The trend of consumption differentiation is prominent, and two characteristics of washing machine market need attention.

A sudden COVID-19 virus disrupted people's life rhythm. When the epidemic was the worst, "home" became the best choice to fight the epidemic. Except for the daily practical food and the necessary masks for fighting the epidemic, other household appliances and other industries almost fell into a trough. After the May Day holiday, the washing machine market seems to be revitalized again.

According to the "May 1 Consumption Big Data Report" released by Suning.cn, the economy is recovering rapidly after the epidemic, and all aspects of food, clothing, housing and transportation have increased significantly. Electronic products such as mobile phones and game consoles, as well as home appliances such as air conditioners and washing machines are selling well, among which the sales of washing machines have increased by 342% month-on-month. The omni-channel summary data of AVC also shows that the washing machine market scale performance has improved compared with the previous market. During the May Day promotion period (04.13-05.03), the retail volume was 2.173 million units, down 10.0% year-on-year, and the retail sales was 4.56 billion yuan, down 14.7% year-on-year.

Strong growth in rural and high-end markets

Since the beginning of this year, the washing machine market shipments have followed the home appliance industry market, and the situation is grim. However, the sales of high-end products and low-end products in the market are relatively strong, and even the sales volume has risen instead of falling. In this situation, the consumption differentiation trend of washing machine market in China is gradually obvious.

The demand in the low-end consumer market is persistent and strong. Low price is still the main driving force to promote the growth of online shopping for washing machines. According to the data of Aowei Cloud, the average online market price in the first quarter of 2020 decreased by 5.8% year-on-year, while the offline price segment also gathered at both ends. According to industry analysts, due to the influence of the big environment, the massive construction of affordable housing has released a large number of low-end consumer demand, and the market of districts, counties and towns is less affected by real estate regulation, so the demand for products is increasing.

The high-end consumer market is rising steadily. As early as three or five years ago, many home appliance enterprises started a round of comprehensive transformation "adjusting structure, expanding categories and building runways". By optimizing product structure and improving the technical gold content of products, they moved to the mid-to high-end market in an all-round way. According to the data of Zhongyikang in the first week of 2020, washing machines with a price of more than 5,000 yuan account for 53.2% of the total structure, which has become a decisive field.

On the one hand, low-end consumption is booming, and on the other hand, high-end consumption is rising, which means that consumer demand has always been changeable and diverse. With the improvement of efficiency and the increasing symmetry of information, the domestic economy has experienced regional economic growth differentiation, population structure differentiation and regional net population inflow differentiation. For washing machines with wide price bands, strong differentiation is still an important trend.

Subdivision of categories welcomes the opportunity of development

It is estimated that in the current retail market, the demand for upgrading accounts for about 80-85%, while the demand for new purchases has extended in many directions due to the continuous subdivision of the user population. Such as health represented by sterilization function, specialization oriented by nursing ability, scene represented by ultra-thin, and so on.

After the outbreak, many consumers began to pay attention to health and hygiene issues, and their cognition of health products has also changed greatly. According to the market monitoring data, the sales of health and sterilization household appliances show explosive growth, such as washing machine products with air washing, high temperature washing, disinfection and sterilization, bacteriostasis and other functions and structures, which have a positive stimulus. The person in charge of Bosi household appliances said, "In the future, the series of sterilization washing machines will continue to be the focus of the development and promotion of Bosi household appliances." Hisense Home Appliances Group is no exception. According to Zeng Qingquan, general manager of the washing machine division of Hisense Home Appliances Group, after the outbreak, Hisense washing machine launched S9 steaming washing machine, a healthy sterilization and care solution, which has intensified innovation in product technology, functional appearance, intelligence and health. It can be predicted that washing machines with' sterilization' as the core selling point will be the focus of consumers' attention for a long time to come.

For current consumers, washing machines need to be not only clean, but also healthy and safe in the cleaning process. On this basis, many brands have also joined the laundry and clothing protection procedures, so that clothes can maintain a soft feel. Not long ago, Little Swan released the ultra-micro bubble-cleaning Rubik's Cube washing machine. Its ultra-micro bubble-cleaning technology can not only remove detergent residues, but also protect the color fastness and fiber shape of the fabric through cold water washing, so that the fabric can be washed as new for a long time. For another example, Whirlpool launched a "Fresh care+ dryer that dries wool without deformation" to solve the problem of shrinkage, deformation and poor texture of wool clothes, and strived to provide professional-level maintenance experience for high-end and exquisite people at home.

In addition, from the perspective of the development of washing machine segmentation, wall-mounted drum washing machines, maternal and child washing machines and other products with classified washing characteristics are also further highlighting the potential development opportunities of washing machine products in the future market segment. Recently, Haier Zhizhi's "anti-falling" wall-hung washing machine was officially put on sale. The two black technologies of intelligent anti-falling and UVC deep ultraviolet sterilization made this washing machine widely praised as soon as it went on the market. Wall-hung washing machine is just a kind of market under the demand of many segments. Facing the expansion of segmented people and market segments, it still needs a long-term investment and intensive cultivation process. We can't operate urgently, nor can we detonate with the traditional idea of large-scale profit, or we should adapt to the changes in market and user needs and seek new differentiated breakthroughs.

There are indications that consumer demand has differentiated, so the competition in the whole washing machine market will also move towards a new growth momentum and a new platform under the segmentation of people. The cold will eventually pass and life will return to the hustle and bustle of traffic. After the epidemic, faced with the constantly released demand variables of different customer groups, washing machine enterprises can certainly seek new space for market growth by constantly digging deep into the pain points of users' clothing care and grasping the healthy consumption boom to innovate and upgrade the care technology.