This generation of young people is no longer being harvested by internet celebrities and small household appliances

The annual "Double Eleven" event has arrived, and it is time to "buy and buy" again. But this year, consumers may even have fewer small appliances on their shopping lists.

When I bought it, I thought it was just needed, but I didn't expect it to end up in ashes. Over the past few years, the popularity of the "homestead economy" has sparked a large number of small household appliances.

At that time, young people were packaged as laborious "lazy people" who were willing to try all kinds of creative kitchen food production. The "2022 China Small Home Appliance User Data Insight Report" released by the 36 Krypton Research Institute pointed out that young people mostly have more than 5 types of kitchen small appliances, including health kettles and air fryers.

From "challenging to make 100 air fryers for food" to "balancing health work", creative small appliances attempt to fill every gap in consumers' needs. Various creative small appliances fully satisfy consumers' fantasies about ideal home life at the moment of placing an order.

However, after only a year, the internet celebrity small appliances couldn't sell anymore.

Air fryers, health kettles, and other once popular small household appliances are all exempt. According to the comprehensive channel monitoring data of Ovi Cloud Network, the overall retail sales of kitchen small appliances in all channels from January to June this year were 27.55 billion yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 8.5%.

From air fryers to multifunctional pots, are various creative small household appliances a "household artifact" that solves segmented needs, or a useless "chicken rib" destined to accumulate dust in corners?

Has the air fryer become the 'idle king'?

The first one to reach the top of the 'weed list' is the air fryer. In the "2021 Top 10 Idle Home Appliances Rankings" released by Xianyu based on the keyword "second-hand eating ash", air fryers have become the highest idle rate of goods.

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Source: "2021 Top 10 Idle Home Appliances Rankings"

On a certain lifestyle platform, there have also been many "withdrawal guidelines" for air fryers. Some netizens say that the heat of an air fryer is difficult to control. In addition to making semi-finished products with their own fat, such as chicken nuggets, cooking self prepared food is also very troublesome.

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In addition, the quality control of some brands of air frying pan has also been roast by consumers. Multiple consumers posted on social media platforms stating that the quality of the Little Bear air fryer they purchased has been affected. As an example, in the picture below, some consumers have reported that the program of the Bear Air Fry Pan they purchased is confusing or even unable to run.

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On October 26th, the reporter searched on the Black Cat Complaint Platform using the keyword "air fryer", and the number of related product complaints reached 3718.

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Is a health pot "health preserving" or "harmful"?

The health preserving pot, which is dedicated to helping young people achieve a "one touch" health preserving life, boasts the functions of boiling water, tea, Congee, health preserving decoction, etc., but there are many roast and inconvenience in the actual use process.

On the social platform, it is not uncommon for consumers to use the health care pot: "When boiling tea, they found that the tea dregs were stuck in the cracks and could not be washed away" "Sugar water, soup making and other functions have never been used, only boiling water and heat preservation are commonly used" "In addition to boiling water, boiling milk and Congee are easy to splash the pan and paste the bottom".

Quality issues also make products that are already "chicken ribs" even worse. Multiple consumers posted on social media platforms stating that the different styles of Beiding Health Pots they purchased had broken glass and burnt the bottom during use.

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There are also different consumers who have reported that there is a smell of plastic burning during the use of Suber health care bottles, and the glass body suddenly bursts during use. As an example, the Subor multi-functional health pot in the following image has been reported by multiple consumers on social media to have a glass pot body burst during use.

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On October 26th, the reporter searched on the Black Cat Complaint Platform using the keyword "health pot", and there were as many as 684 complaints about related products.

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In fact, in response to the quality and safety risks associated with health pot products, the Hubei Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau also released a quality and safety risk warning for health pot products this year, stating that the product logo and instructions, structure, internal wiring, and other items pose significant risks and pose varying degrees of safety hazards. The above items that do not meet the requirements may lead to reduced insulation, potential safety hazards such as electric leakage and fire.

Is a multifunctional cooking pot really versatile?

Another widely criticized dish is the multifunctional cooking pot, which sells as a multi-purpose pot that can support rinsing, boiling, frying, frying, grilling, and steaming. However, consumers have exposed many awkward aspects in the actual use process. Some consumers have expressed that multifunctional pots may seem versatile, but each specific function is not as good as the corresponding specialized pots. Taking the frying and grilling function as an example, raising the temperature during use will produce excessive oil smoke, while lowering the temperature will affect the cooking quality.

