Bathroom hardware industry hidden business opportunities

Bathroom hardware generally refers to metal construction materials used in kitchens and bathrooms, such as faucets, showers, floor drains, towel racks, glass platforms, toilet paper holders, and baskets. In addition to taps, it is only nearly 10 years that several other products have received consumer attention.

This is a chaotic and interesting market. The supply chain has not yet stabilized. The e-commerce that has risen in the past two years has injected new uncertainties into this immature market. Under the double push of online and offline, what kind of shape will this market exhibit and what kind of business opportunities will it generate?

The policy of following real estate fluctuations There is no consensus on the size of China's sanitary hardware market. There is no authoritative data so far. According to statistics from the National Bureau of Statistics, in the total retail sales of consumer goods in 2012, construction and decoration materials consumed 197.8 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 24.6%. According to data from the China Building Decoration Association, the sanitary ware market in 2012 has exceeded 100 billion yuan, and it is expected to exceed 180 billion yuan by 2015. According to the general calculation method, the proportion of sanitary hardware in the sanitary ware market is about 20% to 30%. Therefore, we estimate that the current market share of sanitary hardware is between 20 billion and 30 billion yuan, and it will exceed 10% per year. Speed ​​growth.

Figure 1 shows the year-on-year growth rate of new construction and decoration materials and housing starts since September 2011. The figure shows that throughout 2012, due to the impact of real estate control policies, the area of ​​new housing starts shrunk (the growth rate was negative), and the decrease in newly-started area led to weak consumption of construction and decorating materials (decrease in growth rate). The sanitary ware industry has had a negative impact, and the decline in the output of ceramic products exceeding 10% confirms this effect. We believe that the newly started housing area is the leading indicator for the consumption of bathroom hardware. From the figure, the area of ​​new construction started in 2013 has grown, which will be the driving force behind the continued growth of the bathroom hardware industry.

The low-end market structure is uncertain At present, the global division of labor in the hardware and sanitary industry has been established, branding companies conduct global marketing and brand management, and manufacturing service providers provide product development and design, manufacturing and assembly logistics. A considerable number of domestic companies are engaged in OEM or ODM. The production and sales of sanitary wares in China account for about 30% of the world's total, and bathroom accessories account for 35%. However, with the further deepening of the financial crisis, the sluggish export led most companies to move to the mainland market, which exacerbated competition in the domestic market.

In China, world famous brands such as Moen, Kohler, American Standard, TOTO, and GROHE occupy the high-end market (premium hotels, apartments, villas, etc.); domestic Wrigley, Eagle, Jiumu, etc. Zhongyu and other 50 to 100 large-scale enterprises occupy the mid-range market. These enterprises are mostly distributed in Guangdong, Chongqing, and Tangshan; more than 3,000 enterprises are fighting in the low-end market. As the current industry entry barrier is low, product homogeneity is severe, competition is widespread, price wars are fierce, and industry concentration is low. We therefore believe that the pattern of domestic mid-range and low-end markets has not yet taken shape.

The supply chain of sanitary hardware companies At present, the relationship between domestic sanitary hardware companies and their upstream and downstream is more of a competitive relationship. The supplier mainly gains benefits by increasing the price of input factors and reducing the quality of unit value. For production companies, raw material costs account for a high proportion of total costs, so the potential bargaining power of raw material companies is very strong. What is even more unfortunate is that due to the relationship of the national economic system, raw material companies are generally state-owned large-scale metallurgical groups. Their market position is stable and there are many buyers. Therefore, when the prices of raw materials such as aluminum and copper rose in recent years, most of the costs were passed on to Manufacturers.

Can the cost of a manufacturing company be passed on to consumers through channels? The answer is hard. Why? Because of fierce price competition. The process gap between the domestic mid-market brands and the low-end market manufacturers is narrowing, so many small and medium enterprises are struggling to enter the mid-range market, and price competition is their most direct way, although domestic first-line brands are working hard. Closer to the high-end market, but due to the low quality of design and R&D, and inadequate patent protection, a large number of competitors imitate and plagiarize the domestic first-line brands also fell into the quagmire of price war. Terminal prices cannot be increased, raw material prices have risen, and the profits of sanitary ware manufacturers have been reduced.

