The market scale of small household appliances continues to expand, and innovation and quality have become the main theme of development

The sales performance trend of different categories of small household appliances is obviously differentiated

In general, small household appliances can still be said to continue to be sought after by consumers, and the market prospect is still promising. Statista predicts that by 2025, the sales scale of small household appliances in the world will exceed 230 billion dollars, as is the case in China. After the family income has increased and all the big household appliances have been purchased, those dazzling small household appliances with different functions are gradually coming into people's view.

According to the Research Report on Market Prospects and Investment Opportunities of China's Home Appliance Industry released by China Commercial Industry Research Institute, by the end of 2021, the average number of small home appliances owned by domestic households is 9.5, which still has much room for improvement. The diversified demand of households will further stimulate the potential vitality of the small home appliance market.

In the general environment of sluggish growth of the household appliance market, the sales performance of some small household appliance categories is also a real boost. According to the data of Suning E-shop, during the 618 period of this year, the sales of floor sweeping robots in Suning E-shop stores increased by 165% year on year. According to the data of JD.com 618, since 8:00 p.m. on May 31, the turnover of floor sweeping robots in 10 minutes has exceeded that in the whole of last year, The 4-hour turnover increased by more than 400% year on year.

According to the total data pushed by AVC, in the first half of this year, the retail sales of floor washers reached 4.2 billion yuan, up 84% year on year, and the sales volume reached 1.37 million units, up 87% year on year.

Since this year, in the face of many unfavorable factors, the small household appliances market has continued the sales trend of performance differentiation. Among them, kitchen appliances are facing great downward pressure as a whole. This is because most kitchen small household appliances do not have the attribute of rigid demand, and after years of rapid development, the product penetration rate is relatively high. At present, the market demand is gradually cooling.

From January to September this year, the total retail sales of kitchen appliances in all categories and channels reached 41.35 billion yuan, up 5.7% year on year. During the Double 11, the total retail sales reached 5.08 billion yuan, including 4.31 billion yuan from traditional channels, up 0.3% year on year, and 770 million yuan from Tiktok channels.

The sales trends of different categories are also different. For example, the sales momentum of traditional just needed categories, such as rice cookers, electric pressure cookers, and electric kettles, has begun to weaken. The products with single functions, such as induction cookers, juice extractors, and soybean milk machines, are still in a negative growth state this year. In contrast, the new products with multiple functions, such as air fryers and electric steamers, have continued the good trend of booming supply and sales.

This year, the sales volume of small household appliances for personal care dropped at the same time, and the sales prospects are not optimistic. In the first half of the year, the retail sales of small household appliances for personal care (hair dryers, electric toothbrushes, and electric razors) totaled 8.59 billion yuan, down 11.5% year on year. The retail sales volume totaled 43.75 million units, down 13.9% year on year.

Clean appliances are still the main driving force for the upward growth of the small household appliances market. In the category of clean small household appliances, the sales performance of the vacuum cleaner category is relatively stable. The floor sweeping robot track, which has been in a state of rapid growth in the past two years, also began to slow down. The floor washing machine segment continues to maintain the momentum of rapid growth.

In the first half of this year, the retail sales of the floor sweeping robot was RMB 5.73 billion, up 9% year on year, and the growth rate was further narrowed. The retail sales of the floor washing machine was RMB 4.2 billion, up 84% year on year, which was the main driving force for the upward growth of the performance of the small clean household appliances sector.

The process of survival of the fittest is accelerating, and the market competition is becoming increasingly fierce

At present, the market concentration of the small household appliances industry is generally high. According to the data of the Prospective Industry Research Institute, the mixer has the lowest market concentration, up to 64%, and the electric pressure cooker has the highest market concentration, up to 97%. In addition, the process of survival of the fittest is still accelerating, and many long tail brands have also been forced out. In the first half of the year, there were 1568 and 339 online and offline brands of kitchen small household appliances, down 598 and 100 respectively year on year.

From the perspective of specific categories, data shows that in the first half of the year, Covos ranked first in terms of online sales of floor sweeping robots, accounting for 39.8%, while Tianke ranked first in terms of online floor washing machines, accounting for 56.7%, which is a big distance from the second place.

In the household appliance industry, where demand is increasingly saturated, small household appliances were once considered to be the last blue ocean market. Therefore, in recent years, new enterprises have made great efforts in this field, hoping to take the lead and share a piece of the cake.

In September last year, Zhang Xiaoquan set up a small household appliances business department, whose products cover kitchen small household appliances such as electric cookers and air fryers. According to the company's latest financial report data, although the traditional scissors are still the main revenue, the newly arranged kitchen small household appliances category has achieved revenue of 149 million yuan, accounting for 19.56% of the total revenue. In the future, the company will also research and develop special products such as disinfection knife racks, fruit and vegetable sterilizers, Strive to win the recognition of consumers in more segments of the track.

