Kitchen and toilet market product upgrade is the main theme

After more than 20 years of development in the kitchen and toilet industry, most consumers have had consumption experience and have shown more rationality and maturity in their purchasing behavior. Therefore, consumer demand has evolved from simple functions to product appearance, functions, and performance. In response to the overall demand, consumers are increasingly pursuing the overall product perfection and the product structure is significantly upgraded.

First, the national economy has progressed steadily, and the home appliance market has shown signs of recovery.

Affected by the slowdown in economic growth, the domestic appliance industry entered a short period of “downturn” in 2012, following the gradual withdrawal of policies such as trade-in, home appliances, and rural areas. This means that the growth base of the market in 2013 was lower.

In 2013, the national economy achieved steady progress and maintained a steady trend. The total retail sales of consumer goods reached 23.4 trillion yuan, a nominal increase of 13.1 percent year-on-year; the country’s total sales of commercial housing were 1,305.15 million square meters, of which 115.23 million square meters were residential sales. The year-on-year increase of 17.5%, especially the introduction of the “State Five” led to the active trading in second-hand housing. The warming of the property market, especially second-hand housing, has laid a solid demand base for the home appliance market in 2013.

Of course, the new round of home appliance energy-saving and benefit-subsidy projects started in the second half of 2012 is also an important factor in boosting sales of home appliances in 2013, especially in the first half of the year. During the policy promotion period, the five products of color TVs, refrigerators (including freezers), washing machines, air conditioners, and gas water heaters achieved sales of 4842 billion yuan.

Under the combined effects of the above factors, the domestic home appliance market showed signs of recovery in 2013. According to Zhong Yikang estimates, the total domestic kitchen and toilet market (water heaters, range hoods, gas stoves, disinfection cabinets, microwave ovens, and dishwashers) totaled RMB 99.9 billion in 2013, an increase of 17.4% year-on-year in 2012. In terms of specific products, the retail sales of water heaters reached 28.35 million units and 44.5 billion yuan, an increase of 11.0% and 18.6% year-on-year, respectively, of which gas water heater retail sales reached 11.76 million units and 20.2 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.9% and 23.4% respectively; The retail sales reached 13.25 million units and 26.3 billion yuan, an increase of 9.4% and 20.3% year-on-year; the retail sales of gas stoves reached 17.95 million units and 16.8 billion yuan, an increase of 8.3% and 18.6% year-on-year, respectively; the retail scale of disinfection cabinets reached 4.55 million. Taiwan, 5.4 billion yuan, an increase of 6.7% and 15.5% respectively.

Second, the market is characterized by active growth, shifting demand, fine management, etc.

1. Good growth and healthy development of the industry.

First of all, like other home appliances, the growth of the kitchen appliances market is very similar to the growth of the Chinese economy. The rapid economic growth, the rapid growth of the kitchen and sanitary appliances market, the slowdown in economic growth, and the growth of the kitchen and toilet electrical market slow. At the same time, kitchen and bathroom appliances are a special case in the home appliance market. The sales of kitchen and bathroom products have been very impressive. Even in the context of the overall poor performance of the domestic appliance market in 2012, the kitchen and toilet market maintained a positive growth, including kitchen and bathroom products including water heaters, range hoods, gas stoves, disinfection cabinets, microwave ovens, and dishwashers. Total retail sales reached 85.1 billion yuan, an increase of 2.3% over 2011. In the medium to long term, the kitchen electricity market will still be a star industry. In the next three years, the kitchen and kitchen appliances market will maintain a compound annual growth rate of around 10%, which is at least 5 percentage points higher than the overall household appliance market growth rate in the same period. Of course, there will also be fluctuations in the market during the development process, mainly due to the impact of real estate on the first and second-tier cities. At the present stage, the household appliances of Chinese kitchens and household appliances have a low number of possessions. Take hoods as an example. At the end of 2012, there were about 81 households per 100 urban households and only 15 rural households. Therefore, 75% of the current kitchen and toilet appliances are new demand, while the replacement demand only accounts for about 25%. Therefore, residential sales have a profound impact on the sales of kitchen appliances. It usually takes about 3 years from the start of construction to completion of real estate development. Therefore, the impact of residential sales on household appliances will lag for about 2 years. The sale of commercial housing in 2013 was very good, but in 2013, the conversion of commercial housing sales to home appliance needs will take a certain period of time. This time will probably be one to two years. We noticed a phenomenon that in the first half of 2012, the sales area of ​​residential mid-term housing in the country fell by 12.4%, which would have a negative impact on the 2014 market. It is estimated that the main kitchen and bathroom products (heaters, hoods, and gas The total retail sales growth for stoves, disinfecting cabinets, microwave ovens, and dishwashers will slow from 17.4% in 2013 to 11.3%.

