Household appliances to the countryside continue small appliances to save the market doubts

With the countdown to the end of the home appliances to the countryside policy, the discussion in the industry on whether the policy continues and how to adjust to the rural areas has become increasingly enthusiastic. Although Shen Danyang, the spokesperson of the Ministry of Commerce, clearly stated that: “There are many experts, departments, and localities that have proposed policies to promote consumption. The relevant departments of these policies are still being studied. There is currently no definite news.” But because of household appliances The industry has been plagued by "winter" and many companies still place high expectations on consumer stimulus policies. They believe that the implementation of small household appliances to rural areas can stimulate rural areas on the grounds that small appliances are highly profitable, have low penetration, and have not previously enjoyed the policy of going to the countryside. Consumers' enthusiasm for consumption of small household appliances can save the home appliance industry from crisis. Small appliances to the countryside can really save the home appliance market, so that in the "winter" in the appliance market usher in the spring it?

Large appliance companies do not favor policy continuation

Four years ago, the home appliances to the countryside policy promoted in response to the global financial crisis and expanding domestic demand has played an obvious role in stimulating rural consumption and promoting the sustained and rapid development of the home appliance industry. Now that the four-year policy period is approaching, the global financial crisis is still spreading, and the home appliance industry is still bleak. The policy of going to the countryside has caused the industry to pay close attention. However, the reporter’s survey found that companies that have long been thirsty for policies to go to the countryside and enjoy the benefits of policies have now become calmer. Many different voices have emerged as to whether or not to continue the policy and the effects of the continuation.

The policy of home appliances going to the countryside was promoted nationwide from February 1, 2009, and has been incorporated into color TVs, refrigerators (including freezers), mobile phones, washing machines, motorcycles, computers, water heaters, and air conditioners, stimulating consumer spending in rural home appliances. It can be said that expanding sales in the household appliance market can be attributed to this. Now that the policy is coming to an end and there is no policy support, can home appliance companies stand the test? In response, Skyworth spokesperson Li Cong wanted to tell reporters that even if the policy is cancelled, there will be no impact on the operation of the company. “The rural policy has been implemented for more than three years and many rural consumers have already enjoyed this policy and purchased new appliances. In the short term, there will be no new demand for purchases. If there are users with rigid demand, they will not care about these hundreds of subsidies."

In fact, there are also many controversies in the industry as to whether the policy will continue. In mid-September this year, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organized a business to discuss whether the home appliances going to the countryside policy continued. Among them, Haier, Hisense, Midea, Gree and other mainstream companies have expressed opposition. Many companies believe that the policy of the previous few years has already reached expectations, and that the market has been overdrawn as a result of policies. It is now more difficult to sell products. In addition, some no-name companies revitalize the policy of using home appliances to the countryside, resulting in excess capacity in the entire home appliance industry, giving the market a natural obstacle to eliminate the inferior elimination of the process.

A survey by the reporter found that many enterprises have turned to the cities in the countryside. A sales person in charge of a company in Shandong told reporters that rural sales were not satisfactory and that a large number of products had been accumulated. In order to reduce inventory, the product had to be transferred to the city for sale. Ms. Li, who works at a publishing house in Beijing, bought a computer for the countryside soon. She thought: “Although the function is a little bit worse, but the price is cheap, it is still very cost-effective to compile it comprehensively.”

Liu Buchen, an observer of the household appliances industry, told reporters that early sales of home appliances to the countryside were still very effective for the sales promotion of enterprises, especially from the trial in 2008 to 2010, which has played a very good role in the development of rural markets for home appliance companies. At the same time, the driving force for the second and third-tier brand companies is also relatively large. However, from 2010 to now, the pulling power has dropped rapidly. He believes that: “The implementation of home appliances to the countryside has released rural purchasing power for the past few years, and it is of little significance to continue this policy. There are many problems with home appliances to the countryside, and it is imperative. It is a good solution to the aftermath."

Small household appliances to the countryside is booming

Large household electrical appliance companies continue to look down on the policy of home appliances to the countryside, but small home appliance companies are enthusiastic. The reporter noticed that although the spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce stated that there is still no conclusive statement on whether the rural policy is continuing, many media outlets have been speculating that the home appliances may continue to the countryside. The category of subsidies may be adjusted, and small household appliances will play a leading role. Withdraw from the subsidy range.

