In 2008, "Electrical Appliances" magazine had a joint home appliances channel of the world's network of consumer questionnaire survey on household water purification products and water purification systems. The results of the survey showed that only 31.58% of people who understand household water purification products and water purification systems, most consumers are confused by the terms water softeners, water purifiers, water purifiers or drinking fountains, and do not understand the function, effect and price of such products; however, more than 75% of people believe that the current living conditions, it is necessary to consider the installation of the use of household water purification products and water purification systems.
This contradictory situation has clearly affected the development of the domestic water purification products market. A product that has been developed in China for more than ten years is still not popularized, why? What are the difficulties encountered in the development of the industry? Electrical appliances" reporter investigated. Product technology tends to mature
"Electrical appliances" reporter noted that, unlike other home appliances, even if only household water purification products, due to its water purification principles and methods of different types are also quite varied.
From the principle, the current household water purifier and water purification system mainly includes the use of chemical replacement principle and the use of physical membrane principle two categories. Chemical replacement principle of the product, such as water softeners, through industrial salt and resin to replace calcium and magnesium ions in the water to soften the water, softened tap water can be used for water heaters and other electrical appliances or other purposes, on human health and electrical appliances have the benefit of life; the use of physical membrane principle of the product, such as water purifiers, water purifiers, etc., is the use of ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis membranes (RO membrane), PP cotton, etc., will be filtered out of the water impurities.
According to the United States of America Qinghu Water Purification Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd (hereinafter referred to as the United States of America Qinghu) general manager Cao Gang, in these physical membrane principle of purification technology, ultrafiltration membrane and reverse osmosis membrane (RO membrane) market acceptance is higher. Ultrafiltration membrane pore size is small, can remove bacteria and microorganisms in the water, but it can not remove the metal ions; and the highest precision is reverse osmosis membrane (RO membrane), it can completely remove bacteria, microorganisms and metal ions, the water directly drinkable, but in the process of water production will produce a lot of wastewater, energy consumption is high. It is understood that the reverse osmosis membrane (RO membrane) general system 1L of pure water may produce 3L of wastewater, which is the current domestic and foreign industry need to solve the problem. And some other microfiltration membrane (MF membrane), activated carbon / PP cotton or ore and other means of purification, purification effect is relatively poor.
Nanjing Hongbi Science and Technology Development Co., Ltd. marketing manager Zhang Xudong to the "electrical" reporter detailed the name of the main household water purification products currently exist in the market, including water purifier (direct drinking machine), water softener, ultrafiltration machines, filters, microfilters, and functional water dispensers (cups), etc., the core technology of these products varies, some are applied individually, and some are used in conjunction with each other (see Table 1). It is understood that, because the reverse osmosis membrane (RO membrane) will filter out all the metal ions, this pure water whether the impact on human health, there is still some controversy. The United States of America Clear Lake said, has consulted industry experts on related issues, experts believe that the water contains beneficial to the human body like calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc and other such substances, but the human body absorbs the amount of these substances through the drinking water is only 6% of the total amount absorbed, and these substances in water is usually in the form of bivalent or trivalent form, not easy to be absorbed by the human body. Cao Gang thinks: "Nowadays, industrial pollution is serious, the water contains more of some harmful trace elements, including lead, manganese, chromium, mercury, copper, etc., so reverse osmosis membrane (RO membrane) technology is still very promising."
In addition to the diversity of names and technologies, the complexity of installation is a major feature of home water purifiers and water purification systems. It is understood that the current general water softener and under-the-kitchen water purification system is relatively simple to install, as long as the kitchen basin under the cabinet or leave enough space and power supply, can be successfully installed and used, basically will not affect the decoration. But if the system is more complex,
such as water heater water softener plus kitchen drinking water purifier, plus more than one can be heated drinking machine terminal, especially some families want to drinking machine terminal installed in the living room and bedroom, you need to be in the renovation of the layout of the water pipeline, otherwise the living room may appear open pipe.
Cao Gang believes that the future choice of household water purifier and water purification system will be more and more families, if the entire household water purification system can be well designed before the renovation will strengthen the effect of the use of this product. "Now Wenzhou has a lot of decoration company, for the head of household beforehand these pipes laid, the user wants to buy water purification system when then installed." Cao Gang said.
Market size is growing year by year
The diversity of products and the complexity of installation and use, so that the recognition of household water purification products has been low, but also significantly affect the market penetration.
Information shows that in Europe and the United States, Japan and South Korea and other countries, the penetration rate of household water purification systems has been more than 80%; while in China, the penetration rate of household water purification systems in the city is still less than 1%, and even in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and other places, the rate of household ownership is less than 15%.
"The current market capacity of household water purification products is only 500,000 units, with sales of about 1 billion yuan. Such a market size in my opinion is just starting, there will be a lot of room for development in the future." Cao just gave the reporter such an account, "if the country's urban and rural areas, 10% of 200 million families with household water purification products or water purification system, according to the current average price of 2000 yuan of products, it will form a 20 billion yuan market size."