At the end of last year, Haier Zhijia set up a small appliance business unit, and increased the resource investment in cleaning, kitchen and personal care small appliances. The company believes that the small appliance market has the opportunity to contribute 10% of the enterprise's income in the next three years.

It can be said that, on the one hand, the small household appliances market is becoming increasingly competitive, on the other hand, the market still has great development opportunities, and the demand upgrading also brings infinite possibilities for category expansion and market expansion.

With the influx of new enterprises and the emergence of new technologies, small household appliances are no longer ordinary products with low threshold and low technology content. New technologies and new products have increasingly played an important role in promoting sales. For example, rice cookers, a traditional kitchen small household appliance, welcomed the increase in sales because of the introduction of IH technology.

In the past two years, air fryers have become popular because they have met people's needs for healthy diet. In the future, this category will continue to be upgraded and iterated based on health indicators such as less sugar, less oil, and targeted nutrition. This sub category has become a new growth pole in the field of small kitchen appliances recognized by the industry.

Technology and innovation are always the only way to lead the development of the industry

For the small household appliances industry, this year is an important time node for the development of products towards quality, creativity and differentiation. As users' demand for quality of life is getting higher and higher, the industry will also usher in a new round of upgrading. This upgrading is not only reflected in the simple improvement of product quality and performance, but also can bring users more enjoyment and use experience.

For example, the cleaning appliances on the market now include floor sweeping robots, floor washers, window cleaning robots, acarid removers and other products, which can meet the cleaning needs of consumers in different scenes such as the ground, windowsills, and mattresses. Among them, the floor sweeping robots account for 38.8%, which is the largest sub category of cleaning appliances.

As an emerging thing, the market size and average sales price of floor washing machines have increased significantly year on year. At present, their share in clean electrical appliances has reached 18.7%, which is expected to become the second largest category in the field of clean electrical appliances this year.

Nowadays, small household appliance enterprises are faced with a common problem, that is, the marketing cost is getting higher and higher. Emerging channels such as social e-commerce and live streaming provide a traffic basis for the rapid growth of the small household appliance industry. In terms of sales, the proportion of online sales of small household appliances has increased from 19% in 2014 to 76% now, and in terms of sales, the proportion of online sales has also increased from 24% in 2014 to 88% now.

During the Double 11 Festival this year, during the pre-sale period from October 9 to November 7 alone, brands such as Coworth, Chasing and Stone Technology achieved nearly 50 million yuan of sales through Tiktok live broadcast, the highest being Tianke, which reached 130 million yuan, achieving a double growth. Now, many brands have chosen Tiktok as one of the focuses of online operations.

With the gradual intensification of competition, it is increasingly difficult for enterprises to obtain traffic resources. The proportion of marketing expenditure in the cost is increasing year by year. The success rate of traffic into sales is also gradually decreasing. To maintain the brand image and product popularity, enterprises can only continue to increase investment in this area.

In the long run, technology leadership is always the only way for the industry to develop. In the future, smart, Internet of Things and functional focused small household appliances will be more popular with consumers.

With the arrival of the 5G era, the Internet of Things is gradually entering into thousands of households. Household appliances that lack interoperability can no longer meet people's demands for consumption upgrading. Nowadays, smart life has become a trend. As an important part of the future smart family, convenient and efficient smart small household appliances have also become one of the future development trends of the industry.

Fong Tai and the Academy of Social Sciences released the Report on the Trend of High Quality Life in Chinese Kitchens - Six Kitchen Trends Achieve High Quality Life. Its data shows that more than 90% of young people want kitchen electrical products to be more intelligent. For example, BISSELL will win over the fifth generation DUO of the floor washing machine. It can switch the two functions of dust removal and floor washing with one button, which is naturally very convenient for people to use.

Driven by consumption upgrading, in order to meet the more subdivided and diversified detailed needs of families, enterprises are also trying to expand the subdivided categories of the small home appliance market. In the future, the product classification of the market will be more refined. At the same time, in order to meet the needs of various home life scenarios, the product functions will be designed more comprehensively.

In May of this year, the Mibo brand under Fangtai Group officially entered the floor washing machine industry and launched Mibo non roll cloth floor washing machine, which also created a new category of floor washing machine.

In contrast, when traditional categories are gradually saturated with market demand, emerging categories can bring huge growth space to enterprises. In the past, people always felt a headache about cleaning the fabric sofa in their homes. Now, with the fabric cleaner, this problem can be solved.

According to the data of Ovi Cloud, the sales scale of online channel cloth cleaning machines last year was close to 200 million yuan, and it is estimated that the scale of this sub category will exceed 500 million yuan by the end of this year. Its growth momentum can be described as very rapid. For enterprises, only by constantly developing products that can meet the needs of different scenarios and conditions, can such enterprises be stable and have a stronger development potential.