Are consumers willing to replace old home appliances with new ones? A survey from the Beijing market
2024-08-23
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In the hot summer, home appliance consumption is booming. At present, many places have launched policies and activities to trade in old home appliances for new ones, provide subsidies to consumers who purchase green and smart home appliances, support enterprises and platforms to give benefits to consumers, and effectively activate the potential of home appliance consumption. Trade-in has become an important factor in promoting the growth of home appliance consumption. How can the home appliance industry "get rid of old ones more easily" and "be more willing to replace new ones"? What are the actual feelings of consumers? How to smooth the cycle of home appliance renewal consumption?
Since the beginning of this year, various regions have actively promoted the replacement of old home appliances with new ones, and consumer enthusiasm has continued to heat up. Beijing has issued subsidies for the replacement of old green smart consumer products to consumers in Beijing, driving up the retail sales of home appliances. From online e-commerce platforms to offline home appliance retail stores, the continuous replacement of old with new activities has stimulated consumer vitality, and consumers' demand for high-quality, intelligent home appliances has been released.
Bringing new vitality to consumption
"The refrigerator at home has been used for many years. Now there is a subsidy for exchanging old appliances for new ones. It is a good time to replace them." Recently, a series of home appliance exchange activities in Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone attracted many residents to participate. After learning about the performance and prices of various refrigerators, Zhang Yujie, an elderly man living in Yizhuang, and his family are ready to replace an energy-saving and environmentally friendly refrigerator.
"I placed the order the morning before and it was delivered the next afternoon. The old refrigerator was also taken away. The whole process was simple, and my children told me that they saved two or three hundred yuan," said Zhang Yujie.
Zhang Yongkui, head of large appliance services at JD.com's home appliance service department, said that due to the recent high temperatures and other factors, large appliance categories such as air conditioners and refrigerators are the main growth points for old-for-new exchanges. From the consumer side, the implementation of the old-for-new exchange policy has accelerated the elimination of old home appliances, which will directly drive the green and intelligent upgrade of home appliances. At the same time, buying new machines and recycling old machines at the same time also makes it more convenient for consumers to exchange old machines for new ones and provide a better experience.
The reporter visited some home appliance retail stores and noticed that the trade-in process and rules of retailers and brand companies are simple and clear, and provide consumers with a one-stop entry for trade-in. At the same time, retailers and partners have opened up payment and other links, and introduced new subsidy methods, which has improved the convenience of trade-in and stimulated consumers' willingness to trade in.
Consumers lined up in front of the trade-in window at Suning.com's sales area on Beijing's North Third Ring Road. A consumer who was shopping for new home appliances told the reporter, "On the day you choose the appliance, the staff can come to your door to 'take the old appliance and trade it in for a new one, which saves a lot of trouble and allows the old appliances to be put to good use."
"In the first half of this year, the number of orders for home appliance recycling increased by 44% year-on-year." Wang Chaotong, purchasing and sales director of the consumer electronics product operation department of Beijing Suning.com, said that since the launch of the old-for-new activity in Beijing, the number of consumers participating in the old-for-new activity through Suning.com channels has increased significantly. So far, the sales increase brought by the old-for-new activity has reached about 300 million yuan.
"As the economy and society continue to transform towards green and low-carbon, the concept of green and smart consumption is gradually recognized by consumers. From our monitoring, the old-for-new campaign has helped upgrade home appliance consumption, driving the number of green and smart home appliances replaced in stores to around 70,000, including energy-saving refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, smart homes and other products." Wang Chaotong said.
Zhang Yongkui said, "The old-for-new policy affects corporate investment on the one hand and residents' consumption on the other. 'Old-for-new' can effectively leverage both the incremental and existing markets, and is an important driving force for consumption upgrading and economic development."
The reporter learned from the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce that driven by the green smart consumer goods trade-in policy, Beijing's home appliance retail sales rose from a 2.0% decline from January to May to a 1.4% increase from January to June, and the effect is beginning to show. In the next step, we will continue to promote business entities in the fields of automobiles and home appliances to provide preferential benefits for trade-ins, improve the level of trade-in services, and cooperate with the government, enterprises, and banks to increase promotion efforts to further meet the consumption needs of the masses.
Service quality is key
In recent years, with the continuous development of the market, competition in the home appliance industry has become increasingly fierce. The introduction of the old-for-new policy has not only set off a boom in home appliance consumption, but also brought new opportunities for the home appliance service industry to renew and improve quality.
During the visit, the reporter found that in addition to the convenience of the old-for-new process and the degree of preferential treatment, the two key points that consumers are most concerned about are the recycling price of old appliances and the quality of door-to-door service.
