Appliance industry should pay more attention to consumer preferences

In 2013, the appliance industry continued to make a sound of warmth. However, if the home appliance industry really wants to usher in a warm spring, it also needs to put the pulse of quasi-consumer. Otherwise, the spring of the home appliance industry will not be able to come. So, what kind of home appliances do consumers like?

High-end products should be practical and stressful. The argument that "appliances should be high-end consumerism" has always been heard. Consumers do need high-end home appliances, but they only need high-end home appliances that are practical and practical, rather than high-end products that have a name and fashion.

According to the data from Ovid Consulting, from January to November 2012, the sales volume of inverter air conditioners in the domestic primary and secondary markets has reached 53.3%, which exceeds the fixed speed air conditioners, and the increase rate has reached 8.4%; the sales ratio of drum washing machines has reached 36.6%, an increase of 3.3% year-on-year; the proportion of open-door and multi-door high-end refrigerators also increased further, with sales growth reaching 12.6% and 9.5% respectively.

Head of Home Appliances Sales Division of Shanghai Hitachi Household Appliances Co., Ltd., Mr. Guo Tianjian, introduced Hitachi’s current plans for the Chinese market and stated that China’s high-end home appliance consumer market has become more than just a first-tier city, and consumer demand for high-end products in second- and third-tier cities is also increasing. Hitachi will push high-end products in first-tier cities, and will also introduce some high-value-added products to second- and third-tier cities to meet consumer demand.

The high price of high-end home appliances seems to have become a common practice, but for consumers, high-end home appliances are not merely labeled as high-priced but functionally tasteless products. Surveys have shown that when buying home appliances, prices are no longer the first factor. Using new technologies to make functions easy to use is the last word. The 2012-2013 China High-end Consumer Appliances Survey shows that the attributes of “high-end home appliances” in consumers’ minds have changed slightly. In the 2012 survey, the top three attributes were brand reputation (81.9%). ), high technical content (75.2%), energy conservation and environmental protection (71%). In 2009, when consumers were purchasing high-end products, the main factors considered were brand reputation, which accounted for 65.9%, good after-sales services accounted for 53%, and energy saving and environmental protection accounted for 48.5%. In terms of the functional preferences of home appliances: From the perspective of television products, high-definition, Internet access, and remote sensing control functions are more popular; among the functions of air-conditioning products, air purification, energy saving, and power saving are the consumer's preferences; refrigerator functions, cooling The effects and voice prompts are more valued, and the message board function is recognized as the property of smart refrigerators in the future; among the functions of the washing machines, the top three are water saving, antibacterial, and various washing methods, which represent new technologies. Appointment of laundry and high temperature cooking are not sought after.

It is worth mentioning that in the television, air conditioning, and refrigerator survey options, the "Internet of Things system function" was chosen as a 16% to 25% share of the selection. This was proposed in 1999 and was included in the "Twelfth Five Year Plan" in 2010. The concept of technology is increasingly recognized and valued by consumers.

Small household electrical appliances become necessities for life Color TVs, refrigerators, air conditioners, and washing machines have always been household essential appliances. Due to the improvement of the quality of life, the variety of these necessities is also changing quietly. It has been regarded as a dispensable small home appliance. Also began to join this rank, the connotation and extension of the essentials of household appliances are changing.

China's industry research network in the first quarter of 2012, the overall market size analysis of small household appliances industry shows that in 2012, the growth rate of China's home appliance market is still declining. In the first three quarters, the market size of white and black electricity fell by 10% year-on-year, while small The decline in home appliances is between 2% and 5%. It shows that many consumers did not give up buying small appliances even if they did not change their appliances. The "2012 Capital Citizen's Home Appliances 3C Brand Consumption Survey Report" shows that among the household appliances necessary for home use, microwave ovens, induction cookers, drinking fountains, soya-bean milk makers, rice cookers, humidifiers, and electric pressure cookers account for more than 30% of all household appliances. Life appliances; electric irons, electric heaters, juicers, bread machines, air purifiers, water purifiers, mixers and other small household appliances are also said that more than 15% of consumers will buy.

According to the Deep Research Report on the Analysis of China's Small Household Appliances Market 2012-2016 published by Champ Consulting, as of June 2012, the major small household electrical appliances such as razors, rice cookers, juicers, vacuum cleaners, electric irons, hair dryers, etc. Both sales and sales volume have increased significantly, especially for purifiers, with an increase of nearly 300%.

In 2012, sales of many small home appliance industries are expected to exceed 10 billion yuan. Among them, the sales of rice cookers, induction cookers, and water purification products will all exceed 10 billion yuan, of which sales of net water products will increase to 12 billion yuan in 2012 on the basis of more than 10 billion yuan in 2011, and 10.5 billion yuan for induction cookers. The rice cooker reached 10.6 billion yuan throughout the year.

