The price of refrigerators has risen quietly in the context of weak sales in the home appliance industry. Following the data released by Zhongyikang, the price of refrigerators in the first quarter of this year increased by 12.2% compared with the same period of last year. After leading the industry, GfK China (GfK China) recently The national retail monitoring data released also showed that the retail sales of the refrigerator in the second quarter of 2018 was the same as that in the same period of 2017. In sharp contrast to the sharp increase in average price, the retail volume showed a significant downward trend.
The rising prices of raw materials and high-end upgrades are considered by the industry to be the main reason for the rise in the average price of refrigerators. The application of artificial intelligence technology has become an opportunity for the industry to break, but refrigerators are also facing competition from kitchen hoods for kitchen smart entrances.
More than 50% of the model refrigerator prices rose year on year
According to GfK China's national retail monitoring data, in the second quarter of 2018, the retail sales of each door of the refrigerator ranked the top 50 comparable models, the price of the refrigerator compared to the second quarter of 2017. The proportion is more than 50%.
Among them, one or two refrigerators have the largest price increase model, and the model number accounts for 82% of the door; the three-door refrigerator price model accounts for 65% of the door; the ratio of the multi-door and the door-to-door product price increase is respectively In the second quarter of 2017, the number of refrigerator models with a year-on-year increase in price accounted for only 28%; the number of models for one or two refrigerators increased by only 57% in the door. Among these comparable models, the single-type increase was the most obvious for one or two refrigerators, up to 22%, three-door refrigerators up 18%, door-to-door refrigerators up 11%, and multi-door refrigerators up 8%.
In this regard, the head of a refrigerator brand marketing department told reporters that the price increase of refrigerators is mainly driven by the sharp rise in raw material prices. Since 2017, the prices of major raw materials for refrigerators such as PVC, polyurethane, hot-rolled steel and coking coal have risen to varying degrees. In addition, environmental protection upgrades have also led to an increase in the manufacturing cost of refrigerators. The transmission to the end market is the price increase of refrigerators. He said that the low-end products of one or two and three doors have increased even more because of their low gross profit margin and rising raw material prices. The price increase of such products is more obvious; while multi-door and front-door refrigerators are equipped with more abundant product performance, which makes them have a larger premium space, so they are less affected by fluctuations in raw material prices.
High-end refrigerators have become the mainstream of the store
In addition to the impact of raw material price fluctuations on the price of refrigerators, some manufacturers believe that the popularity of refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners in China is already high. Many consumers are more willing to purchase large-capacity, high-performance products when purchasing new machines. The consumption upgrade has also driven the average price of white electricity to a certain extent.
The reporter recently visited Suning Zhengjiadian refrigerator exhibition area and found that Panasonic, Samsung, Haier, Midea, Rongsheng and other Chinese and foreign refrigerator giants showcased the prototype of refrigerators with high-end models, and the models with prices above 10,000 yuan are more than ten models, among which Many original imported products. 'Now the new products on the manufacturers are almost all high-end products, the average price of the whole refrigerator is about 4000~4500 yuan.' The store told reporters.
According to the statistics of Aowei.com, the current retail sales of high-end refrigerators accounted for 42.3%, ranking the forefront of various categories in the home appliance industry. It is expected that in the context of saturated household refrigerators, manufacturers can only drive retail sales through transformation of high-end products. Growth, the second half of the year or continue the trend of price increases.
Recommendation: Increase technical investment to promote differentiated competition
In the view of industry veteran Liu Buchen, under the high-end trend, the horse market effect of the refrigerator market will become more and more obvious, and the trend of market concentration to the head brand is further highlighted. Manufacturers must increase more technical input (such as intelligence and artificial intelligence). ) and achieve more differentiation to improve the competitiveness of products, otherwise it will face the fate of being eliminated. Take the Xinfei refrigerator, which has been a household name, as an example, it is gradually away from the consumer's sight due to poor management, and has been several times ', even exposed rumors of production suspension.
However, he also pointed out that in recent years, refrigerator companies have invested a lot of enthusiasm in smart technology, and the penetration rate of smart refrigerators with Wi-Fi function has increased year by year, but the consumer experience is not satisfactory, such as the refrigerator display audio and video entertainment function in life It is still in the concept stage to connect with the supermarket to realize the 'automatic distribution'. At present, the more practical functions of the smart refrigerator are mainly reflected in the management of the ingredients.
'In recent years, range hoods have also made great progress in smart applications, which means that the same kitchen core products, refrigerators and hoods will launch a fierce competition for kitchen smart entrance. ' Liu Buchen said. Zhongyi Kang brand general manager left Yan Yan told reporters that in the segmentation field, there are still some gaps in the refrigerator industry, which can differentiate the market segments through different usage scenarios, such as car refrigerators, children's refrigerators and beauty refrigerators.
In addition, there are opportunities for personalization. For example, Suning United Haier, Midea and other brands will test the C2B model, reverse custom Hello Kitty series, Marvel series, Disney series custom refrigerators and other strong IP products. Suning related people in an interview Said that this year is a football year, the company will rely on sports industry resources, together with Becker, Hisense and other strategic partners, together to launch Barcelona custom models, Inter Milan custom models, Hisense World Cup custom models and other custom refrigerator products.