New needs for cleaning and care under consumption upgrades

The original intention of the washing machine was to liberate human hands. After entering family life in the early days, consumers' functional requirements for washing machines are relatively simple - decontamination in laundry and automation in the process. With the improvement of the national economic level and the development of science and technology, the needs of this generation of young consumers for washing and care appliances have become more and more complex.

Maslow divides human needs into a hierarchy in the form of a pyramid. After partially satisfying lower-level needs, humans will turn to seek to meet higher-level needs. When the per capita disposable income of residents across the country exceeds the 30,000 mark, people's attitude towards life has shifted from solving basic physiological needs to higher aesthetic and quality needs; the requirements for commodities have shifted from material satisfaction to spiritual satisfaction.

A visible trend is that in order to better liberate productivity and improve the quality of life, washing and care appliances are moving towards intelligence, scene and specialization.

The most obvious is intelligence. In recent years, the accelerating pace of work and advanced technology have made people more dependent on intelligence to bring changes to their lives. With the application of technologies such as intelligence and the Internet of Things, consumers have put forward more intelligent requirements for the laundry process, hoping to achieve intelligent washing, intelligent control, etc., to further reduce manual intervention in the laundry process and save time.

With the release of time, space is needed. The housing economy under the epidemic has made people realize the value of balcony space.

On the one hand, in the traditional concept, the drying and sterilization of clothes depends entirely on the sun. From a rational point of view, this is not completely scientific, and it may get dust and debris after drying it for a long time. Clothes, on the other hand, occupy the balcony, which is not only unsightly, but also adds to the clutter of the otherwise cramped home space.

This has spawned consumer demand for washing machines that can achieve health care and reshape the care space.

According to the research data from JD.com, up to 69% of consumers believe that washing machines must have a sterilization function. When the washing machine can solve the problems of sterilization and deodorization, and the clothes dryer can solve the problems of drying, drying, and wrinkle removal, the balcony space has been liberated, and the spare space can be used for enjoying life such as raising green plants and basking in the sun. , you can also do physical and mental activities such as fitness and reading.

In addition, with the upgrade of consumption, the laundry needs of different consumer groups have also begun to be segmented. People hope to have different products to meet the needs of different washing and care scenarios.

For example, the new generation of Bao Ma pays more attention to health care for home care. Soft clothes and preventing cross infection have become the pain points of Bao Ma’s cleaning and care, and laundry concepts such as zoned washing came into being. Deodorization and hair treatment capabilities; middle-class families require washing and care appliances to achieve refined washing and care according to clothing fabrics, and there is a need for one person, multiple cylinders, and complete sets of washing and care.

The famous saying "All consumer goods are worth redoing" can be regarded as the bible in the field of consumer goods because with the improvement of consumption levels, the original services can no longer satisfy users well.

"Clothing" and "living" are closely related to people's lives. Although laundry may seem small, it contains people's yearning for a better life. Consumers choose washing and care appliances, not only to buy goods, but to express their own life propositions through consumption behavior.

In their opinion, the home environment represented by household appliances creates an ideal life.

Under the challenge, how to win the consumer market

When the relationship between products and users is reconstructed, the services provided by brands must also be reformed.

After entering Chinese households for 30 years, the washing machine market has been close to saturation. According to the survey, by the end of 2020, the number of washing machines owned by every 100 households of urban and rural residents in my country has reached 99.7 units and 92.6 units respectively.

This brings challenges to home appliance brands, which means that companies are faced with more replacement of washing and care appliances, as well as finding new increments from changing consumer demand.

Whoever can keenly perceive consumer demand and quickly launch strong products can regain the growth space. In this market, there are not only international brands such as Siemens and Panasonic, but also domestic brands such as Haier.

In 2021, in the sluggish washing machine market and fierce competition among home appliance brands, Haier has handed over a dazzling report card.

Globally, Haier washing machines have been ranked No. 1 in Euromonitor International for 13 consecutive years; in China, according to CMM data, in 2021, Haier washing machines will occupy the first place with a retail sales share of 43.5%; Haier clothes dryers will occupy 32.9% of the retail sales. In the high-end market, Casarte washing machines have a market share of 10,000 yuan + high-end market share of 74%, ranking first, with a share of 17.3% in the entire front-loading washing machine. %, reaching the second place in the industry as a high-end brand.

