Produced by | Entrepreneurship is at the forefront
Author | Fu Yancui
Edit | Feng Yu
The home improvement market is frantically pouring into young people.
The "2021 New Consumer Home Observation and Trend Report" shows that today, the post-90s and post-95s who have just tasted the taste of independent life in the two-person world have constituted the mainstream group of home improvement consumption.
The young post-90s and post-00s generation advocates personality and aesthetic diversity, and they will pay more attention to the style of the interior of the house and are willing to spend more money for their own homes. They often mention their budgets again and again during the renovation process: some people increase their budget from 100,000 to 150,000, and some people increase the budget of 70,000 or 80,000 yuan to 178,000.
However, many problems in the traditional home improvement industry, such as opaque interest models, low operational efficiency, and uneven services, have also caused these young people to fall into the pain of being "dominated by decoration".
Some people say bluntly that they even want to sell their newly renovated new houses. Some people also encountered the owner of the mom-and-pop shop who broke up during the renovation, resulting in his customized service materials being stolen and replaced with shoddy, and also inexplicably lost more than 2,000 yuan. There are even consumers who have to wrestle with each other because the decoration company manufactures various project additions.
As one of the few industries with a trillion-dollar market size, the home improvement market has always been an industry that charges hundreds of thousands of dollars at every turn, but it is difficult for users to buy satisfactory services.
And when the post-90s and 95s meet home improvement, what kind of story will collide between them?
1, young people love to "toss"
In 2021, Wang Zi (pseudonym), who was born in 1993, officially put the decoration matter on the agenda, and after New Year's Day, he used the weekend holiday with his lover to see the decoration companies in Gu'an to understand the market situation, "It is really in the gap between the outbreak of the epidemic, from the quotation of more than 20,000 yuan to the quotation of more than 100,000 decoration companies have looked around." ”
Wang Zi's hometown is in Gu'an, and he usually works in Beijing, but it is difficult to buy a house in Beijing with economic strength. On May Day of the previous year, Wang Zi and his wife spent their savings working for several years, and also carried a 30-year mortgage to buy a second-hand rough house in Gu'an.
Since that day, they have begun to discuss modern minimalist, Italian, American and other decoration styles, will be for the layout, electrical appliances and furniture stacking discussion until very late, but also downloaded a variety of apps, just to find some of their favorite design styles and elements in different decoration styles.
After all, decoration is a matter of high total price and directly affecting the quality of life of future residence, in the words of Wang Zi, "no matter how cautious it is." ”
And this year's young people are more accustomed to getting information from the Internet, and there are many goods. Wang Zi also began to understand the decoration knowledge through various short videos from a very early age, trying to avoid the big pits that people had traveled before, such as "the decoration company recovered the deduction to buy inferior materials", "the formaldehyde of domestic paint exceeded the standard", "the expiration of the work can not be completed" and so on.
Figure / Choose tiles also need to be hands-on
Therefore, from which decoration materials have zero formaldehyde, to which faucet materials are good, the water range is large and water-saving, and then to the choice of smart switches and sockets, as well as the difference between beauty seams, grooves, putty and aluminum-plastic pipes, in order to "make up" this knowledge, before the decoration, Wang Zi has been "busy".
Photo / Wang Zi watched 4715 renovation-related videos last year
In May 2021, after countless late-night discussions, Wang Zi and his wife finally decided to find their cousin who works in the decoration company to start the decoration in the form of half a package (buying materials by themselves, and the other party found someone to construct), "Because of the limited budget, after visiting various home improvement companies, it is still this half-pack form to save money, and it can also control the safety of decoration materials to a certain extent, and it is more assured after checking in." ”
At the same time, individual needs are also an important factor for this young generation.
Zhang Tao (pseudonym), who was born in 1995, also purchased his first property in Longhua County, Chengde City, Hebei Province, in 2019. At that time, the developer did the activity, and after the down payment, 20,000 yuan could be added to the fine decoration. He looked at the model room at that time, felt that the effect was good, and did not want to buy a house and then renovate, so he paid an additional 20,000 yuan to the developer.
