Market growth "stall" and "out of control" have occurred frequently in this year's kitchen appliance market. Dishwashers have become another "star kitchen appliances" that are rapidly declining after the cliff-like decline of the integrated stove category.

Unlike integrated stoves, the dishwasher market is only a "stall" of growth, and there are no extreme situations such as big falls, big drops, and halves. Data from GFK Zhongyikang: At present, the market penetration rate of dishwashers is nearly 4%, and the retail volume and retail sales growth of the domestic market in the first seven months of this year are 2.9% and 6.5% respectively, showing a more obvious development "out of control".

Why? Because from 2015 to 2022, dishwashers ushered in a round of market detonation in the Chinese market, and the market growth rate once showed a three-digit blowout, and then maintained a double-digit growth of more than 50%, which can be said to be "quite hot". This has also triggered a large number of Chinese and foreign home appliances and kitchen appliance companies, including Haier, Midea, Galanz, Gree, Hisense, Panasonic, Bosch Siemens, as well as Fotile, Robam, Dihua, A.O. Smith, Rinnai, etc.

Until 2023, the inertia of this growth will be broken, and dishwashers will be "unsellable, not easy to sell, and it will be difficult to see results when reducing prices" in the market, and even dishwashers, like integrated stoves, have become the "victims" of the kitchen appliance market under this round of consumption downgrade.

Iron has to be hard Consumption downgrade to the dishwasher?

In the view of the home appliance circle, the so-called "stall" in the dishwasher market in the past two years is the phased self-repair and adjustment of the development of the industry. First, the sales scale of dishwashers in the Chinese market has increased from 200 million to more than 10 billion, which took 15 years; Since 2014, dishwashers have grown at a compound growth rate of 38% in the Chinese market, while the global growth rate is about 6%. It can be said that the "ups and downs" of dishwashers in the Chinese market are expected, and there is no cyclical apex of the industry, but a phased market return.

Second, after the turmoil from external real estate and other related industries, weak market demand, as well as the business strategy, product positioning, and cognition and habits of mainstream users, the dishwasher market has been superimposed from "3-digit, 2-digit" high growth, and suddenly to "single-digit" low growth, and even "growth to decline" may occur next, which is not unexpected.

The fundamental problem also lies in the product attributes, market positioning and user habit cultivation of dishwashers, and the "dual empowerment" of time and space. This is also the hidden danger and shortcomings of the entire kitchen appliance industry in the development of the Chinese market: how to move emerging categories from the initial market highlights and user interest positioning to the essential products of the family, relying not only on the inertia growth of the market, but also on the long-term experience of the user to become an "inseparable" helper and companion.

It is necessary for the promoters of kitchen appliances to speed up the return to the origin of the product and the space of the scene, to find the value of the "reachable" and "inseparable" sense of the product and the user's quality life. For example, to give the dishwasher more functions in the kitchen, not only to wash dishes and chopsticks, but also to store them healthily; Similarly, based on the space and location of the dishwasher, a new washing center was created, integrating functions such as a dishwasher, sink, cleaning treatment, etc. These all require exploration and icebreaking.

Break the circle with the function and market! in order to move towards new prosperity.

In the short term, dishwashers, unlike washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners, are not "must-haves" in the home; For many dishwasher companies, the home appliance circle believes that it should be soberly realized that dishwashers are still in the development stage of a round of product promotion, user education and industrial expansion in the Chinese market.

The initial needs of the circle of users have been satisfied, so that many dishwasher companies have achieved rapid growth for more than 5 years; Next, if dishwashers want to develop, they must break the circle and expand more circle users, application scenarios and business forces.

First, dishwashers from 8 years ago consumption and market detonation, to now return to normal, slowing down, is the inevitable market operation and development, not the business resources and product strategy of household appliance enterprises have problems, just a phased market adjustment and user demand changes, the future will return to a certain normal growth, penetration will also from the current nearly 4%, gradually to 10% of the proportion of breakthrough, the market space still exists.

Second, in the short and medium term, the dishwasher will be a better "high-end, high-quality" living standard for Chinese kitchens, but it is not the "must-have" of most Chinese family kitchens, and it is not just needed but the "choice" of users such as petty bourgeoisie and early adopters. This also means that the market popularization and consumption cultivation of dishwashers can not be "flooded" or "detonated by land, sea and air", but should focus on the "precision delivery" of the market and users, which will test the wisdom and ability of the market management team of each dishwasher enterprise.

Third, the operating costs of dishwasher products, technology and marketing, application and so on have always been at the head of the home appliance industry. The R&D and production of products involve two high-safety fields of "water and electricity", and the risk is much higher than that of other household appliances; After the product enters the home, it involves the advance design of water and electricity pipes, and it also involves the integration with kitchen cabinets, which is more complicated. Generally, small and medium-sized enterprises do not have a mature R&D system and a perfect and high-quality after-sales service system, which cannot ensure the integrated operation of "research, production, marketing and service" in the whole process, and cannot meet the needs of users, and even cause users to "turn black".

The three camps are in the game, and the finals are still in user cognition!

Focusing on the dishwasher category, three major enterprise camps have been formed, unlike the integrated stove category, which is mostly small and medium-sized enterprises, dishwashers are dominated by "large enterprises and big brands" from the beginning of development, and the market share is relatively concentrated. First, home appliances are integrated into Midea, Haier, Hisense, Bosch Siemens, Panasonic, Gree, Galanz, etc.; Second, kitchen appliances are professional, Fotile, boss, Vantage, etc.; third, market transformers A.O. Smith, Rinnai, etc.; Of course, there are also Internet companies such as Xiaomi, as well as some specialized product OEM companies.

It can be said that the dishwasher is destined to be the "commercial exclusivity" of a few comprehensive home appliance giants and a few specialized home appliance giants. This year, the growth of dishwashers in the first-tier market has "stalled", which is essentially the impact of consumption downgrade. The reasons behind it may include the decay of the incremental market for new houses caused by real estate, the high time cost and expense of kitchen renovation and installation in the stock market, and the long-term use habits of consumers.

Our company believes that dishwasher companies should study more users and gain more insight into the differentiation and stratification of user needs instead of paying attention to the market out of control. In particular, many young people do not cook, cook less, and do not have the need to wash dishes; The elderly have long-term electricity-saving and power-saving habits, as well as a lot of free time after retirement, washing dishes has become a kind of time; As well as a large number of middle-aged people's "three meals a day" is relatively simple, there are not many dishes and chopsticks that can be used in the dishwasher, and the husband and wife partner "one person cooks and one person washes dishes" The family ecological balance does not need a dishwasher.

From the point of view of commercial origin, dishwashers have not become the fulcrum of large-scale operation of many enterprises over the years, nor are they the starting point for the market operation of many home appliance enterprises. Similarly, in Chinese homes, dishwashers are not standard and necessary in the kitchen. Therefore, the return of dishwashers to the market normalcy will not be a short-term adjustment and return, but a medium-term repositioning and re-creation, which requires more large enterprises and powerful enterprises to truly fully intervene in the dishwasher market, and truly promote the establishment and improvement of a generation of Chinese families and household users for dishwashers, in order to fundamentally solve the sustainability problem of future development.

In the future, the market operation and expansion focus of dishwasher enterprises should be from paying attention to the ups and downs of the market to gaining insight into the needs and uses of users. To solve the value and positioning of the dishwasher in the family kitchen, it is necessary to avoid the dishwasher from becoming an ornament and decoration after entering the family, and truly become a witness and promoter of the quality life of many families!