In the post epidemic era, is there a chance for electric toothbrush?

Can electric toothbrush make children fall in love with tooth brushing?

For a long time, brushing teeth has been a top priority for everyone, which not only affects oral hygiene, but also affects the healthy growth of teeth. Friends who have seen dentists should have a deep understanding of how thrilling the process of dental treatment is, making many people feel a shadow. Moreover, the treatment costs for many dental problems are not low. Xiao Lei has several colleagues who have spent tens of thousands of yuan on dental care. Therefore, it is really important to develop a good habit of brushing your teeth and master the correct way to brush your teeth. This can not only bring you health, but also help you save money.

Although many people do develop the habit of brushing their teeth in the morning and evening, they still encounter various dental problems. The reason may be that we do not master the correct brushing posture, and our teeth are not brushed clean, resulting in bleeding gums. In order to make it easy for consumers and children to clean their toothbrushes, many brands have actively launched electric toothbrush products in recent years, which has attracted more and more consumers to try electric toothbrush, which has gradually formed a trend. However, more people still do not have a deep understanding of these products and do not pay much attention to dental health issues, resulting in the industry's development not being so smooth. The epidemic in the last two years has poured cold water on the electric toothbrush market.

However, after the liberalization of the epidemic, all walks of life are recovering their growth, and the electric toothbrush seems to have ushered in a good growth opportunity. In January and February this year, the retail sales of online channels increased by 18.0% year on year, a change from the downturn of the previous two years. With the high awareness of consumers' health awareness, the opportunity of electric toothbrush seems to be coming. How should the industry seize the opportunity?

New demand and new channels usher in a new turnaround in the industry

In fact, electric toothbrush has existed for a long time. Its popularity rate in overseas countries is relatively high, but domestic consumers do not pay too much attention to it, so you can only choose overseas brands such as Philips and Panasonic if you want to buy them in China. The price is expensive, and it costs hundreds or even thousands of yuan. Compared to traditional toothbrushes that cost a few yuan each, more people will definitely choose the latter first.

It was not until Xiaomi and other domestic brands launched electric toothbrush and lowered the price of the product that electric toothbrush gradually entered more families. Since 2014, the popularity and attention of electric toothbrush on the Internet has gradually increased. Baidu search data shows that the search index of electric toothbrush was in a rapid growth stage from 2014 to 2015, and entered a high fluctuation state from 2016 to 2019, entering a relatively mature growth stage.

During this period, the electric toothbrush brands on the market continued to emerge, and various new products were also emerging in endlessly. There were even many 9.9 yuan package mail products on the Internet. Of course, there must be a lot of low-quality counterfeit products, but I have to say that this outbreak has really played a role in promoting the popularization and development of electric toothbrush, and let more people begin to pay attention to and contact electric toothbrush. However, the disadvantages are also very obvious. Many people have been trapped by various inferior products, so that online complaints and roast continue.

However, during the period from 2020 to 2022, affected by the epidemic and other external factors, all industries have been under considerable pressure, as has the electric toothbrush industry. According to the data of Ovi Cloud, during this period, the number of electric toothbrush brands dropped rapidly from 658 to about 250 today, and many low-quality and low-cost brands must be wiped out. This is like a big wave sweeping the sand, helping the market remove some obstacles, making the industry more stable, improving the concentration ratio of the brand, and making the products more high-end.

From the beginning of this year to the present, the trend of electric toothbrush has been developing in a positive direction. Last December, online retail sales increased by 15.3% year on year, and in January and February this year, 17.7% and 18.0% year on year respectively. It seems that the three years of the epidemic did make more people realize the importance of personal health and oral hygiene, and the impact of retaliatory consumption in the post epidemic era helped the electric toothbrush industry achieve a high growth in the beginning of the year. Xiaolei believes that this growth trend should not be fleeting, as there is indeed quite good development space in China.

First of all, the penetration rate of domestic electric toothbrush is only about 8%, far less than 60% of overseas countries, and there is a very broad space for popularization and innovation. As consumers pay more attention to oral health and cultivate children's brushing habits, future market demand should enter an explosive stage. At present, there is still a long way to go before per capita use of electric toothbrush, and the continuous lowering of product price threshold will accelerate the arrival of this day. Currently, brands such as Xiaomi and OPPO have products priced at 100 yuan, and users' purchase costs are also significantly reduced.

