Nowadays, 'online platform' has become an important sales channel that all industries can't avoid. In the vacuum cleaner industry, this situation is even more pronounced. China Unicom's total data show that in 2015 and 2016, In 2017, the total retail volume of vacuum cleaners was 9.58 million units, 14.26 million units, and 17.94 million units. Among them, the retail sales of e-commerce were 7.16 million units, 12.03 million units, and 15.58 million units respectively, which accounted for 74.8% and 84.4% of the total retail sales, respectively. , 87.4%, It can be seen that under the trend of consumption upgrade, the overall retail volume of vacuum cleaners has increased significantly, and the online e-commerce platform has shown an overwhelming advantage over offline channels. There is a lot of discussion in this industry, as far as the vacuum cleaner industry is concerned, the line Is there any so-called channel advantage? In the future, will vacuum cleaner market channels eventually complete the online-to-offline replacement?
Online share is dominant
Higher average price below the line
Vacuum cleaners, as traditional household appliances, were born earlier and developed rapidly. In the Chinese market, the channel system has become mature and stable. However, with the continuous improvement of the living standards of residents, under the trend of consumption upgrade, the new function of vacuum cleaners, new products 2. The vacuum cleaner market has re-emerged in recent years.
At present, the market share of traditional category vacuum cleaners is continuously declining, and the rising trend of new category vacuum cleaners is obvious. According to AVC data, in Q18 of the year 2018, offline sales of traditional horizontal vacuum cleaners have declined to varying degrees. The online price dropped by 13.7% year-on-year, more obvious under the line, which was a drop of 25.6% year-on-year. The new vacuum cleaner category continued its high growth momentum. For example, pusher vacuum cleaners accounted for 29% of online sales in 2018, an increase of up to 7% year-on-year. Cheng. It can be seen that the share of traditional vacuum cleaners with offline sales channels is gradually shrinking, while the market share of new category vacuum cleaners with online as the main sales platform is rising rapidly.
Insiders pointed out that the maintenance costs of online platforms are low, and they are easy to promote, which is conducive to the rapid opening of new categories to the market and help companies quickly compete for market share. For example, brands such as Cobos, Dyson, and Puppy in the online market rely on The in-depth digging of online channels has led to the launch of a variety of new product categories. Currently, it has occupied a large share of the vacuum cleaner market. According to data from China Yikang, in the 2017 online TOP brand, the above three brands occupy the online market. Half of retail sales.
There is an overwhelming advantage over the offline market in terms of volume. Why is there still a considerable number of companies insisting on offline channels? First, the average offline price is higher than the online price. In the Q1 vacuum cleaners, the average price of key items changed. The online market was vertical, hand held putters, and the average price of robots was 1,279 yuan, 1,526 yuan, 1,458 yuan, and 2,885 yuan, 3,348 yuan, 2,036 yuan.
Secondly, the high degree of concentration of offline channel brands can bring direct and substantial profits to those companies that are actively laying out the line. The AVC data show that from the last three years (2016, 2017, 2018) ) Q1 brand concentration data point of view, the offline TOP10 brand share remained at more than 90%, to 2018 Q1, it is up to 99% historical peak. Industry analysts pointed out that although the vacuum cleaner volume can not be online with the same day The language, but high pricing strategies and high brand concentration can make some companies get more real profits. Based on high profit margins, the major vacuum cleaner brands in the future will attach great importance to the development of offline channels.
Flexible online marketing
Offline price has no 'disadvantage'
Compared with offline 'flyers', 'dictation', 'show', etc., it can be described as a 'three-year' marketing approach. The online quick, flexible and efficient communication is undoubtedly more advantageous. Insiders pointed out that the vacuum cleaner is a household electrical appliance product. Function introduction and user feedback are the most valued by consumers. On-line platforms have natural advantages in this respect. Nowadays, through online communication formats such as graphic or short video, consumers can understand the function of the product in a short period of time. , After-sales and other decision-making factors, which are in line with the current consumption habits of young consumers fragmented.