But in 2020, the decoration effect when the developer handed over the house disappointed Zhang Tao, "The walls are all yellow, the bedroom is covered with wooden floors, the living room floor is tiled, and the water and electricity are not where I want to be." I don't even know how to match home appliances and furniture, it's too ugly. ”
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Last year, Zhang Tao, who was still relatively generous in his hands, still felt that he should renovate according to his own ideas. Considering that he himself works in Beijing, it is not easy to go back, and his wife does not understand the knowledge of decoration, Zhang Tao simply found a full-package repair company.
"They can measure the house for free before signing the contract, and come up with a particularly perfect decoration plan, and we can understand the meaning in place, and the decoration quotation is also in accordance with the package of 600 yuan / flat, which is quite OK." As a result, Zhang Tao's home improvement matters also began.
In fact, this year's young people are more willing to pay for their own personalized decoration needs, and there are many people like Zhang Tao who choose to smash the previous "fine decoration" and redecorated in order to decorate their favorite style.
"This year's young people are too energetic and too willing to go backwards." Zhou Hui, founder of AiNANA Butler (Shanghai Yifeng Mingxuan Building Decoration Co., Ltd.), also had to sigh that the post-90s generation should choose their own materials that are assured and satisfied, and especially like novel, cutting-edge, fun, new and unconventional materials and decorations, "There will always be some strange ideas." ”
2, a deep decoration like the sea
"Once you enter the decoration, you are a passerby on weekends." Wang Zi sighed to the "forefront of entrepreneurship" that no matter whether you are at work or not, as long as you start decorating, there will always be countless things to decide for you, "how to arrange water and electricity, what materials to use for the ceiling, how much floor height to buy, what color to buy tiles, there is no free time at all." ”
Photo / Various materials piled up during Wang Zi's decoration
It makes him feel that the decoration is constantly stepping on the pit, or the service problem after his whole house customization.
In June last year, the hard decoration at home went relatively smoothly, Wang Zi also began to put the whole house custom furniture on the agenda, he first went to see big brands such as Oupai Cabinet, Quanyou Home, and then went to several second-line brands, but after communicating with sales, he found that the price was too high, and finally it was gone.
"According to the calculation of the brand store sales to us, our two-bedroom and one-hall room, after customizing two wardrobes and a sideboard and cabinet, it cost as much as 70,000 or 80,000 yuan." Our budget for the original whole house renovation was only 100,000 yuan, which was too expensive. ”
Later, Wang Zi chose a whole house customized mom-and-pop shop under the introduction of a friend, "His family has I have investigated the more environmentally friendly well-known brand panels, but it only takes 20,000 yuan to make the above furniture, and their original price is 29,500 yuan." ”
Not only has a super high cost performance and the desired plate, the other party designed the furniture design drawings he also liked, Wang Zi at that time on the board of this whole house custom brand, "on the spot we signed a contract, because it is a friend introduction, but also agreed to the other party's direct full payment requirements." ”
But what he did not expect was that the after-sales service of this small brand mom-and-pop store was not reliable at all.
"We usually work in Beijing, the other side of the installation when we were not on the scene, I feel that the installation master is also more perfunctory, and when we came back to the acceptance on the weekend, we saw the crooked cabinet door, and the other party even said that my floor was uneven." After that, it was all kinds of quarrels in the group, and after several weeks, the other party arranged for the installation master to come and adjust. ”
Photo / There is a big gap in Wang Zi's cabinet
But this is just the beginning, Wang Zi later bought ultraviolet lamps on the Internet, ready to verify the plate according to the method of online teaching, want to see if the other party is real material, "I didn't expect that we were disappointed again, at that time said that it was good to use the ecological board of our selected brand (high price), and the contract was also reflected, but the other party secretly changed to the particle board (low price). ”
Wang Zi found the whole house custom shop, the other party's excuse is that there is a communication problem, the factory gave the wrong order, but is willing to compensate him for a customized TV cabinet and dining table and chairs, "If calculated according to the difference of 26 square meters, the other party will also refund us more than 2,000 yuan." ”
If it is solved in this way, Wang Zi can still accept it, but what happened later once again refreshed Wang Zi's "three views".