Secondly, with the popularity of Tiktok live broadcast and Xiaohongshu grass planting in recent years, new channels have also brought higher exposure and sales growth for electric toothbrush products. From January to February this year, the retail sales of electric toothbrush in the Tiktok channel increased by 107% year on year, and the gain of this new channel should continue to increase in the future. Finally, the product structure of electric toothbrush is also changing, and the trend of high-end and intelligent is obvious. According to the latest data from Ovi Cloud, the price range of 400~500 yuan has become the mainstream, and the price range of 500~1000 yuan has also achieved good growth. Everyone has a higher pursuit of the quality and experience of electric toothbrush, which promotes the continuous upward development of the industry.

After the introduction period, growth period and three years of survival of the fittest, the electric toothbrush industry is now significantly more stable and mature, and probably will not have the situation of low-quality products. At the same time, the demand of consumers is gradually escalating, and the awareness and quality pursuit of products are continuously improving. It seems that the era of electric toothbrush has really come.

To conquer consumers, electric toothbrush needs to be more intelligent

The opportunity of the times has been given to the electric toothbrush industry, but how to successfully seize the opportunity to promote the popularization of products and the development of the industry is also a problem that needs serious consideration by major brands. If the functional experience of a product is not satisfactory and cannot impress consumers, even if it is a trend, it may not be willing to pay the bill. In order to meet the increasingly diversified needs of contemporary consumers, electric toothbrush products need to continue to innovate and upgrade, and strive to integrate with intelligent technology.

Xiao Lei learned that at present, some brands of electric toothbrush have supported intelligent functions. For example, the Xiaomi electric toothbrush T700 can not only connect with the App, customize the personalized brushing mode and view the brushing report, but also support the overpressure warning function. If you brush too hard, the red light will light up to prompt and stop brushing, so as to avoid damage to the gums. The LED display equipped on the body can also be set with nicknames, expressions, and other patterns, making the product more personalized and bringing a little more freshness to life.

Of course, this is just an early stage of intelligence. If you want to make electric toothbrush better, it may not be enough. In Xiao Lei's opinion, it is very important for electric toothbrush to be clean if it wants to really attract consumers, but it may also need to help users develop correct and scientific ways to brush their teeth. In fact, many people nowadays do not brush their teeth in a particularly correct way. Some people prefer to brush horizontally, others prefer to brush vertically, and some people need to brush for more than ten minutes each time to feel satisfied. These behaviors can easily cause irreversible damage to their teeth.

Therefore, the intelligent development of electric toothbrush may need to shoulder the burden of training users to brush their teeth correctly, especially children. In fact, a few high-end electric toothbrush now record the angle and strength of your brushing process through the built-in sensors, and monitor the specific cleaning effect of each tooth. The electric toothbrush will also record the length of time you brush your teeth. If it is too short or too long, it will remind you and include it in the scoring system. Finally, in the form of an app toothbrush report, you will be informed of any areas for improvement in this toothbrush, where to brush twice more, and how to adjust the tilt angle and time of the toothbrush.

If the electric toothbrush products can achieve the above functions, we believe that even children can master the correct brushing posture and habits and care for the healthy growth of teeth under the guidance and correction step by step. In addition, for children's electric toothbrush products, Xiaolei thinks that a scoring and reward system can be added, and a certain score can be given after each brushing, and the corresponding reward can be obtained by accumulating high scores for many times. Of course, the reward content can be determined by the brand itself, including virtual items such as big red flowers or badges, as well as other physical rewards. With the addition of a scoring and reward system, it is easier to stimulate children's sense of achievement and competitiveness, enabling them to adhere to and love brushing their teeth.

With the advent of the intelligent era, even small household appliances such as electric toothbrush have the opportunity to become bigger and stronger. As long as the functional experience of the product is exciting enough to effectively improve our experience, the product has the potential for continuous upward growth. Xiaolei is really optimistic about the future of the electric toothbrush industry, but it also needs the efforts of major brands to lead the development of the industry, bring more intelligent and better used products to the market, and meet the higher expectations of consumers.