Secondly, kitchen and toilet companies are relatively rational, and the vicious price competition is relatively small. In particular, high-end brand companies such as the boss and Fangtai can even overshadow the foreign brands. The industry leader has successfully cultivated the high-end consumer habits of consumers. The data shows that Chinese families’ investment in kitchen and bathroom renovations continues to rise, and the current cost of decorating kitchens and bathrooms can account for more than 45% of the total home decoration. Our monitoring data can also see that the proportion of high-end products in the market is rapidly increasing. In 2013, the proportion of 4,000 yuan or more range hoods, 2,500 yuan or more gas stoves, and more than 3,500 yuan sterilizers accounted for 24.0%, 15.9%, and 17.0% of the retail sales of the overall market, respectively, an increase of 15, 12, and 9 over 2009. percentage point.

2. The trend of polarization of demand has intensified, and companies tend to be fine-tuned.

China's economic development is not balanced, and the market competition environment is complex. As far as kitchen and household appliances are concerned, the rural market is dominated by the first popularity. Affected by factors such as income factors and consumer attitudes, consumers are more likely to choose cost-effective products, such as less than RMB 1,000. Electric water heaters, gas stoves, etc. In the urban market, since kitchen and kitchen appliances have become a very important part of home improvement, products that are stylish and avant-garde in appearance and whose performance is beneficial to human health will become the main force that will drive market growth, such as near-suction smoke. Machines, energy-efficient hoods, embedded kitchen appliances, etc. In addition, products that use intelligence as a selling point also begin to have significant capacity, such as the water heater bath memory function, the automatic cleaning function of the hood, and the automatic shut-off of the gas stove.

The polarized phenomenon of kitchen and bathroom products is more profound than other household appliances. Therefore, kitchen and toilet companies need fine management, and the industry has entered a new era of brand operation, such as multi-brand layout, which is advantageous for companies to accurately locate customers and to plan for bigger plates.

3. The lifestyle and consumer behavior are changing, and there is a clear shift in demand.

In today's rapid development of e-commerce, in the face of the 80th and 90th consumer groups who are both loyal fans of the Internet and the main force of home decoration, they have accelerated their layout and further expanded their e-commerce channels, becoming a kitchen power company’s brand influence and snatch. The only way to more market share. In 2013, the sales of kitchen appliances in e-commerce channels have shown outstanding growth. It is expected that the total annual sales will be around 7 billion, and the upward trend will continue in 2014. It is estimated that in 2014, the retail sales of kitchen appliances will increase by 110%-130%. At the same time, with the cooperation of Japan, Japan, and Tmall, and the increase in JD's logistics investment, there will be greater opportunities for the development of E-commerce T3 market.

In the enterprise, after careful layout in the past two years, the mainstream kitchen and power companies including the owner, Fangtai, Vantage, etc. have gone from the single Tmall official flagship store to Jingdong Mall, Suning, Yixun and many other B2C platforms. In order to expand the diversified cooperation and expansion, for kitchen and power companies, in addition to having a strong online sales capability, we must improve the laying of traditional channels under the line, as well as the tracking and improvement of after-sales services, in order to win more market initiative in the future.

In addition to electricity suppliers, due to the special nature of kitchen appliances, it is also necessary to notice another fast-growing market, namely the refined decoration market. At present, the first-tier cities such as Beijing and Guangzhou have a fine-tuned proportion of more than 50%, which will bring enormous competitive pressure to traditional retailers in the future.

4. The monopoly brand has not yet emerged. There are many regional strong cards, and the cottages are brand-named.

The smoke stove market dominates with professional manufacturers such as the boss, Fangtai, and Vantage, but the leading brand retail share is only about 15%, which exceeds 2-4 brands by about 5 percentage points. The dominant position is not very significant. Compared with the white electricity market, the share of industry leading brands can reach about 30%, which is at least 10% higher than that of the second place. Moreover, in different regions, consumers’ brand recognition differs greatly and there are many regional strong brands, such as Hunan’s Schindler, Sichuan’s forward, Chongqing’s age, Heilongjiang’s Chilimei, Shaanxi’s Hongri, etc. These regional brands You can even grab more than 10% of your shares on your site.

On the other hand, because the industry's threshold is relatively low, it also leads to a large number of "Li Gui" and widespread brand names. As far as the country is concerned, at least 500 or even nearly 1,000 companies are involved in the kitchen and toilet industry. Many brands of no-name products are blooming in vast rural areas or purchased by real estate developers for the purpose of fine-tuning housing facilities. All these have greatly harmed the interests of consumers, and at the same time they have dealt a blow to manufacturers in the middle zone.