"The two couples in the store divorced during this period because of emotional problems. Later, we looked for each other twice, both to find an excuse not to see us, and finally even the former storefront was also rented by them. In the WeChat group, he is even more blunt, he will no longer manage this matter, if you still want to go to the police. Wang Zi helplessly told the "forefront of entrepreneurship" that he did not call the police in the end for the matter of 2,000 yuan, and could only admit that he was unlucky.
Photo / Screenshot of the chat provided by Wang Zi
"Once you enter the decoration, it is as deep as the sea." Some consumers also sighed that not only is the mom-and-pop shop unreliable, but also an unreliable decoration company that has at least a "short life" of ten years.
"The renovation was the most annoying thing I've ever seen, it was disgusting." In a home improvement group, a post-90s shared the mood of gradual collapse after the renovation, "I don't want to decorate anymore, this time I shouldn't decorate, the family is working outside, and is ready to sell to buy a second-hand house later." ”
She kept complaining, saying that as long as she started decorating, there was no way to work with peace of mind until the end, which made her lose her freedom. From time to time below, consumers echoed, saying that the decoration made them physically and mentally tired, "I have no work, I am bound by decoration every day, I want to go to the physical examination to squeeze time, the cabinets are said to have problems every three to five, and the decoration company docking problem can never be said at one time." ”
In the process of decoration, Zhang Tao also encountered various problems, especially in the construction of workers.
"My TV background wall was smashed 3 times before it was installed, twice because of factory processing errors, and once because of the installation of problems by the installation master. The important thing is that I originally worked in Beijing, for convenience to invite a home improvement company, and finally I still have to go back every three to five to see. Because I really don't feel at ease. ”
In addition, in order to live safely, Zhang Tao chose a large brand of whole house custom furniture. To this end, he spent more than 60,000 yuan, but the decoration has been more than half a year, open the drawer smell is still very large, "I bought the formaldehyde measurement instrument, found that the formaldehyde content in the house is 0.12mg / m3, but I checked, the room is not more than 0.08mg / m3 can be assured to stay." I spent so much money and felt like I was pitted. ”
Figure / Formaldehyde in the house is seriously exceeded
It is not difficult to see that in the decoration market, poor consumer service experience is already a "senior stubborn disease".
3, home improvement companies blindfold "gold"
The "water depth" of the home improvement industry is almost an open secret in the industry, and consumers as "little whites", although they have made various preparations, can only find the pit in the decoration process, but at this time they have been deeply involved, and finally they can only "admit their fate".
"I observed many renovation cases last year, and found that when the post-90s were renovating, whether it was a small apartment of 30 square meters or a larger villa, it was basically led by designers. Moreover, the concept of spending young people when renovating is completely different from that of the post-70s and post-80s, although their houses are not large, but the decoration cost is more than 200,000. Lao Na told "the forefront of entrepreneurship".
Lao Na is a home writer, entered the home improvement industry in 2009, once started a business in a connected home improvement company, although he left the startup in 2018, he has not stopped observing the industry, "I feel that more young people pay great attention to appearance and texture." ”
But in fact, the needs of young consumers for personalization are also convenient for home improvement companies to "fish for gold".
Graph /Photo Network, based on VRF protocol
According to the "forefront of entrepreneurship", in the process of decoration, the decoration company, the construction party, the material party, the worker master, each link has interests involved. After the general decoration company receives the project, it designs and quotes, and then outsources the project to the construction party (project manager), and after the other party receives the work, it then recruits the worker master, and finally the owner or project manager goes to the building materials market to buy things.
Liu Xue, who works as a supervisor at a home improvement company, revealed that many decoration companies in the industry will deduct their profits according to the proportion of 20% when they receive work, and then find a contractor foreman to outsource. The contractor needs to take this money to ensure his income, the master's salary, and the completeness of materials.
