Before, tap water could meet all the needs of people. Nowadays, with the awakening of people's water demand, people put forward different water demand for different water use scenarios. Nowadays, consumers are eager to solve the problem of comfortable and intelligent bath, healthy and intelligent scene of family drinking water and water environment. However, the reporter found that some consumers still have incorrect consumption ideas, and some consumers' personalized needs have not been met.
Water heater: comfortable and convenient, quality and safety
"Although it's a little more expensive, you'd better buy one with constant temperature." Ms. Zou, a Beijing consumer who is decorating, has recently been inspecting all kinds of water heater products. She told the China consumer daily that because she and her daughter are used to long hair, they still need to buy gas water heaters with unlimited hot water for bathing. The hand basins in the kitchens and bathrooms use electric cookware to meet the water demand“ In the past, there was only one gas-fired water heater at home, but there was still a distance between the bathroom and the kitchen, so every time I used it, I always had to put a large basin of cold water out, and the water temperature was often hot and cold when I took a bath. Now I find that there are not only thermostatic products, but also zero cold water products on the market, that is, the price is a little more expensive. " Ms. Zou said.
The reporter learned that the emergence of zero cold water heater is to solve the problem of bath discomfort. The cold water is pushed by the built-in water pump of the machine, and the machine is preheated in advance for combustion. When the return water temperature reaches the set temperature, the water pump stops running and the machine stops heating. The reporter found on the e-commerce platform that the products with constant temperature and zero cold water function are more expensive than ordinary products by one or two thousand yuan. For example, Haier's 16 liter gas water heater costs 1698 yuan for ordinary products, 2499 yuan for ordinary zero cooling water products, and 3499 yuan for constant temperature zero cooling water products with intelligent functions. However, Ms. Zou said that it is worthwhile to spend more than 3000 yuan to buy convenience and comfort.
Xu Dongsheng, vice president of China household electrical appliances industry association, pointed out at the 2021 China household water sharing forum that the improvement of living standards has made people have higher requirements for bath water, not only for abundant water output, constant temperature and zero cold water, but also for water quality friendly to skin. After the outbreak of novel coronavirus pneumonia, people have more requirements for the health of bathing. And to meet the more refined requirements of consumers has become the fulcrum for enterprises to leverage the market. The reporter learned that in recent years, with the application of intelligent technology in water heater products, more and more innovative products have been launched, which can not only meet the bath requirements of consumers, but also make the control of products more convenient for consumers, and make the service of products more convenient. For example, in the past, to realize the zero cooling water function, consumers need to operate on the machine in advance, but now they only need to operate on the mobile phone. At the same time, with the popularity of innovative products in the market, their prices are gradually falling. For example, the initial price of constant temperature zero cold water products is more than 5000 yuan, and now it has dropped to 2000 yuan or 3000 yuan, which is accepted by more and more consumers.
However, industry experts pointed out that while products are widely used, it is one thing for prices to go down, and it is another thing for prices to go beyond common sense“ We have seen some ultra-low price products in some online and offline markets, such as the electric water heater with a price of only two or three hundred yuan, or the gas water heater with a price of more than 400 yuan. At present, the material is so expensive, which is really abnormal. " Said Yin Zhong, product director of Midea smart bathroom. Zhang Yan, Minister of the Ministry of foreign affairs, said that the core component of the gas water heater, the heat exchanger, is made of copper. The cost of this component alone is more than a few hundred yuan. A gas water heater with an overall price of only a few hundred yuan must be problematic.
According to Xu Dongsheng, in 2017 and 2020, China Household Appliance Association commissioned China Household Appliance Research Institute to conduct two quality spot checks on low-cost products on e-commerce platforms. In 2017, 20 products were selected, and in 2020, 25 products were selected, and the results were not optimistic. For example, in the random inspection in 2020, only one product is qualified, 10 products have safety and quality problems, and the rest products have the problem of energy efficiency virtual standard or volume virtual standard. The virtual standard degree of some volume is even as high as 40%, that is to say, the nominal 40 liter water heater is only 24 liter.
