In January, the opening of the year was cold, and the sales of the Spring Festival in February was the lowest. The performance of the home improvement season in March was flat. In April, it continued to fall. In May, it fell into a trough... The trend of the water heater market in 2018 can be used almost. 'Dirty' to describe. 'The most severe in history' The decline in demand brought about by the regulation of the property market is the main cause of the culprit. The gas water heater industry, which is mainly oriented to the primary and secondary markets, is naturally unable to be independent. The high number of growth no longer exists. Instead, it is the reality of the increase in the amount of the increase, and the extent of this 'amount of rise' is less than 5%, and the gains have shrunk dramatically.
However, in the long run, gas water heaters are still a generally optimistic and promising industry. On the one hand, they are escorting many favorable policies at the national level, such as: structural adjustment of energy, coverage of natural gas pipelines, coal reform. The promotion of the gas policy, the planning and construction of the new urbanization... are enough to bring about considerable incremental demand; on the other hand, it is the upgrading of the stock market, the technical maturity, the use of more comfortable gas water heaters, In the wave of consumption upgrades, it is clear that the Nuggets can be used more easily. The 'quantity drop' is the most intuitive proof.
On the one hand, the environment is bad, on the other is the prosperous future trend. Although the gas water heater industry's 2018 mid-term exam did not produce satisfactory answers, the short-term pessimism of 'market hard to do' also rose sharply, but stood at the global level. The strategic height, just in time for the overheated market 'splashing a cold water', broke through the once-smoothed 'burning in the retreat' argument, let the authorities fans, rethink the right direction, and in the trough China has also strengthened its transformational determination and fighting spirit to enhance endogenous power, with a view to gaining a foothold in the future broad market.
Accelerate product upgrades, revitalize the stock market
'This round of property market regulation, the main impact is the increase in the number of newly installed users in first- and second-tier cities (especially first-tier cities). 'This is a lot of manufacturers interviewed by the author, the relative optimism about the gas water heater market, revealed two Key points: The first and second-tier markets that were hit hard are not the whole; the stock market of non-new installers has a large space for mining.
In short, the short-term frustrated gas water heater market still does not lose the long-term growth engine. On the one hand, the channel is down, and the incremental space of the third and fourth-tier markets is tapped. On the other hand, the product structure is upgraded and the huge New market.
However, the fact that 'quantity declines' has proved that the incremental release of the third- and fourth-tier markets is not a day's work. Zhongyikang data shows that in the first five months of 2018, the retail volume of the entire water heater category in the primary and secondary markets The proportion of retail sales was 45.13% and 35.58% respectively. Among them, due to the consumption level and the limitation of natural gas coverage, the sales ratio of gas water heaters in the first and second markets is undoubtedly the highest. Although the growth rate of the third- and fourth-tier markets is fast and the potential is large, but the 'far-hydrolysis can't be thirsty', the current salary is not enough to make up for the incremental gap in the primary and secondary markets.
Linne launched a new upgraded Yuexiang series of gas water heaters in 2018, continuing to consolidate high-end status
Therefore, in the negative environment of the property market and the limited growth environment, it is more urgent to revitalize the huge stock market. It is gratifying that both the consumption level and the consumption concept are in the forefront, the secondary market, the gas water heater has With the obvious trend of shifting from universal consumption to comfortable consumption, this undoubtedly provides a rich soil for the upgrading of products. The gas water heaters with high technical requirements also have their own product value extension and premium space. Enough support.
Taking the rapid iteration of large-scale products as an example, since 2018, 13 liters and above large-flow gas water heaters have rapidly become the mainstream of the market. The proportion of retail sales in January-May has increased by 17 percentage points to 53.75. %, the proportion of retail sales increased by 15.52 percentage points to 70.75%. In contrast, the 12-liter products that were still in the hot spot in the previous two years, the proportion of retail sales decreased by 6.42 percentage points year-on-year to 27.52%; the proportion of retail sales decreased by 8.71 year-on-year. Percentage points to 19.38%. It can be seen that the product upgrade is fast, more and more sophisticated consumers can be seen, and the bathing comfort and smoothness are pursued.
In addition, zero cold water, intelligent constant temperature, magnetized water purification, 1.25 seconds of instantaneous combustion, CO safety protection, Wifi control, adaptive system, ultra-low noise, etc., a series of new technologies and new patents make the use of gas water heaters easier. More convenient, healthier, safer, from the satisfaction of basic functions to the more humanized experience of users, the comprehensive development of gas water heaters in technological innovation, advancing with the times, is also further promoting the upgrading of consumer concepts. .
Under the interaction of consumption upgrade and technical arming, the high-end channel will naturally open. Zhongyikang data shows that the average retail price of gas water heaters increased by 9.84 percentage points year-on-year to 3,114 yuan in January-May 2018, and this The price increase is the fastest among all water heater categories. Technological innovation has become a new driving force for the benign upward movement of the gas water heater industry.