If a home wants to be renovated, at least more than 600 kinds of materials must be combined in different forms. These more than 600 kinds of materials, each of which corresponds to a different brand and process, thus deriving tens of millions of combinations, "Xiaobai does not understand decoration, after personalized needs, the materials to deal with are more diverse, and people in the industry have huge room to play." Liu Xue added.
Zhou Hui also gave an example to the "forefront of entrepreneurship", such as a well-known brand of toilet, consumers on the market to buy their own costs three or five thousand yuan, home improvement companies can press the price to about 1,000 yuan. These differences are profit margins that can be operated by people such as home improvement companies and salespeople.
"The profits of home improvement companies in the market are generally not less than 35%, the conventional is about 40%, and there is a 'black' point of 50%-60%." Zhou Hui said that such an operation is actually the industry's default "unspoken rule".
At the same time, cutting corners, shoddy charging, and increasing items in manufacturing projects are also common "tricks" for some decoration companies.
Zhang Tao encountered a similar situation during the renovation process.
At that time, the home improvement company said in the quotation that it was decorated according to the standard of the package of 600 yuan / flat, but after signing the contract, the designer found that the materials he could see needed to add money when he accompanied him to select materials, and the materials marked in the contract were really not up to him.
Not only that, because he was finely decorated when he received the house, the designer told him that if he wanted to realize the decoration drawings he showed you before, the layout of the kitchen and toilet had to change greatly, and the demolition of walls, the construction of walls, and the removal of garbage needed to add money.
In this regard, Liu Xue said that such a routine is very "normal".
According to his understanding, some companies will only write "unit price + brand" in many materials when quoting, and specific data such as specifications will not be reflected. For example, in the paint quotation, the paint of the well-known brand is marked, X yuan / ㎡, but it will not explain what quality, specifications and process are selected.
"You know, just writing a brand name is a hooligan, they will exchange high price and high quality for low price and low quality, and they will tell you that this is the brand mentioned in the contract." 」 Liu Xue said.
Even some so-called design directors in the home improvement industry have not yet learned various drawing and construction techniques, but the first thing they have learned is how to "pit you". Because the company will have a set of words to deal with consumers, teach them how to sell the company's materials with consumers, quickly collect decoration deposits, and then choose a package and then how to use words to add money.
What is more exaggerated is that the homework done by the decoration whites who work hard to brush the video is what the decoration companies want you to see, and in the end, they still want to "cut you".
Liu Xue said that in fact, decoration is a low-frequency thing, and it is a ridiculous thing for owners to rely on the content suggestions of the so-called industry insiders on the Internet and short videos to avoid various pits.
He also revealed to the "forefront of entrepreneurship" that after the popularity of short videos, many accounts with the name of "home decoration designers" appeared, but most of the operators of these accounts had no background in the industry and were mass-produced by unified companies.
Indeed, Wang Zi's budget also changed from the initial 100,000 to 120,000, and the final actual consumption reached 150,000 yuan. Zhang Tao, who is decorating in a fourth-tier city, is more exaggerated, and the budget has changed from the initial seven or eighty thousand to 100,000 yuan for hard decoration and whole house customized cabinets. He expected that when the hard and soft decoration was completed, this budget would become 178,000 yuan.
4, home improvement track: waiting for a technological revolution
In fact, the post-90s and post-00s are becoming the backbone of the Internet decoration consumer market.
According to the "2021 Decoration Consumption Trend Report" released by Tubatu Big Data Research Institute, the number of users using Internet decoration products and services in 2021 increased by 106% year-on-year. Among them, the "post-90s" account for the largest proportion of Internet decoration users, about 39%. "Post-00s" accounted for 4.46% of Internet decoration users.
And a home improvement and home furnishing industry battle against the minds of young people has begun.
Fastdate report data shows that in 2020, the size of the mainland home improvement market reached 2.61 trillion yuan. In this market of more than 2 trillion yuan, there are not a few companies that try to solve the pain points of buyers and sellers with Internet thinking. During this period, there are also companies that want to subvert the industry, and the giants want to share a piece of the industry.