In terms of recycling prices for old appliances, the reporter browsed the JD APP and found that JD did not have a detailed classification of pricing for old appliances. In this regard, Xu Jiankai, the person in charge of the old-for-new project of JD's home appliance service business department, explained that if each product is valued, the old-for-new process will be lengthened and the workload of the company will be greatly increased. In terms of pricing, JD adopts a fixed-price model that does not limit the purchase channel, age, brand, or appearance of old appliances. Users can get a direct discount when placing an order to buy a new appliance.
"At present, we mainly give a flat-price valuation based on the general situation of each category of products and the profits generated in each link. In most cases, the valuation will exceed the value of the product itself," said Xu Jiankai.
In response to consumers' concerns about door-to-door recycling services, many stores participating in the old-for-new program have launched "worry-free replacement" services, combining free door-to-door service, free disassembly, free transportation, and integrated delivery of old items for new ones, with greater emphasis on improving service quality and alleviating consumers' worries.
Wang Hong, manager of Beijing Suning Madian store, told reporters: "Through on-site reception and back-end data, we can see that the categories of old home appliances that consumers have eliminated the most are refrigerators, washing machines, etc., and there is a large demand for double-door refrigerators, French multi-door refrigerators, dryers and other categories. Affected by the hot weather, the proportion of old air conditioners being replaced with new ones has gradually increased, and users are very concerned about the disassembly of old air conditioners, especially the disassembly of outdoor units. Many users live on high floors, and the disassembly of outdoor units must be completed by professionals. We are equipped with professional after-sales engineers to ensure that the old is replaced with the new one in one step. The entire process from delivery to installation can be completed within 2 hours at the fastest."
"Since the beginning of this year, the state has intensively introduced policies for the replacement of old home appliances with new ones. Local governments have actively responded and formulated implementation plans that suit local conditions. Industry associations have stepped up their efforts to promote the replacement of old home appliances with new ones, and the results of strengthening the chain are gradually emerging. The so-called strong chain is reflected in strengthening and optimizing the upstream, midstream and downstream links of the home appliance industry chain, improving the stability and competitiveness of the home appliance industry chain, and ensuring the rational allocation and efficient use of resources. This is also the development trend of the entire industry chain and cross-border clusters of the home appliance service industry." Liu Wenjie, vice president of the China Household Appliance Service and Repair Association, said.
System construction needs to be improved
The recycling of used products is an important part of the process of replacing old appliances with new ones. With the promotion of all parties, the recycling chain of used appliances has become smoother. However, during the visit, the reporter found that there are still some bottlenecks and difficulties in the "replacing old appliances with new ones" in the home appliance market.
Some consumers are not very willing to "trade in old appliances for new ones". Some consumers admit that they have not actually experienced the advantages and effectiveness of new technology home appliances, and are unwilling to replace or renovate old appliances as long as they can be used. Some consumers also believe that the discount for old appliances is too low and the recycling process is not standardized, and they have concerns about recycling old appliances.
In the recycling and reuse of old home appliances, technicians often face practical confusion. Due to the rapid update of home appliance technology, the variety of home appliance categories and models, the collection of old appliances involves many professional and complex operations, including the valuation, disassembly, transportation, disassembly, and harmless treatment of old appliances, all of which need to be scientifically regulated and standardized. However, in reality, some channel dealers still have problems such as non-standard operations when implementing home appliance recycling and subsidy measures.
"Collecting old appliances is a systematic project that requires continuous investment. The investment costs for enterprises are high, and the benefits obtained are unclear. Large enterprises still have the possibility and feasibility to establish a system for collecting old appliances, but for most small and medium-sized enterprises, it is difficult to establish a system for collecting, dismantling and reusing old appliances on their own. At the same time, the current education, publicity and knowledge dissemination for consumers, especially the elderly consumer groups, are still insufficient, and consumers' enthusiasm for participating in home appliance recycling needs to be improved." Liu Wenjie said.
In order to promote the replacement of home appliances, standardize the maintenance management of over-expired home appliances, and standardize the home appliance trade-in service, this year, the China Household Appliance Service and Repair Association will organize the drafting of two standards, "Standards for the Maintenance Management of Over-Expired Home Appliances" and "Standards for the Management of Home Appliance Trade-in Services", to continuously improve the home appliance service system and provide consumers with higher quality services.
"The key is to stimulate consumers' willingness to trade in old appliances for new ones, widely publicize trade-in policies and activities, promote new home appliance technologies and green smart products, guide consumers to experience and stimulate consumer demand. In addition, a national third-party trade-in platform supported by government departments, organized by industry associations, and participated by enterprises should be established to provide services such as discounts for old appliances, door-to-door recycling and disassembly, and delivery and installation of new appliances to facilitate consumers' trade-in. At the same time, standard construction and supervision should be strengthened to improve consumers' satisfaction with trade-in." Liu Wenjie said. (Reporter Han Bingzhi Yang Xuecong)
(Source: Economic Daily)
