher-level intelligent products. (Our reporter Lu Yuanzhen)