Domestic "heating artifacts" became popular in Europe, and Chinese heaters exported "explosive orders"... This winter, in Greece, Germany and other European countries, more and more people choose electric blankets and other economical heating methods compared to traditional heating methods such as fireplaces. heating equipment.

"Electric blankets have low energy consumption and low electricity bills," said a European consumer in an interview.

　　Zhejiang has Yiwu, which has a keen sense of smell in the foreign trade market, and Cixi, one of the largest export cities of small household appliances in China.

What is the actual situation of this wave of "warm economy", follow the reporter into Zhejiang to find out.

　　European orders are growing rapidly

　　Yiwu, known as the "World Supermarket", can be said to be the "barometer" of China's foreign trade. Yiwu merchants were the first to know the urgent demand for heaters in Europe this year.

　　Walking into the daily necessities section of Yiwu International Trade City, you can find electric heaters, fan heaters and other heating equipment with novel styles and various categories, and the prices range from more than a hundred yuan to thousands of yuan.

　　Jin Juxian is a merchant in Yiwu International Trade City. He runs a shop of about 10 square meters. The shelves are filled with various small appliances such as electric fans, heaters, and electric mosquito swatters.

Among the main heaters, a small white heater is very popular.

The function of the heater is very simple, two rotary switches, one is used to adjust the temperature, and the other is used for timing.

"This type of heater sold tens of thousands of units this year, and more than 10,000 units were sold in September alone, which is twice that of the same period in 2021. Most of the increase came from Europe." Jin Juxian said.

　　"Chinese heaters are of good quality and cheap, and overseas customers like them very much." Jin Juxian told reporters that she has opened a store in Yiwu for more than 20 years, but she did not expect that heaters, which were mainly exported to Southeast Asia and the Middle East in previous years, would be so popular in Europe this year, and all It is the order that the customer takes the initiative to come to the door.

Due to the energy shortage in Europe, our own low-power heaters are not expensive and are very popular.

　　This time the effect of the heater selling well in Europe lasted for a long time.

"Because the transportation of heaters takes time, there are basically no export orders for heaters until September at the latest in previous years." Jin Juxian said that this year, in addition to the increase in product sales, the sales period has also been significantly extended, and orders have been queued until winter.

　　Cixi, Zhejiang is known as the "Home Appliance Capital" and gathers many factories of electric heating products.

The products produced by more than 100 local heater companies account for nearly 1/3 of the country's exports.

Walking into Zhejiang Jiuyou Electric Technology Co., Ltd. located in Cixi, installation, stamping, assembly, inspection, labeling, packing... In the workshop, the workers are busy in an orderly manner. After more than 20 steps, a heater walks away. off the production line.

　　"I've been very busy recently!" Chairman Cen Daiyu smiled from ear to ear, "In order to complete the increased foreign trade heater orders this year as soon as possible, we stopped the fan production line and increased the number of heaters and electric heaters for heating. device production.”

　　"At the busiest time, the daily shipment volume can reach 150,000 units. The other party hopes to receive the goods quickly. When communicating, they emphasize that they should not ship by sea, but by air." Xu Songlie, general manager of Cixi Fuyun Electric Co., Ltd. The scene is still fresh in my memory.

Not only that, but this year there has been a large number of replenishment orders from customers, and the order volume of some customers is three times that of last year.

The company also added many new customers this year, and the new customer orders exceeded 20 million yuan.

　　According to statistics from Ningbo Customs, in the first three quarters of this year, Cixi's heater exports were 4.062 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.6%, of which exports to the EU were 1.867 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 34.8%.

　　Innovation helps products go overseas

　　When there is a huge demand for heaters in European countries, why are Chinese companies keen to seize business opportunities and fill the gap in the market?

This is inseparable from Chinese companies' insight into market demand and active research and development of new products.

According to Mario, a foreign businessman working in Yiwu, Chinese manufacturing businessmen and entrepreneurs have a keen sense of smell and quick response.

"They act very efficiently, and they can quickly develop this product if there is a market prospect." Mario said.

　　Jin Juxian also has a production plant in Yuyao, Ningbo. In order to complete new orders, she also rearranged the production line deliberately to produce heaters.

Looking at the rising demand for orders, she and her husband worked together to launch new heaters with simpler appearance and more European aesthetics according to the preferences of European customers, which were well received by European customers.

