In recent years, with the improvement of per capita disposable income and the change of the preferences of the main consumer groups, consumers' concerns and consumption concepts for small household appliances and smart homes have also changed.
Through the research data of 36Kr Research Institute and Huge Arithmetic, the research institute has insight into consumers' cognition, usage, consumer demand and behavior changes for small household appliances and smart homes, and deeply understands the changes in small household appliances and smart home interest groups.
1. Changes in consumer awareness and behavior of small household appliances & smart home interest groups
The epidemic has caused consumers to pay more attention to small household appliances, and the number of users interested in small household appliances in the post-epidemic era has increased significantly
Consumers' attention to small household appliances is susceptible to external factors. According to the huge arithmetic data, the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in February 2020 has led to a surge in the overall number of users interested in small household appliances. With the gradual control of the epidemic, the number of interested users has also declined, and in the later period, it has shown a stable upward trend. In June 2021, the overall number of users interested in small household appliances increased by 24.17% month-on-month, an increase of 75.38% compared with the pre-epidemic (January 2020).
Young people: prefer kitchen and bathroom and cleaning small household appliances, and are committed to improving the comfort of home life
Under the dual influence of home culture and the epidemic, the functionality and convenience of various small household appliances are more advantageous, helping the younger generation to solve the needs of life and improve the quality of life and happiness. According to the consumer survey data of small household appliances, young people (18-30 years old) now pay more attention to kitchen and small household appliances in many small household appliance categories. Among the respondents aged 18-23, 50.5% paid attention to small kitchen appliances and 44.7% paid attention to small household appliances. Among the respondents aged 24-30, more than half of them pay attention to kitchen and small household appliances. Among the small household appliances of life, the most concerned is the cleaning items, about 64.2% of the respondents said they want to buy a sweeping robot, and about 42.1% of the respondents want to buy a vacuum cleaner.
Silver-haired people: pay attention to personal care small appliances, of which massagers are the most popular
When silver-haired people buy small household appliances, in addition to considering factors such as safety and convenience, there are also more differentiated needs for product functions. Compared with young people, silver-haired people need small household appliances with health and wellness functions. According to the consumer survey data of large arithmetic small household appliances, personal care small household appliances have attracted more attention among silver-haired people, and nearly 60% of silver-haired people have purchased such small household appliances. Among them, health care products are the most popular, and about 49.02% of silver-haired people say that massagers are the personal care small appliances they most want to buy.
Female consumers: focus on personal care small household appliances, the most popular product is the beauty instrument
With the continuous improvement of China's women's education level and disposable income, women's consumption power is getting higher and higher, and the concept of consumption has also undergone great changes, gradually becoming the main force of consumption in the new era, giving birth to a market size of hundreds of millions of "she economy". According to the consumer survey data of large arithmetic small household appliances, female consumers pay more attention to kitchen and personal care small household appliances in many small household appliance categories, while in the personal care small household appliance category, the attention of male and female consumers is quite different. 63.14% of the female consumers surveyed said that they had purchased small personal care household appliances and paid the most attention to beauty instruments, while only 47.2% of the male consumers who had purchased personal care small household appliances accounted for only 47.2%.
New parents: When buying small home appliances for mothers and babies, material safety is the primary consideration
There are relatively few categories of small household appliances for mothers and babies, common products are milk warmers, food supplements, sterilizers, breast pumps, etc., but for new parents, these are just needed and can help them better feed their newborns. According to the consumer survey data of huge arithmetic small household appliances, 70.97% of new parents are interested in purchasing complementary food machines, ranking first in the maternal and infant small household appliances. At the same time, the safety of product materials is the primary consideration for new parents when purchasing maternal and infant products, followed by factors such as product functionality, portability, brand reputation and cost performance.
2. Changes in consumer behavior in the small home appliances & smart home industry
The increase in health awareness has aroused consumers' attention to clean life small household appliances
Health has long been one of the concerns. Nowadays, more and more people are beginning to look at the various factors that may affect health around them, and put forward higher safety requirements for air, drinking water, food, etc. This brings development dividends to small household appliances such as cleaning household appliances, including water purifiers, sweeping robots, disinfection wardrobes, etc. According to the consumer survey data of large arithmetic small household appliances, consumers pay more attention to small household appliances and smart home products that improve the health of the environment, 23.01% of the respondents said that they had purchased clean life small household appliances before the epidemic; 37.23% of the respondents have been concerned about such products, but have not yet purchased; and less than 20% of the respondents said that they were not interested in cleaning products.
Social e-commerce, represented by short videos and social platforms, has become an important channel for the realization of small household appliances
The rise of social e-commerce has shifted the traditional "goods"-centered user consumption model to the "people"-centered sales model in the new era. Social e-commerce can build product trust in the short term through content planting, social sharing, etc., shorten the user decision-making cycle, and increase product sales. According to the consumer survey data of small household appliances, 56% of users learned about the sale or promotion of small household appliances and smart home products through the short video platform, and 19.94% of the users learned about the relevant information through the social platform.
Consumers' pursuit of the sense of ritual of life has released the demand for special small household appliances
In the field of small household appliances and smart homes, consumers' sense of ceremony is mainly reflected in the special use of special objects. Taking small kitchen appliances as an example, the kitchen scene can be divided into many specific subdivision scenarios according to the cooking link. Each subdivision scene can correspond to small household appliances dedicated to functions, such as ice cream machines, skewer machines, sparkling water machines, etc. Emerging brands are also constantly exploring new application scenarios to seize users' minds with more scenario-based special small household appliances and stimulate potential market increments. According to the consumer survey data of large arithmetic small household appliances, 55.56% of the respondents said that they were willing to accept and purchase the small household appliances category dedicated to special objects, of which 66.13% of users believed that although the application scenarios and functions of small household appliances for special items were single, they met their pursuit of the ritual of life.
Consumers' awareness of safety precautions has increased, and the demand for smart homes such as smart cat's eye and smart door locks has increased
In the era of rapid media development, the speed and influence of social security incidents have been continuously improved, which has promoted the improvement of public safety awareness. On the one hand, the number of people living alone in the mainland has risen all the way, and the demand for the safety of living alone has risen. On the other hand, in the contemporary era of rapid development of the Internet and media, security news can break through the time and space restrictions to achieve rapid access to the public, especially in recent years, women and children-related safety incidents have emerged in an endless stream, but also to stimulate users' self-protection and safety awareness. While consumers' safety awareness is awakened, it also puts forward higher requirements for the security functions of small household appliances and smart homes. According to the consumer survey data of large arithmetic small household appliances, 45.61% of the respondents expect that the product can have the function of improving residential safety; 61.92% of the respondents expressed more concern about security products including smart door locks, smart cat's eye, etc., of which 25.54% of the respondents have the idea of buying such products; 36.38% of the respondents are still considering whether to buy.