In addition to the marketing level, relying on 'de-intermediate', online platforms are also more flexible at the price level. Along with the rise of 'E-commerce shopping festival' in recent years, it is constantly refreshing the sales record of vacuum cleaner products on the online platform. According to the latest data from China Yikang, in the first week of '618' promotion this year, the retail value of vacuum cleaners increased by 110.7% year-on-year. According to industry analysts, since the beginning of June, all major e-commerce platforms have reduced their prices, discounted coupons, spikes, and spikes. Purchases, pre-sales and other fancy promotions continued, and in the second quarter, major brands launched new vacuum cleaners, which continued to stimulate the market. The above reasons have caused the recent surge in the retail sales of vacuum cleaners.
When it comes to offline, the consumer's first impression is that prices are more expensive than online, but as major vacuum cleaners start online, the direction of product planning under the overall line, and online e-commerce platform to increase the offline platform The construction of the line, the offline product terminal price disadvantage is also reduced.
When the reporter visited Suning's Beijing Lenovo Bridge Store in recent days, he discovered that a certain brand of vacuum cleaner products, offline, and online prices remained the same, and according to the clerk, if you can catch up with the offline activities, you can superimpose the discount. Lower prices than online.
Industry insiders pointed out that online store operators will occasionally launch promotional activities and profit-sharing discounts for specific regional markets. In addition, major brands will also launch their own exclusive promotions to further reduce the terminal price; in addition, vacuum cleaners are used as experiential models. Household appliances, whether the actual experience is good or not, can influence consumer purchasing decisions to a large extent. At this point, there are also certain advantages on the offline market. Nowadays, with the major brands, online product sales, product demonstrations, image display, brand activities, etc. are increased. Investment, offline channel purchase conversion efficiency is expected to further improve.
Online Fusion Reverse Customization
Avoid blind layout under the line
In the long run, the future of vacuum cleaner industry should be fully integrated online and offline, using the advantages of different channels to promote the healthy development of the vacuum cleaner industry.
According to industry insiders, the online platform has big data advantages. Based on this, it can help vacuum cleaner manufacturers learn more about what categories consumers are paying more attention to, and which functions they can use to carry out C2B reverse customization to achieve precise development of market segments. For example, e-commerce Platform Suning Tesco Co., Ltd. recently launched the joint vacuum cleaner maker Stone Tech to launch the 'Inter Milan' customized version of the smart sweeper at the end of June. At the close of the World Cup, the main fan market is very clear-cut. Future, through big data, analysis, mining users Consumer behavior habits, such as C2B reverse customization, breaking the traditional 'production and research sales' upstream and downstream relay modes, will be able to provide consumers with more diversified, personalized products and services to meet the user's growing quality needs.
'Offline experience has more advantages', but the more offline shop the better, the industry pointed out that the purchase conversion rate is a key factor in determining the number of stores under the line. First, vacuum cleaner product attributes determine the regional and grading market It needs to be specially selected that the city coverage of the vacuum cleaner market should be dominated by the first and second-tier cities. The development of other cities should be based on brand marketing needs for selective investment. In response, Zhong Yekang analysts pointed out: 'Eg, for each provincial setting, Two key cities are appropriate, less developed provinces can be reduced to one key city, and key provinces can be expanded to three or four key cities. In terms of store coverage, it should be kept between 30% and 60%. Focus on the main store. For other markets that are not covered by the cable store, they can complement each other through online marketing methods and expand the market with online and offline pricing. Avoid blindly laying out lines.
In the future, offline platforms can use a large number of contact networks to open up new markets, and eventually they can also achieve feedback on the online market. For example, based on research on offline channels, handheld multi-purposes suitable for urban home use can be introduced. Vacuum cleaners and multi-functional household barrel vacuum cleaners suitable for use in urban and rural areas, etc. In the future, with the full integration of online and offline, companies will gradually differentiate consumer demand scenarios and introduce sub-channel customized products to further improve Vacuum cleaner penetration rate.