Not long ago, the State Council issued the Action Plan for Promoting Large-scale Equipment Renewal and Consumer Goods Trade-in (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), proposing key tasks such as carrying out trade-in of automobiles and household appliances and promoting trade-in of home-improvement consumer goods. According to the National Development and Reform Commission, this measure can not only promote technological upgrading of enterprises, improve production efficiency, but also guide residents to upgrade their consumption, realize energy saving and carbon reduction, and reduce potential safety hazards.
To implement a new round of trade-in of consumer goods, major manufacturers and platform enterprises have responded to this trillion-dollar huge market and launched promotional subsidies. What is the feedback from this wave of "more fashionable" markets? Where is the "new" in this round of trade-in? How can production and marketing enterprises and consumers seize the opportunity to achieve a win-win situation of high-quality development and high-quality life?
The home appliance market is moving from "is there" to "is it good"
On March 20th, in the store of Xinjiekou store in Suning.cn, Gao Rongping, a promoter, introduced in detail to Uncle Sun who was interested in buying air conditioners: "The first-class energy efficiency ratio of this Hisense bright air conditioner is as high as 5.28, which is fresh and silent, with a thickness of only 13.4 cm. The paint panel will not turn yellow and discolor after being used for a long time." Gao Rongping said that this air conditioner is currently heavily discounted. She calculated an account. "The market price of air conditioners is 5,099 yuan, which will go straight to 800 yuan during the event. The replacement of old machines at home can subsidize 600 yuan at the highest level, and the actual payment may be as low as 3,699 yuan."
"At present, upgraded products with large size, large capacity and multifunction are particularly popular. Since the launch of the trade-in activity, the sales growth rate of new energy-efficient air conditioners, large-capacity refrigerators and large-screen color TVs over 80 inches has exceeded 120%; Dishwasher sales increased by 103% year-on-year, and dryer sales doubled. " Wang Yisheng, the general manager of Suning.cn Xinjiekou Store, said that the 10 billion-yuan subsidy for trade-in will provide users with a large subsidy of up to 30%, which can be participated online and offline, and also provide services such as free door-to-door, disassembly and handling.
In Wuxi, the ongoing "Revitalization of Quality Life" activity of the 2024 Taihu Shopping Festival has launched a number of preferential policies to boost the release of large-scale consumer demand for household appliances. The maximum subsidy for replacing household appliances is 15%, and the maximum subsidy for a single household is 4,500 yuan. Consumers who purchase new green and energy-saving home appliances and new smart home appliances (the unit price is more than 500 yuan) in the event merchants can use China Unionpay Quick Pass APP payment code to reduce the turnover by 10%, and the maximum single subsidy is 1000 yuan. If the household appliances are trade-in, and the paid-in amount of each piece reaches 4,000 yuan, 6,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan, Wuxi Municipal Bureau of Commerce will give consumers 200 yuan, 300 yuan and 500 yuan extra incentives for trade-in.
The promotion of car companies is also in full swing. BYD launched the activity of "Old Friends Rejuvenating the New Season". During the activity, car owners can get a replacement subsidy of up to 8,000 yuan when they replace BYD’s new energy vehicles in the store, and a new car gift package worth 3,888 yuan. Dongfeng Motor’s trade-in action covers more than 50 models, and the replacement subsidy is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan; FAW-Volkswagen introduced the old car replacement down payment policy …
"In fact," trade-in "is nothing new. As early as 2009, the state launched a combination of" home appliances going to the countryside "and" trade-in ",and enterprises cooperated with the government to implement subsidy policies to recycle and sell services, initially forming an operation mode of trade-in; Since 2016, home appliance sales companies have joined hands with manufacturers to organize their own trade-in activities, subsidize consumers, and develop their own trade-in sales system. " Qian Zhengming, secretary of the Party branch of the Provincial Household Electrical Appliances Association, said.
With the comprehensive popularization of durable consumer goods in China, the demand for upgrading the stock of consumer goods is constantly increasing, and the consumer market is changing from "whether there is" to "whether it is good". According to reports, the home appliance market in Jiangsu Province has accounted for about 10% of the national market over the years, among which it is estimated that there are more than 30 million home appliances in extended service, which has great demand and potential for upgrading. Qian Zhengming believes that the trade-in action will not only enable consumers to enjoy more convenient services and more favorable prices, but also promote the high-end, intelligent and green development of the manufacturing industry. For the society, it will also help to eliminate old household appliances and eliminate security risks.
Let "unwilling to change" and "afraid to change" become "comfortable to change"
I don’t know who to look for to disassemble the toilet, and I want to buy a dishwasher, but there is no reserved position in the kitchen, and the discarded old mattress waste station is not needed … As the real estate industry enters the era of stock, the renovation of old houses has gradually become the main force in the home industry. However, as a kind of low-frequency consumer goods, consumers will not only think twice when buying furniture, but also the disposal of waste furniture often makes people feel quite tricky.
"The biggest problem in this industry is the long consumption decision-making cycle and low conversion efficiency." Bai Yang, the head of Shilin Home Furnishing Division, said that unlike home appliances, automobiles and other industries, the replacement of furniture faces the problems of "difficult handling, difficult handling and low added value of recycling", which makes it difficult for customers to make choices and make decisions.
How to shorten the consumer decision-making cycle? "In addition to providing sufficient discounts in shopping malls, providing convenience services in residential quarters has become an important means to capture service information and increase user stickiness. For example, free recycling of used mattresses, provision of toilet disassembly services, design and local reform of cabinets and balconies … The core is to let consumers see how the service is done and feel the changes in consumption concepts, thus solving the pain points that customers are afraid to change, unwilling to change, and do not know how to change. " Bai Yang said that by integrating merchants to build solutions, the company has now settled in 25 communities and served nearly 1,000 families.
