Dressing and laundry seem to be just the daily life of life, but they can reflect the leap of science and technology and the changes of the times. The development and evolution of washing machines is the best anchor point to observe this leap and change. However, with the increase in ownership and the slowdown in market growth, the washing machine industry has been shrouded in "saturation theory" in recent years, and "market saturation" has also been defined by many companies as the biggest obstacle to progress.
Some people set limits for themselves, and some people innovate to break the game. The author observed and found that the high-end brands represented by Casarte washing machines have proved that under the appearance of "saturation theory", the industry still has huge room for development under the appearance of "saturation theory" - high-end washing scenes will relay traditional washing machine products and become a new growth momentum to promote the industry.
The growth conundrum under the "saturation theory"
The "saturation theory" in the washing machine industry is mainly based on two points:
First, the number of washing machine households is already at a high level. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, by the end of 2020, the number of washing machines per 100 households in mainland cities reached 99.7.
Second, the washing machine market has almost stopped growing. According to the data of Aowei Cloud Network, the retail sales of washing machines in 2020 and 2021 were 36.9 million units and 37.18 million units, down 3.6% and 0.8% respectively year-on-year.
The emergence of the "saturation theory" is nothing more than to draw a conclusion - washing machines have difficulty in growing space, rather than "tossing" it is better to "lie flat". But is this really the case? In my opinion, not necessarily.
Compared with other major appliances, the ownership of washing machines still has room to rise. In 2020, the number of 100 urban households with air conditioners, refrigerators and color TVs was 149.6 units, 103.1 units and 136.1 units, respectively, which were higher than the 99.7 units of washing machines. With people's higher pursuit of health, quality and personalization, it has become possible to maintain multiple washing machines in the family. This shows that the washing machine market has not peaked, whether from the perspective of popular demand or upgrading demand.
In addition, under the background of structural adjustment and high-end upgrading becoming the main theme of the industry, there is still a lot of room for the high-end expansion of washing machines. One performance is that in 2021, with almost no overall sales growth, the omni-channel retail sales of washing machines increased by 7.3% year-on-year. In addition, the proportion of offline products above 8,000 yuan increased from 12.4% in 2019 to 18.5%. All this shows that the high-end market of washing machines has great potential.
In fact, some high-end brands have not stopped moving forward due to the emergence of the "saturation theory", such as Casarte washing machines, which will reach 74% of the market share of more than 10,000 yuan in 2021, ranking first in the high-end; the market share of drum washing machines has soared to 17.3%, ranking second in the industry.
Therefore, the market "saturation theory" should not be a "lying flat" reason to stop moving forward.
High-end washing and care scenes open up new growth space
On the Zhihu and Little Red Book, the author saw many people talking about their troubles: because there is no living balcony at home, they can only dry the washed clothes on the living room balcony, which not only looks unsightly, but also occupies the place where coffee and fitness can be drunk.
In addition, many people have a variety of worries: for example, there are many cats, cats, dogs and dogs at home, can the washing machine be deeply deodorized and sterilized? High-grade fabrics such as cashmere silk, washing with washing machine will shrink and wash bad? There is a baby at home, can the baby's clothes be washed with the adult's clothes? ......
Therefore, the traditional washing machine market looks "saturated", but the needs of users will never be "saturated". Whether it can meet these needs beyond expectations, and even explore the deep-seated needs of users in terms of products and services, tests the wisdom and ability of washing machine companies.
So, where are the opportunities in the market? From the author's observation, there are two directions worth paying attention to:
First, "high-end products" have potential to be tapped.
GFK data shows that from January to September 2021, washing machines of more than 10,000 yuan increased by 156.8% year-on-year, which shows that the high-end market is growing very fast, and the market potential still needs to be further tapped.
Of course, high-end products must be supported by high-end capabilities. For example, a very important reason why Casarte washing machines can dominate the high-end market is that they have unique product technology. For example, most washing machine products can not get the care of delicate clothes, Casarte's atomized air washing technology, not only can remove wrinkles, odor, sterilization, but also in the cleaning process will not hurt the clothing. In addition to air washing, Casarte's zoning washing, intelligent delivery, Ai, NFC and other black technologies have also entered the high-end market.
In terms of products, the Hemei series of products it has created, through integrated molding and space fully embedded design, can not only integrate into different home scenes, but also be close to the user's life, meet the new needs of high-precision people for the integration of home decoration aesthetics, and open the era of "pure flat embedding" of home washing; the development of neutron and beauty washing and drying care machine and other new product categories, one product can simultaneously solve the three major pain points of high-end washing, drying and nursing.
Second, the "wisdom scene" has potential to be tapped.
In 2021, washing and drying integration has increasingly become the mainstream of consumption, with an online share of 35.0% and an offline share of about 49.8%. From simple washing to washing and even washing and drying, such an evolution direction is actually the result of the domination of scenario-based consumption trends.
The consumption scene of washing, drying and nursing is not the end. There are still many scene needs around high-end washing, and Casarte has done a lot of useful exploration in this regard. For example, it creates a smart balcony scene, through the combination of washing and drying, as well as the Twin Cloud Washing Machine, to achieve the customization of the integral balcony cabinet, so that users can bid farewell to the traditional drying method and regain a balcony space that can be relaxed and healthy.
In addition, Casarte integrates thousands of resource parties in 8 major fields such as home appliances, technology, clothing customization, washing and dyeing, and services, connecting various independent links such as washing, care, storage, building, and purchasing, providing users with one-stop services such as clothing customization, garment purchase, wearing recommendation, and professional laundry and clothing, forming a full-scene service platform around clothing.
Based on "high-end products" and "smart scenes" as the starting point, it provides high-end laundry care, private care, intelligent dressing and other full-process clothing care scene solutions, while integrating into home life to create a new and more high-end and beautiful lifestyle for users, which is the trend that Casarte is leading, and it is also the inevitable forward direction of the industry after the decline of the traditional washing machine market.
Therefore, under the appearance of "saturation theory", there is still a lot of room for enterprise innovation and development.
An innovative "infinite game" with no endgame
From the incremental market to the stock market, this is the process that most products will go through. However, enterprises cannot lose their confidence in development and enthusiasm for innovation because of such market changes, and market "saturation" is not a reason to stop moving forward.
When the feature phone market tends to be saturated, Apple opens the era of smart phones with innovation, so that the mobile phone industry ushers in a new decade of golden growth; when the fuel vehicle market tends to be saturated, Tesla opens the era of electric intelligent cars with innovation, so that the automotive industry has found a new growth runway; when the traditional washing machine tends to be saturated, Casarte has opened the era of high-end washing scenes with technology and model innovation, which has greatly expanded the boundaries of industry innovation and development.
It is certain that any market will appear staged "saturation", what enterprises have to do is to adhere to the pursuit of innovative technology, insight into user needs, and on this basis to continue to meet the needs of users' continuous iteration, to create and lead a new era of growth.
From the perspective of the home appliance industry, color TV has passed through the CRT and LCD era, and now it has ushered in a new era of laser and OLED; refrigerators have entered the era of personalized wisdom preservation from simple food refrigeration and freezing storage; washing machines have entered the era of high-end washing scenes from simple laundry washing... Such an upgrade breaks through the "saturation limit" of the traditional market and also impacts the "saturation thinking" that restricts the development of enterprises.
The author believes that the innovative development of enterprises is an "infinite game" without an end. Apple, Tesla, Casarte and other companies have become winners in the high-end market, and the innovation of products and scenes is commendable, but their innovative development concept of "unlimited games" is actually more worthy of study and learning. (Nail Technology original, reprint please be sure to indicate the source of "Nail Technology Network")