In March 2021, Suning announced the provision of one-stop shopping services for home improvement home appliances; in April, Gome launched the "Dress Up Home" App; in May, Baidu released a new Brand of Internet Home Improvement "Dress Xinjia"; giants have laid out one after another, Jingdong has launched the "Jingdong Home" channel, Shell has launched a home service platform "Quilt Home Decoration", and Ali has a home improvement platform "Every Flat per House".
According to incomplete statistics, in 2021, the domestic home improvement industry announced a total of 67 financing events, 19 mergers and acquisitions, and 18 companies successfully listed. The main business of the enterprise mainly covers smart home, assembly, supply chain platform, etc.
In fact, many Internet companies have entered the home improvement track, they are based on their own genes and advantages, trying to occupy a place in the home improvement industry.
For example, Baidu and ByteDance, the former with search as the core and the latter with algorithms as the core, such technical advantages are naturally unique in providing solutions for front-end traffic. Therefore, the core of the platform represented by Baidu's "Home Decoration" and ByteDance's "Live Gang" is to solve the front-end traffic.
The e-commerce genes of Jingdong and Ali enable the maturity of the entire ecosystem to quickly incubate the full-link sale of standard products. Therefore, Jingdong home decoration and Ali's "per flat and per house" are based on standard products such as building materials sales.
Tu BaTu, on the other hand, starts from the whole process of decoration, participates in the entire home improvement delivery process, and creates its own model barriers through the empowerment of the whole link Internet such as supply chain, construction control, and user service.
It can be seen that the change in the home improvement industry is obvious, but when it comes to the specific operation level, the changes in the home improvement industry are not obvious.
"Everyone wants to disrupt the industry, but in fact, the home improvement industry has not changed in recent years." In Lao Na's view, unless there is an industrial technological revolution in the home improvement industry, which can make the industry free from the process of water, wood, electricity, tiles, and oil, which require manual construction, otherwise there will be no new changes in the construction process without changes.
"Because the underlying logic hasn't changed." Lao Na further said that in the home improvement industry, there are a variety of services that need to be controlled by people, and people are the most difficult to standardize.
Speaking of this, Lao Na gave an example to the "forefront of entrepreneurship", the old residential area where she lived in Beijing, in the past 5 years, there are seven or eight households in the building where she lives, and many young people decorate the old house, but they generally lack experience, coupled with the relatively low quality of decoration workers, but also indirectly brought her a lot of trouble.
"The wall of our old house is too thin, the decoration master has no experience, once the decoration next door leaked the wall of our home; another time was the downstairs decoration during the heating period, the heating in the building was broken; and even the sewer pipe waterproofing was not done well, and the water leaked to other people's homes." Old Na helplessly said.
In this regard, Zhou Hui also said that the home improvement industry, which implies huge profits, has not actually grown giants so far. And the details of home improvement companies that have been listed, there are very few companies with revenue of more than 10 billion, and the entire industry is still in a relatively scattered and regionalized state.
And it is. The actual on-site construction standardization of home improvement products and services is low, the consumption frequency is low, and the service and experience are heavy, which makes the home improvement industry relatively compared with other industries with high customer unit price, high standardization and light service experience, and the overall characteristics of "large industry and small company" with low concentration and large market scale.
"This is related to the fact that the industrial chain of the home improvement industry is too long and the industry is too partial to service attributes, which makes it difficult to make a standardized product like the retail industry." Zhou Hui added, "The needs of users are varied, and you have no way to make customers completely achieve standard unification. ”
Therefore, before the industry has not been completely upgraded, for a long time in the future, the home improvement market may still maintain the existing pattern.
However, home improvement itself is a process of service happiness: so that customers can have a home of their own, and the bitterness experienced in the middle will eventually be rewarded.
As Wang Zi said, decoration does need to be cut all the way, "but when I solved all the problems, it was full of a sense of accomplishment, pay tribute to myself, and I finally have my own new home." ”
*The title image in the text is from the photo network, based on the VRF protocol.