Many companies and regions have increased their bicycle exports month by month since this year, and some even have "burst orders"——
"Accelerate gear" on the bicycle exit
"Bicycle riding fever reappears" "China-made bicycles are in short supply"... Recently, bicycles have become a popular product in epidemic prevention and control in many countries. Under the situation that overseas demand has clearly rebounded, as a major exporter of bicycles, China's product exports are also hotly discussed.
How has the export situation of the bicycle industry been like this year? What are the advantages of "China brand" bicycles? What is the future development trend of the industry?
Demand is climbing, sales are booming
——Since the second quarter of this year, the bicycle industry has fully resumed work and production, the export situation has recovered, and the industry has shown a momentum of rapid recovery
"Our electric bicycles are very popular in Europe and the United States, and they are now in short supply. Demand has been rising in recent months. Basically, as long as they are in stock, they can be sold." He Chong is the head of operations of Foshan Jinmai Trading Co., Ltd. The company has been engaged in bicycle foreign trade since 2018. During this period of operation, they have truly experienced the soaring overseas demand.
He Chong introduced that the company's existing overseas partners have also opened a number of online sales services such as AliExpress and Amazon. During this period, the average sales per online platform ranged from 300 to 600 vehicles, doubling the previous year. Since May, the upward momentum is even more obvious. "As far as I know, the entire industry is also in this situation. Everyone is rushing to purchase accessories and preparing for order scheduling." He Chong said.
Huizhou Sava Bicycle Co., Ltd. also witnessed the rapid growth of overseas orders. "As far as online business is concerned, the sales increase has been very obvious since March. Take Amazon America as an example. In June last year, sales were about 100,000 U.S. dollars and this year it was more than 180,000 U.S. dollars. In Europe, from March to June, The sales of each site exceeded 100% in previous years," said Guo Zhenhe, the company's e-commerce leader.
According to data from AliExpress, Alibaba's cross-border e-commerce platform, the sales of bicycles and electric cycling products in May increased significantly year-on-year, increasing several or even dozens of times in many European countries. Many bicycle and electric car manufacturers reported that since March, sales have increased by 30% to 40% month-on-month, and some orders have been scheduled for one month.
Not only is it cross-border e-commerce, but exports in some regions have also improved significantly. According to the statistics of Tianjin Customs, since February this year, the export volume of bicycles in Tianjin has increased at an average rate of 500,000 units per month. In May, exports reached 1.911 million units, a year-on-year increase of 35.97%. Erlian Customs announced that in the first half of the year, Erlianhot Port, the most mainland port of China and Mongolia, exported 47,000 bicycles, an increase of 2.3 times year-on-year, and a value of 9.592 million yuan, an increase of 2.5 times.
"Since the second quarter of this year, the bicycle industry has fully resumed work and production, the export situation has recovered, and the industry has shown a rapid recovery momentum." The industry operation data released by the China Bicycle Association shows that from January to June, the export of bicycles was 23.328 million, a year-on-year decrease. 9.9%, a decrease of 8 percentage points from January to May. In June, the export of bicycles was 5.592 million, a year-on-year increase of 30.5%, and both May and June maintained double-digit growth from the previous month.
Outstanding advantages of large production and sales countries
——Obvious price advantages, a complete industrial chain, upstream and downstream supporting facilities, and the expansion of online and offline channels are helping bicycles to "go to sea"
Why has overseas bicycle demand rebounded sharply recently?
On the one hand, it is closely related to epidemic prevention and control. According to media reports, in Britain, France, Italy and other countries, the government encourages alternative modes of travel such as bicycles, and provides a certain amount of bicycle purchase or transportation subsidies. According to the person in charge of Erlian Customs, under the influence of the epidemic, public transportation is restricted and Mongolia's demand for bicycles is rapidly increasing, which has doubled the export of bicycles at Erlianhot Port.
On the other hand, the advantage of China's bicycle production and sales country has steadily supported demand. The China Bicycle Industry Trade Competitiveness Index released by the China Light Industry Information Center shows that since 2015, the bicycle industry trade competitiveness index has continued to maintain a high level with a slight increase. In 2019, the index rose to 0.88, indicating that the industry’s international trade competitiveness has continued to increase.
Where is the competitive advantage of "China brand" bicycles?
The industrial base is huge. According to data from the China Bicycle Association, in 2019, the output of bicycles was 65.002 million and the output of electric bicycles was 36.09 million. At the 2019 China Bicycle Industry Conference, Liu Suwen, chairman of the China Bicycle Association, introduced that China’s bicycles, electric bicycles and electric bicycles have been exported to more than 1 billion units, entering more than 160 countries and regions around the world. China’s bicycle exports were earlier and the industry had a higher degree of export. It won the title of "Bike Kingdom" in the 1980s and 1990s.