Online, the most common terminal form of hardware and sanitary products is the building materials market, that is, retailers authorized by brand dealers face consumers directly by entering the building materials market. As of December 2012, the number of the national building materials market has exceeded 10,000, not only the product display and sales methods are the same, and there are usually many shops selling the same brand of goods in one market. The degree of market competition and the level of confusion can be seen in the market. . In recent years, Red Star Meikailong, Home Furnishings and other hypermarket channels have begun to introduce bathroom hardware products, relying on a strong sales network, their price-cutting ability on brand owners can not be ignored.

However, it is worth mentioning that the development of e-commerce channels is bringing changes to the supply chain of sanitary hardware companies. Because the channels are more flat, some of the saved channel costs benefit consumers, and the other part is backed by producers. Pressure eased. However, the proportion of online channels in sales of the entire industry is still relatively small, and the price competition on the line is also very fierce. Coupled with high delivery costs and promotion costs, the channel dividends will soon begin to gradually disappear.

The consumption characteristics of the bathroom hardware market are numerous but scattered, but the frequency of purchase is small but lack of professional recognition. The long buying cycle is the consumer characteristics of the entire bathroom hardware industry.

The periodicity of real estate is 5-8 years, and the buying cycle of hardware and sanitary products is also the same. Consumers basically wait until the use value of the product is consumed before purchasing it again.

At present, sanitary hardware products on the market are mainly copper galvanized products, and their styles are simple and generous; the space aluminum pendants are sought after by young groups such as 80s and 90s; villas and hotels prefer heavy antique styles.

As the bathroom hardware market is not yet mature, a considerable number of consumers do not know how to purchase high-quality products. Their purchase decisions often have randomness, and they often just purchase some commonly used products, such as toilet paper holders and towel bars. When it is found that a product is missing, go buy it. Therefore, the purchase of small quantities, batches and more.

The investment in advertising by domestic and foreign brands has gradually spawned the brand awareness of bathroom hardware consumers, but due to the lack of professional knowledge, price knowledge and market knowledge, it is vulnerable to advertising, product packaging, designer recommendations, etc. Especially for some of the more technical, more complex operations, such as intelligent temperature control showers, smart toilets.

The future trend of the bathroom hardware market There are views that with the rigid rise in costs, the development of the "dividend" disappeared, the high-speed growth of the bathroom industry has passed. However, we believe that the bathroom hardware industry as a branch of the bathroom industry, the market structure has not yet formed, e-commerce, hypermarkets and other emerging channels are emerging, the growth space is still huge.

From the perspective of all parties, we believe that the future of the sanitary hardware market will have the following trends:

Trend One: Personalized Consumption Creates Subdivision Markets In the future, consumers will not only purchase “bath products” but also individual, quality and tasteful sanitary ware cultures that are injecting traditional values. The emergence of a large number of "imitation European" products in the market is an example. However, with further in-depth personalization, there will be fewer and fewer consumers with “imitation Europe” or “imitation-like” style coverage, and other market segments will gradually form, such as the sleek and simple “IKEA” style is being affected by young people. People's favorite. The marketing environment of sanitary hardware has shifted from the core of products to the core of consumers. Meeting the ever-changing consumer demands will be a huge challenge for manufacturers.

Trend 2: Diversification of the Supply Chain The traditional sanitary hardware supply chain is such that the production enterprises and their products are the center, and the consumers are the end points. The products are distributed through the traditional distribution channels of dealers (agents) to promote products. The purpose is to realize the withdrawal of funds. As the seller's market shifts to the buyer's market, the focus of the supply chain is shifting downstream, and consumers are becoming more and more important. In the process of the transition from "pushing" to "pulling" in the supply chain, some companies choose vertical integration, some choose to sink, others choose to form strategic alliances between upstream and downstream, and some choose Wahaha. With regard to joint sales, some choose e-commerce, which form will stand out yet remains to be seen.

Trend 3: kitchen and bathroom integration Although the kitchen and bathroom functions vary greatly, from the hardware product point of view, almost the same, both use faucets, pendants, floor drains, etc., kitchen and bathroom integration has become the choice of most people This brings the integration of sanitary hardware products procurement, production companies will also strive to provide a full set of home improvement hardware products.

Trend 4: Accelerate the development of science and technology intelligent sanitary ware The application of science and technology in sanitary hardware products is mainly reflected in materials science (alloy materials, ceramic valve cores, nanotechnology), induction systems (temperature control chips, thermal devices), and artistic design (aesthetics, Ergonomics, fluid mechanics).