A person in charge of the company revealed to reporters that the replacement of small household appliances is fast, and the profit margin is large. The profit has been as high as 50%, which is much higher than that of color TVs, refrigerators and other products. The implementation of the subsidy policy for small household appliances to the countryside is conducive to the rapid popularization of energy-saving small household appliances to the tertiary and quartile markets, and is also conducive to the development of enterprises. There is a voice in the industry that China's penetration rate of small household appliances is still relatively low, especially in rural areas, the number of household appliances with small household appliances is still very small, the potential is great, the implementation of small household appliances to the countryside policy can not only stimulate the enthusiasm of rural household appliances consumption, but also effective To reverse the decline in the home appliance market, thus promoting the rapid development of the entire home appliance industry.

In fact, with the slowdown in the market demand for large home appliances, both industrial policies and the internal industry are tilting toward small household appliances. In August this year, the China Household Electrical Appliances Association and the United States launched a small home appliances, kitchen appliances, special Huimin subsidy activities are also considered to be a test of small home appliances to the countryside, but many consumers do not seem to buy it. "A soybean milk machine four or five hundred yuan, even if subsidy 10%, it is only forty or fifty yuan." Miss Beijing Consumer Weekly bluntly subsidy temptation. During the interview, the reporter found out that there are not a few people who have this idea. It is precisely because of this, with the large number of hot and cold countryside at the beginning of the implementation of the policy, the effect of subsidy on small appliances in 40 days is not obvious. The monitoring data from Gome shows that since the start of the campaign, the sales volume of GOME kitchen appliances has increased by only 10% year-on-year, which also counts on the impact of double-section promotions.

Can Small Appliances Go to the Countryside to Save the Market?

The market continues to be sluggish, and the city's pilot subsidy for small home appliances is ineffective. Can the implementation of the policy of small home appliances going to the countryside pick up the rescue banner in the “cold winter” of household appliances? In this regard, industry experts are generally skeptical. Although small household appliances can improve the quality of life, unlike home appliances such as refrigerators and televisions, small home appliances are not currently required for family life. The income of rural consumers is relatively low. Although the purchasing power of small household appliances has been improved at present, there are many restrictions in rural areas, which also restricts the enthusiasm of rural consumers for purchasing small household appliances.

When the reporter surveyed the countryside, he discovered that in the rural market, after the household appliances have been washed away, the no-name products are rare and the quality is guaranteed. However, the small home appliance market is full of inferior products, which seriously damages consumer confidence in small household appliances in rural areas.

The reporter found that the rural electricity environment is relatively poor, and the voltage is generally weak, and small home appliances such as rice cookers, electric irons, hair dryers and other rural households are in great demand. Although they are small, they consume a lot of energy, and these small household appliances are not The function of low-voltage start-up work resulted in many products failing to be used normally. In many cases, especially in peak periods of winter and summer electricity, it takes a long time to cook rice using rice cookers because the voltage is weak. Sometimes it takes 2 hours or even cook. The hair dryer, for example, can only be used as a small fan, and it cannot be heated at all.

In addition, the lack of after-sales maintenance of rural home appliances has severely constrained the development of the small home appliance market. The reporter found during the investigation that there are basically no post-sale maintenance of small household appliances in many places. Once the product fails, it can only be discarded. The abandoned small household appliances have no recycling channels, and rural consumers cannot handle it themselves, so they have to be stored at home. , Making it more pleasing to the eye, affecting the rural consumer's desire to buy small appliances again.

In addition, unlike the subsidies for hundreds of yuan for electric vehicles, small household appliances have low prices. Even if subsidies are implemented, the amount of subsidies per unit is only a few tens of yuan. There are complicated procedures for obtaining applications, which make people annoyed. This is before this. The implementation of home appliances to the countryside has been reflected in the implementation of the policy. Since the income of rural consumers is not high, it is also difficult to imagine how many of them will be tirelessly buying for more than ten dollars or tens of dollars.

In view of the currently hot-selling small home appliances to the countryside, Lu Jiebo, deputy secretary-general of the China Electronic Chamber of Commerce, believes that the continuation of policies is not as good as improving the environment. To improve the rural electricity environment, quality environment, and after-sales service environment, only if these consumption environments are effectively improved, can rural consumers purchase home appliances and make the best use of their products, so as to truly increase the consumer enthusiasm of rural consumers. Before these environments have been effectively improved, only relying on a policy subsidy that can stimulate the enthusiasm of consumption of small household appliances in rural areas, promote the development of small home appliances industry to promote the entire home appliance industry to step out of the "winter", it is very ridiculous dream.