The cost-effective advantage is outstanding. Huizhou Sava Bicycle Co., Ltd. has been its own bicycle brand for nearly 20 years, and has been focusing on relatively high-end carbon fiber frame bicycles, all of which are priced at more than US$1,000. "With the same configuration and parameters, the price of overseas products can be 50% higher or even doubled." Guo Zhenhe said.
He Chong also introduced that the price of his company's products is between 1100 and 1300 euros for models with the same functions and configurations, but the price of local products in Europe is 500 to 700 euros higher. "The company's electric vehicles focus on mid-to-high-end products. With the help of a complete domestic industrial chain, complete upstream and downstream supporting facilities, and industrial cluster advantages, the overall price of the product is better, and it is a good choice for overseas customers."
Sales channels continue to expand. Compared with the overall level of the industry, the sales of cross-border e-commerce platforms have seen a more obvious rebound in recent days. This is inseparable from the expansion of online sales in recent years. For example, Jinmai Trading Company has set up overseas warehouses in many places in Europe, and orders placed by overseas users usually arrive within 5-7 days or even less. At the same time, the after-sales service points set up in France, Italy, Belgium and other countries also relieve customers from more worries. Guo Zhenhe mentioned that in order to further improve its services, the company takes user comments seriously, and responds 100% to requests once it involves consumer protection-related content. "Doing the best possible after-sales work is also accumulating credibility for our businessmen." He said.
Industry outlet is still high-quality development
——In the future, consumption of mid-to-high-end bicycles focusing on fitness and sports is expected to accelerate the recovery
Can the boom in exports continue?
In the short term, many companies express confidence. Recently, Jinmai Trading Company's production plant has been expanded several times, and the amount of labor is still increasing. When it comes to the judgment of future sales, He Chong believes that we must seize the moment to build the brand on the e-commerce platform. As more and more overseas consumers understand and trust the product, the situation will definitely be better. "Even if the epidemic is over, orders will continue to increase." He Chong said.
Guo Zhenhe believes that after the epidemic, the industry is still expected to develop steadily. "More and more people will participate in cycling, and the number of enthusiasts will continue to increase. We are still optimistic about the industry." In fact, the epidemic has strengthened the company's insistence on high-end routes, focusing on racing, There is still broad room for growth in multifunctional and high-performance models such as fitness.
The China Bicycle Association also pointed out that economic indicators such as revenue, profit, and exports in the first half of the year performed well, and the industry's economic operation gradually got rid of the impact of the domestic epidemic and recovered quickly. However, the current international epidemic prevention and control is becoming more difficult, and external demand potential and uncertainty are superimposed on each other. Industry exports should also maintain a cautious attitude and should not be overly optimistic.
In the long run, confidence in the development of the bicycle industry still depends on the pace of high-quality development of the industry.
A survey released by the China Bicycle Association shows that the trend of mid-to-high-end bicycles is obvious, and the added value of products is increasing, and they are continuously meeting the demand for consumption upgrades. In 2019, sales of high-end sports bikes increased by 20%, especially disc brake road bikes that were more popular among mid- to high-end consumers; mid-to-high-end products from backbone enterprises maintained a growth of about 10%. In 2019, the output of bicycles above 1,000 yuan was 8.925 million, a year-on-year increase of 5.9%. The proportion of bicycles with 1,000 yuan in total production reached 13.7%, an increase of 2.2 percentage points from the previous year.
"The SARS epidemic that year changed people's lifestyles, and the electric bicycle industry ushered in explosive growth; after this epidemic, the health awareness of the whole people has further increased, and the recovery of mid-to-high-end bicycle consumption for fitness and sports purposes will accelerate." The association pointed out. .
At the same time, key enterprises have increased their investment in centralized charging and replacement facilities, renovation of environmental protection facilities and "going out". It is understood that some can account for 2%-10% of the total annual investment. Among them, some bicycle and electric bicycle companies have set up factories in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and other places, and subsequent investment in supporting supply chains, testing and certification, and after-sales services will increase. In the future, “new infrastructure” projects for the digital transformation of the industry, such as big data centers, artificial intelligence, and industrial Internet, will be investment hotspots.
The China Bicycle Association pointed out that consumption upgrades will strive to protect the domestic market and take multiple measures to expand the international market. It is expected that the pace of high-quality development of the industry will further accelerate.
Li Jie