Water purifier: personalized and scene demand highlights
According to the third party's total data, in the first quarter of 2021, the retail volume of the water purification industry was 4.18 billion yuan, up 41.6% year on year, and the market growth was significant. However, in the first quarter of 2019, the retail volume will drop by 16.7%, indicating that the market has not yet returned to the normal level“ At present, the biggest weakness of the water purification industry lies in the lack of awareness of consumers, who have not included water purifiers in the household purchase list as just needed products. " Li Junwei, the global CMO of Philips water health, pointed out that at present, the price of water purifiers is similar to that of refrigerators, air conditioners and color TVs, but the market scale of these just needed products in China is more than 100 billion, while the water purifiers are only 200 billion and 30 billion. Li Junwei believes that some low-end and inferior water purification products in the current market have damaged consumers' perception of water purification products, thus affecting the effective expansion of the market scale of the water purification industry.
However, according to the data of the national household appliance industry information center, in 2020, the sales of a number of high-end household appliances in household water will increase instead of decreasing, and in the offline market, the sales of middle and high-end household appliances such as water purifiers of more than 5000 yuan will increase significantly. According to the data of Jingdong household appliances, compared with the same period last year, the sales of medium and high-end water heaters in 2021 increased by more than 100% year on year“ The problem of water for bathing is easier to solve, but the problem of water for eating is more troublesome. " Beijing consumers, who are preparing for decoration, said to the lady that there will be a variety of demands for the same solution to the water consumption at the entrance. For example, although the water used to wash vegetables is not directly drinkable, it is also hoped that it can be clean. If it is directly washed with purified drinking water, it will be too wasteful. Another example is direct drinking water. It's better to make tea with pure water. But it's said that drinking pure water for a long time is not good for your health. You should drink water containing certain minerals at ordinary times“ I've been struggling with these issues for a long time. " To the lady.
Cai Ying, an industry expert of China Academy of macroeconomics, said that from the perspective of national, especially local policies, more and more attention will be paid to the safety and quality of drinking water, and the investment will be larger and larger, so the future drinking water market will be unlimited“ Consumers have put forward many requirements for water purification products. How to let consumers know the change of water quality after using water purification products is also the potential demand of consumers. " Cai Ying said.
The reporter learned that the water purification industry is constantly upgrading its products in accordance with various subdivided requirements of consumers for drinking water. Liu Daren, assistant president of Ovi cloud, pointed out that at present, the technological development of aquatic products is mainly reflected in three aspects: first, further technical iteration and improvement on the basic functions of water purifiers, and continuous tackling of technical problems such as flow, waste water ratio, first glass of water, noise, intelligence, etc; The second is to meet the personalized drinking water demand. In order to meet the differentiated water purification requirements of different groups of people, there are beverage purifiers integrating purification and heating, water purifiers certified by maternal and infant level products, and water purification products that can independently adjust the degree of purification. In addition, consumers' demands for mineral water, soda water, coffee and various water temperatures are also met; Finally, in the tide of scene, water purification enterprises are constantly exploring the whole scene intelligent water use scheme, which is combined with home decoration customization, and linked with household appliances such as water heaters, to give families more wisdom.
The reporter also learned that through the application of intelligent sensors, people's demand for water quality change can be met at any time“ The TDS value indicates how many milligrams of dissolved solids are dissolved in 1 liter of water. The higher the TDS value, the more dissolved substances in the water. " Ang Yongcheng, director of water products for Midea, said that although this value does not fully represent the quality of water quality, the TDS value has dropped to a certain value, indicating that the impurity content in water has been greatly reduced. This is an auxiliary method used to judge the water quality in the water purification industry at present. At present, TDS value can not only be measured by sensors, but also be viewed on mobile phones“ With the progress of intelligence and sensor technology, the measurement and characterization technology of TOC (total organic carbon, total organic matter in water expressed by carbon content) and VOC (volatile organic compounds) and other impurities has entered a mature stage. It is estimated that multi-dimensional water quality sensing will be realized in water purification products from the second half of this year to next year, At that time, you can really see the quality of the water with your eyes. " He said.