From 2021 to 2023, about 220,000 pieces of household appliances were recycled in Suning.cn, and a total of 19.9 million yuan of old machine residual value subsidies and new machine subsidies were distributed. The proportion of old-for-new appliances was about 3.1%, and there was still much room. In the same period, JD.COM Wuxing recycled 8573 old household appliances, showing a trend of small total and high growth rate. According to statistics, from 2021 to 2023, the household appliance recycling enterprises in Nanjing recycled 3.164 million sets of "four machines and one brain" (TV sets, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners and microcomputers).
"At present, the trade-in of home appliances is independently carried out by manufacturers, and the government’s blessing is needed in terms of subsidies and credibility. At the same time, it is necessary to increase publicity, change consumers’ awareness of "home appliances are not broken and not replaced", and help consumers realize the harm of home appliances that are over-aged. In addition, the original definition of trade-in commodities is less, and there are not many participating enterprises. It is necessary to expand the categories and expand the scope of trade-in participating enterprises. " Qian Zhengming suggested.
At present, the automobile consumption demand in the whole province and even the whole country has entered a period of steady development, and the activities of car subsidies are carried out separately in various places, which are more to attract the consumption power of cities with low policy activities and cannot drive new demand.
In this regard, Zhao Qiang, director of the Wuxi Municipal Bureau of Commerce, said that in addition to subsidizing individual consumers who scrap or transfer non-operating passenger cars under their personal names and buy new cars, they will also explore ways to promote the upgrading and expansion of the automobile aftermarket and promote the integrated development of automobile maintenance, cultural experience, professional competitions, vehicle modification and consumer finance. In addition, encourage the transformation from "brokerage" to "distribution", improve the comprehensive management and supporting service functions of the used car market, and encourage qualified enterprises to make full use of various trade promotion platforms to broaden overseas market channels.
Recycle and make good use of misplaced resources.
The "Program" requires the implementation of recycling actions. Improve the recycling network of waste products and equipment, support the circulation and trading of second-hand goods, promote remanufacturing and step-by-step utilization in an orderly manner, and promote the high-level recycling of resources.
On the disassembly assembly line of Nanjing Kaiyan Electronics Co., Ltd., an average ordinary refrigerator produces about 0.4 kg of copper, 0.8 kg of aluminum, 17 kg of iron and 7 kg of plastic after disassembly procedures. Song Guoping, the company’s administrative director, said that the company’s refrigerator line disassembly processing capacity can reach 1,000 units per day, and the annual processing capacity of "four machines and one brain" reaches 1.93 million units. "These renewable resources after resource and harmless treatment have greatly reduced the mining of copper mines and iron mines, reducing carbon emissions and turning waste into treasure."
"Scrapped motor vehicles are a collection of steel, aluminum, rubber, plastics, glass and various non-ferrous metals. If they are dismantled by themselves or by illegal and irregular enterprises, a large number of rubber, plastics and glass will be abandoned and burned, which will seriously pollute the ecological environment. In addition, illegal dismantling of scrapped motor vehicles, vehicle transactions and cross-regional transfer will pose great security risks to road traffic. " Li Zheng, general manager of Nanjing Coson Ning Environmental Protection Technology Co., Ltd. said that scrapped motor vehicles must be disposed of in accordance with the Law on the Prevention and Control of Environmental Pollution by Solid Wastes, and it is suggested that they be scrapped in the vehicle registration area and managed locally.
"At present, China is at the peak of household appliances scrapping. However, at present, enterprises are carrying out the" trade-in "activity, and most of the recycled waste household appliances, except air conditioners, have nowhere to be accepted and piled up in the open air, causing environmental pollution. Some of them flow to the second-hand market and illegal dismantling channels. Even if they enter the formal dismantling enterprises, they have gone through many links, and the expenses are high, so the enterprises lack enthusiasm for operating at a loss. In addition, the’ illegal dismantling’ of used household appliances has no environmental protection disposal facilities, and there is no actual tax payment at the recycling end and the sales end, and the operating cost is low, which directly leads to the lack of competitive advantage in the price of formal dismantling enterprises, resulting in bad money expelling good money. " Qian Zhengming said.
Sun Bo, Secretary-General of Nanjing Renewable Resources Association, said that the recycled waste materials should not just be scrapped, but must enter the formal recycling and dismantling enterprises, and then enter the remanufacturing process, so as to realize the goal of turning old materials into new ones and turning waste into treasure.
The reporter learned from the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Commerce that this year, we will speed up the cultivation of home appliance recycling and dismantling industries, standardize and rectify the circulation order of second-hand home appliances, and strictly prohibit the illegal renovation and disassembly of three-no products from entering the consumer market. Accelerate the development of "replacement+recycling" logistics system and new model, support household appliance production and sales enterprises to build reverse logistics system through distribution, installation, maintenance and other channels, or cooperate with professional recycling enterprises to recycle waste household appliances at home. Explore the formulation of local standards or industry standards for the service life and scrapping conditions of different types of household appliances, and relax the qualification control of household appliance production and sales enterprises applying for electronic and electrical products processing. At the same time, encourage capable dismantling enterprises to expand home appliance recycling business to the front end, and encourage the construction of recycling network system.
Xinhua Daily Meeting Point reporter Lin Shantian Mochi/Wen Hua Su Jie/photo