It is in this market outlook, the United States and South Korea in 2006 when the establishment of a joint venture with the clear lake company, Cao just will take the initiative to be responsible for the development of household water purification products industry, looking forward to this field of action. Midea Qinghu household water purification system sales results also confirmed his idea. "In 2008, we sold 140,000 units of household water purification products, with sales of about 110 million yuan; in 2009, sales are expected to reach 300,000 units, with sales of 220 million yuan, a growth rate of 100%." Cao Gang said confidently.
In 2007, the state promulgated a new health standard for drinking water, water quality indicators from more than 30 to more than 100, causing consumers to pay attention to the safety of drinking water. "This makes consumers pay more attention to household water purification products, which in turn promotes the growth of the market scale of such products. 2008, Qinyuan water purification products sales reached 80 million yuan." Ningbo Qinyuan Environmental Protection Science and Technology Co.
With the growth of the market scale, the price of household water purification products and water purification systems are decreasing year by year. According to Cao Gang, "In 2008, the average unit price of Qinghu products in the United States was about 1,020 yuan, and in 2009 it was 870 yuan, with an overall price reduction of nearly 30%." Cao just introduced.
At the same time, industry insiders pointed out that the current sales of household water purification products are mainly faced with one or two markets, the future expansion of the market scale also depends on the deep market development. Wave wood electrical group Cui Yifan said that the main sales channels for household water purification products for building materials supermarkets, home appliance chain stores, in addition, direct sales, sales with home improvement companies, group purchases also occupy a certain share. "To get a larger market share, in addition to the current target market, but also need to expand to the broader third and fourth level market, especially some of the poorer water quality areas." Cui Yifan said. At the same time, he also believes that the product in the design and development of high quality and low price, easy to popularize; in the marketing of the implementation of the channel hierarchical refinement of regional operations to achieve market segmentation.
Many water purification products enterprises on the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Commerce is promoting the home appliances to the countryside is extremely concerned about the desire for the future of household water purifier products can be included. "Home appliances to the countryside may be a good opportunity to bring this product to the third and fourth level market. The poor water conditions in the vast countryside and some remote areas are shocking, and these areas need water purification products more than the city." Tang Huaiyu said.
Product quality is mixed
Attracted by the huge market space, more and more operators are pouring into the household water purification products industry. The United States, Qinyuan, Angel, wave wood and so on almost all the famous enterprises in the field of water dispensers have entered the water purification products market. South Korea's first major environmental appliances manufacturer Kumazu Howell officially entered China in June 2006, and in May 2008 officially acquired the domestic famous water dispenser brand - Shi Han, ready to make a big splash in China's domestic water purification products market, but at present its products are mainly positioned in the high-end.
However, the vast majority of this industry is small and medium-sized enterprises and even small factories, no brand, no after-sales service, no quality assurance of the "three noes" products flooded the market of household water purification products.
It is understood that at present, the Ministry of Health has a health license approval of water purification products manufacturers have more than 1,000, but the formation of the scale of the brand and fewer companies, technology development strength of the enterprise is even more rare. Many enterprises rely on assembly, imitation and other ways of production, enterprise standards are not standardized, there is no uniform industry standards. This status quo leads to uneven product quality, shoddy products flood the market, affecting consumer trust in the industry as a whole. It is understood that only the Cixi region of Zhejiang Province, the production of water dispensers, water purifiers, water treatment equipment, there are more than 1,000 enterprises, the entire Jiangsu and Zhejiang area of such enterprises more than 3,000.
Hangzhou's Smithee Electric Co., Ltd. moved into the new plant in Cixi in January 2009, the company's marketing manager, Cheng Zhangping told the "Electric" reporter, the water purification products from the factory price ranging from 50 yuan to thousands of dollars, the quality of the 50 yuan products can be imagined. Many small enterprises of household water purification products out of the water quality is very poor. Poor quality household water purification products are usually sold through the wholesale market, third and fourth level market.
Zhang Xudong analyzed the "electrical appliances" reporter said, currently engaged in the manufacture of water purification products, most of the manufacturers are very small, a large part of the speculators, want to make a fortune on the way out, willing to invest in product research and development and a large-scale marketing and consumer guidance work is very few enterprises.