Carefully studying its development path, it is not difficult to find that the reason for the growth is that Haier has seized the needs of users under the consumption upgrade. For different user pain points and usage scenarios, we provide diversified solutions through technological innovation.

Haier's first washing machine was first born in 1993, and its washing and care technology has been evolving for nearly 30 years.

In 2012, Haier took the lead in releasing the crystal drum washing machine equipped with a direct-drive motor, leading the industry into the era of direct-drive washing. The perfect integration of washing machine and detergent has led the industry to enter the stage of scientific and intelligent washing and care.

Simply put, the innovation of this technology is that in the past, when washing with a washing machine, many places were always unclean. Repulsion cannot coexist perfectly in the laundry detergent, while the capsule washing machine adopts the three-chamber storage method of detergent, which can exert the activity of active ingredients such as enzymes for a long time. At one time, it can meet the needs of consumers for whitening, bright color and suppleness.

In addition, the capsule washing machine has also broken through the problem of detergent residues that cannot be washed clean. During the washing process, the detergent is intelligently matched and accurately dispensed according to parameters such as clothing quantity, fabric, water quality, etc., and manual operations are reduced, which not only saves trouble, time, and less residue, but also saves energy and water.

In the post-epidemic era, in the face of the needs of different consumer groups under consumption upgrades, Haier has launched different products and multiple sets of combinations.

"Die Dai He Mei Washing, Drying and Care Machine" is used to solve the needs of young users to save energy and save space on the balcony. It adopts an integrated design to open up the control system of the washing machine and the dryer. Through data sharing, the drying program can be intelligently matched before the end of the washing process, and the preheating can be carried out in advance. Overall cleaning efficiency.

For families who pursue high-quality life, Casarte, a high-end home appliance brand under Haier Group, is also continuing to conduct demand insight and technological innovation. It continues to solve users' needs for regional cleaning and care with "dual-drum partition washing" and "micro-steam air washing" to solve the problem. After users' high-end clothing care needs, in June this year, Casarte once again launched a new species of "Neutron and Beauty Washing, Drying and Care Machine", which integrates washing, drying and nursing to meet the full-process clothing washing and care of high-end users in diversified life scenarios. need.

What is quite user-friendly is that Neutron Hemei fully considers the usage habits of Chinese users when designing, and the height of the whole machine is only 150cm. When operating, it can improve the user experience from the details. The flat embedded design is adopted in the appearance, which fully reflects the beauty of the integration of home appliances and home furnishing, and meets the home aesthetic needs of high-end users.

Through more than 30,000 offline stores and online digital channels, Haier also has insight into the needs of consumers for future scenarios, and launched solutions such as smart balconies and smart cloakrooms. Laundry, storage and purchase” clothing service for the whole life cycle.

Consumers are always used to voting with money, and the market has responded to Haier's innovation. According to the financial report, Haier's overall market share has been on the rise in recent years. Between 2019 and 2021, its offline share of washing machines has increased from 36.1% to 43.6%, an increase of 7.5 percentage points; its online share has increased from 34.6% to 40.5%, an increase of 5.9 percentage points.

Many industry giants have the problem of turning around, but it is not easy for Haier to maintain keen insight and action in the face of rapidly changing consumer demands.

Haier founder Zhang Ruimin once said that Haier's development history is a history of entrepreneurship and innovation. It is the technological innovation that it insists on that has achieved sustained growth in performance.

written at the end

The story of Haier washing machine rising against the trend, which is about to enter a year of no confusion, is not only the commercial success of a single enterprise, but also a model of industrial innovation. As long as the needs of users are grasped in time and technological innovation is carried out, it is possible to achieve a long-term foundation. . For the industry, it will undoubtedly stimulate the competition and imitation of home appliance brands, and further promote the development of the washing and care appliance industry.

This is also the internal circulation growth force encouraged by the state. Enterprises launch good products through continuous innovation and healthy competition to stimulate domestic demand for consumption. While meeting the needs of users, they also enhance the country's economic and technological strength.

From a macro perspective, the upgrade of China's washing and care appliances is of greater significance.

As an imported product, the Chinese home appliance market has been occupied by Japanese and German brands for a long time. It is Haier and other domestic brands that have continuously invested in technological innovation to increase the market share of Chinese products and even lead the international washing machine. The development trend of home appliances.

This series of moves not only enhances the international status of China's home appliance brands, but also shows the charm of Chinese manufacturing to the world.