China's refrigerator market is entering the high-end stage

At the 2013 China Refrigeration Industry Summit Forum held recently, the 2012-2013 China Refrigerator Market Research Report (hereinafter referred to as the “Report”) jointly issued by the National Information Center and the China National Grid revealed that although the domestic refrigerator industry was in 2012, The decline was significant, but by the first quarter of 2013, it had achieved a bottoming-out rebound, a large increase in product sales, and an improvement in the industry's weakness. Experts pointed out that although the situation in 2013 is still unclear, it remains to be seen whether the refrigerator industry can usher in “spring blossoms”, but the data show that China's refrigerator market has really entered the stage of high-end.

The refrigerator market ushered in early spring

2012 is the "frost period" of the refrigerator industry. According to the statistics of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, China’s total refrigerator production during the year was 66 million units, a year-on-year decrease of 7.04%, of which total sales in the domestic refrigerator market were 41 million units, a year-on-year decrease of approximately 8.89%; exports of 2006 million units, a slight increase of 5% year-on-year .

Since 2013, the tightening of the refrigerator market has eased: The monitoring system of the household electrical appliances market in key cities of the National Information Center showed that the sales volume of refrigerators in key cities in the first quarter of 2013 was approximately 3.42 million units, an increase of 19.41% year-on-year, and the year-on-year sales growth was even stronger. It is 21.92%. Although the growth rate of the e-commerce platform is not as fast as traditional channels, it also shows a recovery growth trend. "From the 2010 to the first quarter of 2013, many products in China's home appliance industry, including refrigerators, have undergone significant growth, negative growth, and slow recovery during the key cities." analyzed Cai Ying, Deputy Director of the Resource Development Department of the National Information Center. It is believed that the formation of such a situation is affected by the macro environment, such as the tightening of real estate policies, the difference in the number and timing of delivery of affordable housing and plans, and the relatively low growth in investment in fixed assets in the manufacturing industry. On the other hand, as a traditional large appliance, The market saturation of refrigerators has been very high, and the market overdraft caused by various policies in the past few years artificially increased this saturation. Therefore, in the next three to four years, there will be no rapid growth in the refrigerator industry.

However, the industry generally sees the weak recovery in the first quarter of this year as the early spring of the industry. Cai Ying believes that the first quarter of this year, the refrigerator industry can achieve recoverable growth, mainly due to the macroeconomic level as a whole is good, energy-saving products benefiting people's projects, corporate sales promotions and other factors to promote the home appliance industry to show a relatively favorable trend. However, the situation is still uncertain throughout the year. It remains to be seen whether the refrigerator industry can usher in "spring bloom."

High-end ruler redefines

Wang Lei, deputy director of the China Household Electrical Appliances Association, pointed out: "In the urban market, refrigerators have really entered the stage of consumer upgrading. This is an important driving force for the growth of the refrigerator industry."

Cai Ying believes that although in recent years, the high-end has been the key word for the upgrade and restructuring of the refrigerator industry. However, this year it is necessary to redefine the high-end scale when conducting market analysis.

The reporter reviewed the market analysis report of the past two years and found that three or more products were generally defined as high-end products. However, according to statistics from the National Information Center, in the first quarter of this year, the sales of three or more refrigerators and side-by-side refrigerators played a key supporting role in the stability of the overall market size. Its sales volume ratio reached 45.20%, which was close to half of the total sales. Its sales accounted for 69.52% of the total market.

At the same time, through comparison, it can be found that the sales volume of refrigerators with four or more doors and door-to-door refrigerators has the most significant year-on-year increase, with sales of four or more refrigerators increasing by 487.56% year-on-year, and sales growth reaching 272.17%. Sales of door-to-door products increased by 48.65% year-on-year, and sales increased by 41.61%. Cai Ying believes that although the refrigerators with four or more refrigerators have abnormal growth due to the small base number in the same period of last year, the increase in refrigerators on the door is enough to explain that the overall product mix is ​​gradually adjusting to the trend of multi-door, large-volume, and high-end development. . "Therefore, it is necessary to redefine the high-end." Cai Ying said that in this year's report, refrigerators with a price of more than 4,500 yuan are defined as high-end. According to this definition, sales of high-end products account for 18.81% of sales. It is 41.9%.

Jin Liang, deputy general manager of Gome Purchasing Co., Ltd., said that the statistical data of each country’s stores in the first quarter of this year showed that even in the case of door-to-door products, the share of sales of low-end products with relatively cheap prices all showed a downward trend compared to the same period of last year. About 4,000 yuan, sales of door-to-door products accounted for 11% of sales, mid- to high-end products with 8,000 to 10,000 yuan increased by 9%, and the number of high-end products with more than 15,000 yuan increased by more than 5%.

In this regard, Jinliang analysis believes that the current "post-80s" and "post-90s" are gradually becoming the new force for the purchase of traditional home appliances. This consumer group pursues individuality, high-end, and avant-garde. They have brought more direct influence on the positioning of traditional household electrical appliances. Specific to the refrigerator products, more fashionable appearances, such as multi-door, large-volume, high-energy efficiency, and intelligent, strong preservation technology, classified storage, ice making and other functions are increasingly favored.

Relying on innovation to harvest gold autumn

According to data from the National Information Center, the price level of the refrigerator market has shown an upward trend this year. The average price in the first quarter of 2013 increased by 2.10% year-on-year, and increased by 4.60% from the average price of the previous year. Cai Ying believes that the main reason for the price increase is the adjustment of product structure and the increase in the proportion of high-end refrigerators.

"There is a very interesting phenomenon in 2013, which is that the trend of price changes does not coincide with the proportion of sales." Cai Ying further explained that the previous figures account for the monthly sales and the price The curves are basically consistent, and the price level tends to be higher. The proportion of sales in the current month is also relatively high, but there is a mismatch between the two figures this year. This shows that both the consumer's consumer psychology and consumer behavior, or the company's sales model has been relatively mature, the role of price factors in the promotion of the entire consumer is gradually reduced. Under this circumstance, the introduction of new products will promote the sales of the market far more than the price level. “This reminds manufacturers that product prices are not the only factor affecting sales volume and increasing market share. Blindly reducing product price levels does not necessarily increase sales scale, but product quality, after-sales service levels and marketing strategies are To a large extent, the sales situation of the product is determined, "said Wang Lei.

Jin Liang believes that in the future, the consumption structure of refrigerators will continue to develop in the direction of energy conservation, high-end, high-volume, and diversity. In addition, in order to compete for more market share, refrigerator manufacturers in the next few years should follow the government to convene products that meet the trend, and tailor-made products for specific markets based on real estate regulation and new rural construction needs. After the policy is withdrawn, subdivision is inevitable for the highly saturated refrigerator market.

According to statistics from the National Information Center, the average price of imported brand refrigerators in the first quarter of 2013 was higher than that of domestic brands by 105%, compared to 87% in the same period of last year. Cai Ying believes that this shows that in the product's process, design, appearance, and application of new technologies, especially in terms of striving for consumers, the high-end products of imported brands do have the place where local brands are free to learn.