According to industry insiders, China's small home appliance market has a relatively low number of possessions. There are less than 4 households per household. This compares with an average of 10 possessions per household in Europe and the United States, showing a strong market space and growth. In the next few years, China’s small home appliance market will continue to grow in volume, the growth rate will continue to be maintained at about 7%, and the market scale will also be further enlarged.

The price is a little expensive and you are not afraid that the buyer will have to spend money. Buying a full-featured home appliance costs more money. So, how much is consumer acceptance of home appliance prices?

According to the “2012 Capital Citizen’s Home Appliances 3C Brand Consumption Survey Report”, in the television and kitchen appliances, the consumer’s preferred price range is 3500-5000 yuan, accounting for 40.81%, and the sub-selection range is 5000-8000 yuan, accounting for 29.29%; The preferred price range for air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines is 2000-3500 yuan, accounting for 39.56%, 40.70% and 39.30%, respectively. From the results of this survey, it can be seen that consumers’ sensitivity to price on home appliances is declining, and products priced at RMB 5,000 can be accepted by most consumers. This also shows that consumer demand for home appliances is moving toward mid-to-high end.

For small household appliances, consumers gradually see it as a necessity for daily life, and at the same time, their acceptance of price increases. "2012-2013 China Electric Oven Market Research Report" shows that in 2012 China's electric oven market, the focus of price shift, 301-500 yuan is the most concerned about the consumer price segment, concerned about the proportion of 39.9%, compared with 2011 increased The percentage of attention in the price segment of RMB 201-300 was also more than 10%, accounting for 11.4%; the interest rate in the price segment above RMB 1,000 was 7.0%. The "2012-2013 China Air Purifier Market Research Report" shows that 301-400 yuan is the price range most users tend to spend, and the focus of attention is more than 40%. The ranking is followed by 200-300. The price segment of the yuan received the attention of 23.1% of users. For products with more than 500 yuan, the proportion of consumers concerned has reached 15.9%, indicating that consumers have received a steady increase in high-end products.

According to the retail monitoring data of GfK online market, in the first half of 2012, the share of retailers of juicers over RMB 1000 was 8%, a year-on-year increase of 3%, and the retail sales share was 32%, a year-on-year increase of 13%.

According to the retail monitoring data of the online razor of the GfK electric shaver, in the first half of 2012, retail sales in the price segment of more than 3,000 yuan accounted for 9% of the total retail sales of the online market, a year-on-year increase of 5%. The high-end products of the online market electric shaver Significant growth in sales.

Consumers’ acceptance of home appliance product prices continues to increase. From the perspective of overall prices, the acceptance of medium and high-end products is the highest, while low-priced popular products and high-priced emerging products are not accepted by most consumers. Consumers like home appliances can be summed up in one sentence: the price is a bit expensive and not afraid of, the function must be practical, can bring more convenience to life.

The quality problem can not tolerate some small problems encountered in the use of home appliances, consumers have expressed that they can tolerate, but some customers have shown zero tolerance. According to the “2012 Capital Citizen’s Home Appliances 3C Brand Consumption Survey Report”, consumers can't tolerate problems with home appliance products such as TV quality issues, air conditioning and refrigeration, heating effects, and noise; nighttime noise and refrigeration effects in refrigerators. Washing machine residual stain problems; range hood fumes and noise problems, cleaning difficulties, key function is unknown, easy to pollute and other issues; computer and mobile phone crashes, black screens and other issues and Internet signal instability, buttons or touch screen easy Damage and so on.

In the interview, the reporter found that although consumers are very picky when choosing home appliances, they can list many conditions, but the tolerance when using home appliances is still relatively high, only to some of the key issues affecting the use of the show zero tolerate. Ms. Li, a consumer in Haidian District, Beijing, said: “Actually, even though we’re picking up household appliances, we’ll have a bit of a problem. Most people will adopt a patience attitude. I bought a range hood the other day.” When I used it, I found that the control keys were not very sensitive, and sometimes I had to press twice to react.I found the repairman to repair it, but it was not very easy to use.I also recognized that if I press it a few more times on the line. Can not afford time. But if the main function of the product is not a problem, such as television is to look at the image, if there is a problem with the quality, it means that the TV can not be used at all." She also said that, for example, the remote control buttons are not good Use, interface design is unreasonable, these problems can be forgiven as consumers. Also, home appliances are afraid of noise, regardless of air conditioning, or refrigerators, washing machines, start a humming, causing headaches, can not sleep, it can not be tolerated.

From this we can see that consumers are actually very tolerant, and only when the product has a big problem can it show an unbearable attitude.