On November 1, China Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute and National Household Appliance Industry Information Center jointly released the "Third Quarterly Report of China's Household Appliance Industry in 2018" (hereinafter referred to as 'Q3 Report').
According to the Q3 report, the overall size of China's home appliance market in the third quarter of 2018 was 182.1 billion yuan, down 5.6% year-on-year. Among them, black electricity, white electricity, kitchen and toilet, etc. all experienced different degrees of decline, and the retail sales of air-conditioning market fell 8.7 year-on-year. %, ice washing total fell by 2.2.%, kitchen and bathroom appliances fell by 4.9% year-on-year, color TVs fell the most serious year-on-year, reaching 18.3%. It is worth noting that, unlike the electricity of the 'all the army', the performance of the life electrical category It is a unique show, with a year-on-year increase of 14.8%.
For the performance of the home appliance market in the third quarter, Ge Fengliang, vice president of the China Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute, said that although the overall situation is not optimistic, the trend of consumption upgrading has not changed, people's consumer demand is expanding, and new personalized consumer demand is constantly forming. In the future, market competition will become more intense, and new requirements and challenges will be placed on the market.
Ge Fengliang, Vice President of China Household Electrical Appliances Research Institute
Zhang Wei, director of the Integrated Business Department of the China National Light Industry Council, also said that China is a big country in home appliance production and a major consumer of home appliances. The performance of the home appliance market in the third quarter of this year has shown a situation that has not appeared in recent years, but the domestic consumer market. As the economic development stabilizer and ballast stone role is more prominent.
Zhang Wei, Director, Integrated Business Department, China National Light Industry Council
Insufficient domestic demand, frequent promotions lead to third-quarter performance 'vacuum'
In 2018, despite the more severe international economic environment and the increasing downward pressure on the economy, from the four dimensions of economic aggregates, structural indicators, quality indicators, and efficiency indicators, China's economic operation has remained generally stable and stable. Good development situation. However, affected by multiple unfavorable factors such as real estate, climate, and flat demand, the overall sales of the home appliance market in the third quarter of 2018 and the trend of various categories were obviously under pressure.
The specific reasons can be analyzed from three aspects: First, in the third quarter of this year, the national real estate macro-control, the restriction on purchases did not appear to be loose, the delivery of commercial housing was lower than expected, and the ability to pull the home appliance market was very limited; In the second half of the year, two important promotion nodes 'National Day' and 'Double Eleven' were in the fourth quarter, and some consumers chose to suspend purchase, resulting in the third quarter. In the downturn of consumer demand; in addition, the excessively frequent promotion nodes in the first half of the year led to a sharp decline in the price of some home appliances, which directly affected the retail sales in the third quarter. For example, color TVs, this year, too frequent promotions have caused their product structure upgrade era. The average price does not rise and fall, and the price of different sizes has dropped by 15-20%.
This year's home appliance market has been under pressure, and the third quarter is likely to be the worst quarter of the year. However, this does not mean that the downward pressure on the market will decrease in the fourth quarter.
Q3 report analysis believes that although more promotional nodes will be ushered in the fourth quarter, this does not change the situation that consumer demand is overdrawn. At the same time, more and more high-end brands and high-end products are being transformed, and high-end positions are coming. The more crowded, the pressure will go down further. The huge market competition pressure will make the brand more and more concentrated.
At the China Household Appliance Technology Conference held on October 30-31, many home appliance industry people also expressed their expectations for this year's home appliance market. The imperfect collection in 2018 should be a high probability event.
The need to upgrade and replace the quality of life into a new kinetic energy
Although the overall performance of the market in the third quarter of 2018 was weak, the market sales of smart, healthy and high-end home appliances continued to grow steadily. The demand for replacement of quality life has become a new growth driver for the home appliance market.
The Q3 report shows that as an important tool and means to achieve a comfortable life, the penetration rate of smart home appliances has steadily increased. Taking color TV as an example, the share of smart TV in the third quarter of 2018 has reached 96%; air-conditioning products are smarter, but grow The speed is very amazing. In the third quarter, the proportion of retail sales of smart air conditioners has exceeded half. For consumers, smart home appliances have become a symbol of quality life.
At the same time, as income levels continue to rise, more and more consumers are no longer simply pursuing low prices, but are more inclined to choose high-end home appliances with strong functions, good performance and better user experience. In the third quarter of this year, Large-size TVs, large-capacity refrigerators, washing machines, water heaters, etc. have become well-deserved market hotspots. The increase in the market share of these products is based on consumers' pursuit of a beautiful and comfortable life. It is also a breakthrough based on the upgrading and transformation of home appliance enterprises. High-end has become a common choice for consumers and businesses.
In addition, consumers' pursuit of quality life is changing people's traditional way of life. Health and convenience have become brand new consumer labels. Taking dryers as an example, as more residents' health awareness increases, they are derived from Western clothes. The machine is rapidly integrating into the country. In the third quarter of this year, it achieved comprehensive growth both online and offline. Among them, the online retail sales of the independent dryers increased by 100% year-on-year, and the offline sales also increased by nearly 50%. The retail sales increased by 40% year-on-year, and the annual growth rate also reached 30%. However, whether it is a stand-alone dryer or a washing and drying machine, the offline market share is higher than the online. 8KG free-standing dryer The offline share accounts for 12%, which is more than 10% of the online; the share of 10KG washing and drying washing machine is as high as 17%, which is nearly three times that of online. This means that in the promotion of new categories. The offline market that allows consumers to experience it is more exciting to buy.
The new demand brought about by the new lifestyle has also greatly promoted the rise of the home appliance market. In the third quarter of the overall poor performance, home appliances have become a bright color. In 2018, the domestic appliance market reached 26 billion. Yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.8%. Personalized, novel small household appliances began to be favored, small and beautiful brands that focus on certain products have a high reputation and influence among consumers. In terms of categories, soya-bean milk machine, electricity Fans, electric irons, electric razors and other products that have entered the market for many years have a large basis, so the growth rate is slower; and electric baking pans, electric pressure cookers, rice cookers, mixers, vacuum cleaners, coffee machines, humidifiers, dehumidification The growth rate of life appliances such as machines is still considerable.
Online and offline ice and fire two heavens full channel layout advantage highlights
In terms of channel performance, in the third quarter of 2018, online and offline can be described as the real contrast between ice and fire. The report shows that the online market for home appliances in the third quarter reached 61.5 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 15.4%, in addition to color TV, all categories of home appliances online The upper market has shown a positive growth trend.
The offline market failed to maintain the steady trend in the first half of the year, with a drop of 13.6%, and all categories showed a downward trend. However, the status of the offline channel as the main support of the home appliance market has not changed. The proportion is still as high as 66%.
In terms of market share, Jingdong, Suning Tesco, Tmall's three major platforms accounted for 94.1% of the online market share; In the offline market, Suning Tesco and Gome ranked first with 17.5% and 8.5% respectively. 2. From the perspective of omnichannel, Suning Tesco continued to lead with a market share of 22.3%.
At present, China's retail industry is undergoing a third change, namely, online and offline smart retail. It is only wired and offline to promote the continuous development of the entire home appliance industry. Therefore, the omni-channel retailer will have more advantages. obvious.
In the era of consumption upgrade driven by quality life, innovation will still be a weapon for home appliance companies to compete. However, as consumption returns to rationality, consumers will pay more and more attention to practical value. It is no longer possible to obtain market recognition and consumption by simply borrowing new concept marketing. The recognition of the brand, only in the details of the consumer products and services, will have the opportunity to win in the increasingly fierce market competition.