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Source: Subor Tmall Flagship Store Product Page

In addition, the quality control of products has also been roast by many consumers. Many consumers have expressed negative user experiences such as paint peeling, sticking to the pot, and difficulty controlling temperature during the use of the multi-functional pot they purchased. Several consumers have stated that when using the Supor multifunctional pot, the product cannot maintain continuous heating, resulting in the inability to cook the dishes.

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In addition, several consumers have reported that the Moto Multi functional Pot experienced blistering and paint peeling after being used for a period of time, and the same situation still persists after replacing it with a new machine.

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On October 26th, the reporter searched on the Black Cat Complaint Platform using the keyword "multifunctional pot" and found over 400 complaints about related products.

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Spend money just for living, or pay for the promotion of businesses?

The product has been neglected, which is directly reflected in the changes in the company's operating revenue.

Since 2023, home appliance companies such as Beiding Co., Ltd., Xinbao Co., Ltd., and Suber have all experienced a decline in performance. According to the latest financial report disclosed by Beiding Group, in the first three quarters of 2023, Beiding Group achieved a revenue of 472 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 11.73%; The net profit achieved was 52 million yuan, an increase of 96.01% year-on-year. The growth in net profit was due to the low base of the same period last year. According to the latest financial report released by the brand Xinbao Co., Ltd. under Mofei, the company achieved a total operating revenue of 10.755 billion yuan in the first three quarters of 2023, a slight increase of 0.35% year-on-year; Realized a net profit of 775 million yuan, a year-on-year decrease of 12.78%. Subor has also ended high growth. According to the financial report, in the first three quarters of 2023, Subor achieved a total operating revenue of 15.367 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of only 2.58%, and a net profit of 1.361 billion yuan, a slight increase of 4.04%.

The corresponding inventory has also rapidly increased. Taking Xiaoxiong Electric as an example, the financial report shows that from 2020 to 2022, Xiaoxiong Electric's inventory was 532 million yuan, 616 million yuan, and 651 million yuan, respectively. The inventory turnover rate is also decreasing year by year. From 2020 to 2022, the inventory turnover rates of Little Bear Electric were 5.13, 4.22, and 4.13, respectively.

In fact, the decline of small household appliances to such a state is not unrelated to the excessive emphasis on marketing by enterprises. The product itself has a low technical threshold and is not just a necessity for kitchens like pots and pans. In order to attract more consumers to purchase, home appliance brands have to start from marketing. In the years when small household appliances have become popular, it is also a time for many companies to vigorously "spend money" on marketing.

Taking Xiaoxiong Electric as an example, the financial report shows that from 2019 to 2022, Xiaoxiong Electric invested 396 million yuan, 440 million yuan, 553 million yuan, and 730 million yuan in sales expenses, with an increase of over 300 million yuan over the past four years. The corresponding R&D investment growth is minimal, with R&D expenses of 77 million yuan, 105 million yuan, 130 million yuan, and 137 million yuan invested during the same period.

Other home appliance brands are no exception. According to the financial report data disclosed by Subor, from 2021 to 2022, Subor's sales expenses were 2.124 billion yuan, 1.91 billion yuan, and 2.156 billion yuan, maintaining around 2 billion yuan. During the same period, its R&D expenses were 442 million yuan, 450 million yuan, and 416 million yuan, with marketing expenses equivalent to 5 times the R&D expenses. The sales expenses of Beiding Group have also been more than 6 times the research and development expenses for a long time. According to the financial report, the sales expenses of Beiding Group in 2022 were 253 million yuan, while the R&D expenses during the same period were only 35 million yuan.

However, although the large marketing expenses have to some extent convinced some consumers to pay for them, if they cannot down-to-earth solve the pain points of consumers in daily life, these kitchen creative small appliances will ultimately not escape the fate of "dust accumulation".

Regarding the above product quality issues and the financial operations of the company, Consumer Reports has recently sent interview letters to Xiaoxiong Electric, Subor, Xinbao Co., Ltd., and Beiding Co., Ltd. As of the time of publication, no response has been received.