In January 2009, Shuaikang announced its entry into the field of household water purification products. "The water purification products set in the cabinet, and kitchen appliances together to form a family integrated water supply device, will likely become a new product trend, so that you can match the cabinet with the sale, adding new sales selling points." Zhao Jing claimed. Industry analysts said that the entry of well-known kitchen appliance companies to increase consumer choice, so that the water purification products industry to increase the popularity of professional brands, but also to break the unfavorable situation of consumer awareness of water purification products is relatively low,
After-sales service has become a bottleneck
In order to enhance the consumer's knowledge of household water purification products, in recent years, household water purification products, the industry's mainstream enterprises began to increase publicity efforts. In 2008, the United States of America and Phoenix Satellite Television clear lake cooperation to produce a program - "China River Water", reported on China's rivers and lakes of water pollution, causing widespread concern. Midea's Clear Lake also conducted a national tour to promote its products while the program was on the air. "In 2009, we will further increase product promotion, and also cooperate with more retail systems to speed up the entry of retail systems, so that more consumers can contact and understand this product." Cao Gang said.
However, the problem of low awareness is not the biggest problem faced by the promotion of household water purification products, many industry insiders believe that the household water purification products industry has been developed for more than 10 years, but is still in the market introduction period of the real reason, it should be the after-sales service problem.
"The performance of environmental electrical products such as water purifiers, air purifiers, smart toilets and water softeners is mainly determined by the cartridge." Cao Jinghyun, president and chief executive officer of Kumazu Howell Living Products (China) Co. has told Electrical Appliances. He said that these products need regular maintenance management and replacement of filter cartridges in order to properly fulfill the performance of the product. According to reports, reverse osmosis membrane (RO membrane) generally need to be replaced once a year or so, while the other cartridges if the water quality in poor places, half a year to be replaced. Water softener after-sales service, although not as complex as the water purifier, but sales also need to come to the door to design and install, but also need to regularly replenish salt to the salt tank, these need to be responsible for the maintenance of the manufacturer's professional staff. If this type of maintenance work is not in place, the use of household water purification products will be greatly affected.
Cao Gang also said: "The key to the promotion of household water purification products is that after-sales service must be in place. We advocate 4 months to half a year to replace the cartridge, if not replaced in time, the surface of the cartridge will breed bacteria. But in this regard, many small businesses are not doing well. In this way, consumers use the product, no one to regular service to replace the cartridge, there will be a feeling of being cheated, and will not use this product again."
Some companies on the water purification products market survey found that, in the installation of household water purification products for more than 3 years of users, there are actually up to 72% of the users are no longer in use, and turn to re-use of bottled water, and even restarted to boil water to drink. The reason for this lies in the water purification products after-sales service is not in place, which allows consumers to continue to use such products shaken confidence.
"Household water purification products and air conditioning are semi-finished products, its after-sales service is an important part of product sales, which manufacturer after-sales service to do a good job, which manufacturers will be able to achieve more market share." Cheng Zhangping said.
According to the "Electrical" reporter understands, Beardsley Howell in South Korea is a unique marketing model - rental sales model, they call it "Cody" service system. Consumers pay a monthly rent to use the Xiongjin Howell products, the lease period of product ownership belongs to the Xiongjin Howell company, the lease period after the expiration of product ownership can be transferred to the customer. During the lease period, Kumazu Howell's pre-sales and after-sales service teams, comprised of female service professionals with specialized knowledge, provide customers with free consulting services such as cartridge replacements and product updates for environmental appliances such as water purifiers, air purifiers, smart toilets and water softeners. This marketing model was created by Kumazu Howell in Korea in 1998 and was a major reason for its success in Korea. However, this marketing model has not achieved the desired results since it was introduced into China in 2006.
"The main reason may still be the cost issue." Zhang Xudong believes. According to his analysis: "a cost of not more than 5 yuan PP cotton if you need to replace, in addition to the cost of materials, dealers also need to bear the cost of service personnel's wages, communications, transportation, meal supplements, etc., according to the industry's current usual level of charges per visit (about 20 yuan), the cost of after-sales service is difficult to recover. In addition, the replacement of a filter element generally often need to be booked two or three days in advance, so that many consumers feel troubled."
No uniform industry standards or national standards also bring difficulties to the after-sales service of water purification products. Due to the various enterprises of the cartridge gauge specifications are not uniform, poor interchangeability, even if the cartridge material is the same. Therefore, once you buy a certain brand of water purification products, replacement of the cartridge can only look for the same brand manufacturers. This will make many consumers worry that if the company closes down, change business or no longer produce this cartridge, the expensive water purification products will be useless. In addition, if the cartridge price is too high, the formation of the second consumer costs are difficult to control.
Four national standards go hand in hand
"In 2008, the National Household Electrical Appliances Standardization Technical Committee entrusted us and Qinyuan and several other enterprises to promote the drafting of four national standards for household water purification equipment. Among them, the national standards of 'Ultra-filtration Membrane Water Purifier' and 'Reverse Osmosis Water Purifier', which we drafted as the leader unit, have entered the approval stage." Cao Gang proudly told the "electrical appliances" reporter.
According to Cao Gang, the national standards of "Ultra-filtration Membrane Water Purifier" and "Reverse Osmosis Water Purifier" stipulate a lot