Vantage intelligent upgrade of full-time constant temperature and no cold water TA2 gas water heater
More diverse channels, opening up a new marketing runway
The product structure is undergoing active transformation, and the retail environment is changing with each passing day. It faces fierce changes. In the first and second markets in developed regions, the response speed to channel changes is undoubtedly the fastest, and the new channel formats are relatively high. The acceptance of the gas water heater cultivated here, in the channel change, is naturally more timely and sensitive.
Especially with the popularity of the Internet, the openness and transparency of information, and the more and more diverse purchase channels available to consumers, the most striking change brought to the gas water heater industry is the big chain, Shangchao department store, specialty store. The growth of traditional channels has been hindered, and the emerging channels such as e-commerce, building materials, home improvement, and fine decoration have risen rapidly.
'Traditional KA is mainly based on 'shou', focusing on firepower 'offensive' building materials, home improvement market. 'Liu Zhenggen, general manager of Wanjiale Water Heater Division, said to Aiken Home Appliances, 'This strategic shift in 2018 is mainly due to consumer demand. The change in the end, under the quality upgrade, the overall home improvement appeal has become more and more intense. In addition, in the 618 e-commerce promotion last month, the online channel still broke through nearly 100% growth, the engineering channel of the decoration is also Doubled over the same period last year. '
This multi-channel approach goes hand in hand, and it is believed that it is also a common strategy for mainstream gas water heater companies to cope with transformation. As traditional channels become more and more diversified, when consumers' purchase channels begin to divert and decentralize, 'do not put eggs in the same basket' , to open up a diversified marketing runway, naturally can find more new performance growth points.
A set of monitoring data of Aowei Cloud Network (AVC) also strongly confirms that this channel transformation is imperative. In the first quarter of 2018, the average price of gas water heaters in the chain channel increased from 2,833 yuan to 3,112 yuan, a year-on-year increase. 9.8%; the average price of department store channels increased from 2,928 yuan to 2,997 yuan, up only 2.4% year-on-year; the average price of supermarket channels fell from 1,930 yuan to 1,388 yuan, down 28.1% year-on-year; From 2520 yuan to 2812 yuan, an increase of 11.6% year-on-year. It can be seen that traditional channels such as department stores and supermarkets are significantly weakening the sales of the market.
Of course, the traditional channels themselves are also actively transforming. The big chains represented by Suning and Gome have been working hard to open up the online and offline O2O integration, and enhance their own attractiveness by constructing experiential consumption scenarios; The construction of Linne, mainstream brands such as Wanjiale, is also actively promoting large-scale experience stores, the flagship store landing, interactive marketing to seize the consumer mind. And this move, also in line with the quality upgrade, service upgrade trend.
In fact, regardless of traditional channels or emerging channels, there are infinite possibilities of incremental growth. But the premise is that it can keep up with changes in consumer demand and lifestyle concepts. It can't keep up with the times, only eliminated.
Fang Tai 2018, with large capacity, instant heat, magnetized water and other technical advantages, impact the high-end combustion market
The market is more concentrated, and the big name effect is obvious.
The high growth rate of the gas water heater market is no longer the first to be affected. It is a small and medium-sized enterprise that has tried to take advantage of the situation. The terminal demand is weak, there is no incremental space; and the technical high threshold is not able to break out. The pressure to let some small and medium enterprises without hard power support is accelerated to reshuffle.
At present, there are still some non-mainstream brands such as Qiao Niangzi, Youmeng, Wanrui, Xiaxin, Qitian, etc., struggling on the e-commerce platform with a low price advantage of less than 1,000 yuan, and the sales volume is the most. As the case of Amoi JSQ24-C gas water heater, the price is 658 yuan. The monthly turnover in June is only 132. At the same time, in the third-fourth market where information is relatively closed and the competition is relatively weak, there are also a number of enterprises that are in troubled waters. However, as the pace of the sinking of major brands in the channel is accelerated, it will eventually be replaced or cleaned up, and it is difficult to have the opportunity to come later. In addition, in the further accelerated industrial upgrading, the advantages of mainstream brands will be more obvious, gas water heaters Market share will eventually focus on leading echelon companies and promote a healthier and more orderly development of the industry.
And this means that the future competition between mainstream brands will be more intense. Among them, there are foreign brands such as Linne, Energy, AO Smith, etc., which also have high-end Lin, Wanjia, Mei, Haier, Vantage, and forward. Department brands. Foreign brands have a greater say in product upgrades, while domestic brands have been exerting strength in the middle and high-end, and there is a localization advantage in the sinking of channels. The competitive strength of the two camps is not comparable. up and down.
Despite the new round of property market turmoil, the foreign brands that focus on the primary and secondary markets have formed a relatively large impact. But in the future, in the more mature and rational gas water heater market, the competition between the two is even more Will be a real lasting contest.