　　Cen Daiyu has a lot of experience in product innovation.

In the company's warehouse, Cen Daiyu picked up a new product developed this year - a small white cylindrical foldable heater.

"It is not only convenient but also low in power. We have improved the casing and performance to address possible safety issues such as high temperature burns, so it can be used in baby rooms with confidence." Cen Daiyu told reporters that for Europeans who pay attention to quality of life , this product has become a hit this year.

　　Affected by the epidemic in recent years, in order to increase the company's ability to resist risks, Cen Daiyu started to start domestic sales from the original export, and the business was handed over to his son Cen Yipin.

　　"The 'cake' of domestic home appliance sales has a large market share, but it is much more difficult than expected to get out of the circle." Cen Yipin said.

Seeing that everyone started to bring goods online, I also started live broadcasting on the e-commerce platform.

A lot of money was spent on drainage, but it was always "many people watched, but few sold".

　　"Now the domestic method of winning the market through price wars is no longer feasible. If we want to be recognized by consumers, we must rely on innovation and create differentiated products." Cen Yipin said.

Concentrated, Cen Yipin thought about the customer base and products, and accurately positioned the needs of young people who pursue quality life.

Gradually, the sales data of the live broadcast room has improved.

In particular, the best-selling spray circulation fan this summer has a simple design, good cooling effect, and is very quiet to use. It can also help humidify the room. Although the unit price of about 400 yuan is not low in the field of household fans, monthly Sales exceeded 10,000 orders.

　　"In foreign markets, if you want to get a higher premium for your products, innovation is also inseparable. Only by constantly launching new products that can solve customers' pain points can a company last forever." Cen Daiyu said.

　　Brand building never stops

　　Although Cen Daiyu hasn't gone abroad to participate in trade fairs for several years, but this year he reaped an unexpected joy.

"The product has good performance and is innovative. Many new European customers who purchased heaters together for the first time are now ordering our fans." Cen Daiyu said with a cheerful face. Many new customers decided to establish Long-term relationship.

　　Cixi City is one of the four major home appliance producing areas in China. It has more than 20 sub-sectors such as air conditioners, refrigerators, washing machines, and electric fans. There are more than 2,000 manufacturers of various types of home appliances.

"In the past years, Cixi often exported products with explosive models. For example, last year, Cixi exported air fryers worth more than 6.4 billion yuan." Hu Ze, chief of the Technical Transformation and Progress Section of Cixi Economic and Information Bureau, told reporters, "However, Cixi's home appliance companies are large. Some still belong to small and medium-sized enterprises, there are not many well-known brands, and there are still problems such as unreasonable industrial structure and low-end target market."

　　How did domestic electrical appliances such as heaters go from "net red" to "long red"?

"In the long run, enterprises need to continue to make efforts to build their own brands and continuously increase their overseas market share." Sun Haiyao, director of the Research Office of the Strategic Research Center of CCID Research Institute, said that the next step is to enhance regional brand recognition and consolidate the user base. An important path for Chinese home appliance companies to go global.

　　"Although the order doubled this year, considering that the company has not yet established a complete after-sales service system in Europe, we still have some control over orders." Liu Liping, general manager of the overseas marketing center of Zhejiang Zhongguang Electric Group, introduced, The company does not pursue a temporary increase in product sales, but hopes to speed up the construction of overseas networks, and deploy sales centers, after-sales service centers, overseas warehouses, etc. in Europe to create brand effects.

　　Thanks to a sufficient and complete industrial supporting system, Cixi has formed a competitive industrial chain in electric heating products such as electric irons, air fryers, and electric heaters.

According to some entrepreneurs, the production of a heater in Cixi can be "sourced locally", whether it is a switch or a radiator, you can find local sources of supply.

　　In order to speed up the development of the pillar industry clusters of smart home appliances, Cixi issued the "Action Plan for Building a Global Small Household Appliances Innovation Center in Cixi City" this year, leading the home appliance industry to develop in the direction of intelligent greening, creative fashion, and product branding, driven by innovation. .

"We will create an effective public service platform for innovative design, research and development, and testing, strengthen brand building, and build a good ecology that allows good companies with innovative competitiveness to stand out." Hu Ze said.

　　Dou Hao Zhang Liwei