The small home appliance market holds great business opportunities

Have you ever used these small household appliances, such as intelligent floor scrubbers, intelligent vegetable fryers, bubble water dispensers, window cleaning robots? If you haven't used it, it means you're outdated. In fact, there are many households in China that are in a "outdated" state. Not only are the types and quantities of new small household appliances limited, but the popularity rate of traditional small household appliances is also not very high. According to data, in developed countries and regions such as Europe, America, and Japan, the number of small household appliances per household exceeds 30, while in China, the number of small household appliances per household is less than 10.

Although the number of small household appliances owned by Chinese households is limited, in the eyes of industry insiders, this situation is not a bad thing - low penetration rate means there is still huge market growth potential and development space. Benefiting from factors such as increased disposable income of residents, promotion of product updates through consumption upgrading, and rapid development of e-commerce channels, it is expected that China's small home appliance industry will maintain an annual growth rate of 6% to 7% in the future. By 2026, the market size of China's small home appliance industry (excluding water purification) will reach 600 billion yuan. Considering that the small home appliance industry still has the characteristics of low threshold and high profits, and most categories are still in the early stage of development, it can be expected that with the growth of consumer demand, the variety and quantity of small home appliance products will continue to increase, the market size will continue to expand, and the profit space of enterprises will also be further improved.

However, the development prospects of the small home appliance market are good and full of opportunities, but not everyone can make a profit by coming in. To gain an extra piece of cake in this field, one must have real skills. China is a big country in the manufacture and export of small household appliances. A few years ago, especially after the COVID-19, China undertook a large number of orders from the global market, which also gave birth to many new small household appliance enterprises. However, with the end of the epidemic, the demand for small home appliance products has returned to normal, and the epidemic has overdrawn the future market, causing a cliff like decline in the small home appliance industry and sluggish market performance. The "2022-2027 Forecast and Market Research Report on the Future of China's Intelligent Small Home Appliance Industry" released by China Research Institute of Industry shows that the negative impact of the brutal growth of small home appliances in China has led to a lack of consumer confidence. Especially after the epidemic, small home appliance brands have grown to tens of thousands, and their quality performance is uneven, neglecting people's requirements for the quality of small home appliance products, resulting in poor user experience. At present, many enterprises in China's small home appliance industry have severe product homogenization, and there are relatively few enterprises with high-end product design, research and development, and production capabilities. The overall level of the industry still needs to be improved.

Of course, many enterprises have also gained the ability to resist market fluctuations and strong market competitiveness through market tempering, and they will gain more voice and dividend distribution opportunities in the next wave of market growth. Some experts believe that in the past two years, although the export volume of small household appliances in China has shown limited growth, sometimes even negative growth, the export volume has been showing a growth trend. This indicates that the structure of small household appliance export products in China has undergone a change, shifting from "high-quality and affordable" to "high-quality and affordable". The biggest contributors to "high-quality and affordable" are innovative products with high technological content and added value. Data shows that the average profit margin of China's small home appliance industry driven by innovation has reached over 20%, far exceeding the profit level of everyone.

As long as the market demand is accurately identified, it is not difficult to innovate products. With the upgrading of consumer quality of life and the iteration of home appliance technology, many small home appliances are gradually being phased out by the market, but there are also some small home appliances that generate new purchasing desires for consumers through technological and functional innovation, thereby driving industry growth. Electric fans are a representative type among them. At present, both the domestic and export markets of electric fans have performed well, with the key reason being the widespread application of bladeless fan technology. A bladeless fan, also known as an air multiplier, can generate a natural and sustained cool breeze, as it has no blades and will not cover dust or harm children's inserted fingers. Nowadays, leafless fans have added designs such as air purification, humidification, and intelligent remote control, which are far more functional than ordinary fans. It is precisely with many innovations that the sales prices of leafless fans continue to rise, which has also driven the entire electric fan industry to achieve high-end development.

Obviously, if small home appliance companies want to cut more pieces of the market cake and innovate actively like fan companies, they will undoubtedly have a good knife. In fact, from the perspective of market development trends and general laws, with the continuous emergence of new materials and technologies, the cycle of product updates is becoming shorter and shorter. Innovation will inevitably become the key to enhancing the competitiveness of small home appliance enterprises, and can even direct the life and death cycle of an industry. To achieve healthier and more benign development in the small home appliance industry, it is necessary to adapt to the macro environment, identify its own positioning, shift from extensive development to refined development, and create new demand and value.