The World Health Organization has concluded indoor and outdoor pollution accounted for 6,5 million deaths in 2018, with 30% of those being a case for China. Deadly particles have pushed the growth of one particular segment of China’s Home Appliance Market: Air Purifier. Indeed, indoor pollution is as serious a problem as outdoor pollution is. It is a common misconception that staying inside is safer as indoor pollution is claimed to cause 60% of the 6.5 million deaths mentioned before. This is due to the fact that indoor air barely circulates and gradually becomes a highly concentrated detrimental mass.
People in China spend 90% of their time indoors.
Chinese people are largely aware of the threats posed on their health by the air they breathe in once they are home or in their offices. In addition to that, local businesses in hospitality are now also focused on their air quality as it becomes one of the key factors in surpassing the competitors. There are 7.5 million air purifiers in China, with a market size worth 16,5 billion renminbi.
Only 10% of Chinese families have an air purifier at home which creates 90 potential buyers out of 100. It is predicted that the market will grow at the rate of 14% per year by 2023.
Why should you try the Chinese market to sell your purifier?
The demand for air purifiers is not going to decline. The reasons are as follows:
- Air pollution issues.
- Healthy lifestyle trends.
- Purchasing power.
Air pollution
There are a few things strongly associated with China nowadays, and air pollution is one of them. What we know about this issue is that:
- It is mostly a product of China’s fast economic growth and huge population.
- It is difficult to eliminate as it has been present for hundreds of years and even entrenched deeply throughout the last decades.
- It is a result of China being a huge industrial power as most of the countries place their production in China but not in their own country.
- It is an outcome of Chinese people striving for higher life standards.
- Chinese government is implementing measures to eliminate the problem.
They would pay 5.46 USD to remove one microgram per cubic meter of pollution out of the air.
Air pollution at moderate rates is omnipresent and it is something most people can barely feel. However, in China pollution has got on a level where it can be seen. Accelerated development of transportation, production forces, power plants, central heating in the northern part of the country, etc all have contributed to the air pollution index surpassing a highly hazardous mark of 500.
Healthy lifestyle
China has picked up a worldwide trend of being a health-oriented society. The post-1995 generation is focused on ensuring a healthy life, let alone landing a safe environment for oneself.
Purchasing power
Chinese people can spend a lot if they are aware of the value of their spending.
This country, however poor before, has no problem of being incapable to satisfy one’s material needs anymore. They set aside money throughout generations, and it is only now that they learn how to spend it.
Obviously, with the environmental problem being on top right now and with a healthy lifestyle being of utmost importance for the new generations, it is quite a fortune they would be willing to spend to make sure that they can breathe in clean air.
What about your competitors?
Yes, China has a highly competitive air purifier market:
- There are both local and foreign companies offering air purifiers;
- Air purifiers range from 10RMB to thousands of RMB in their prices;
- Air purifiers here have various sizes, serve any purposes possible, use newest technologies.
Foreign brands are very popular in China:
- They take up to 80% of the market share;
- They are already standing firmly on the Chinese air purifier ground;
- They account for pricier options and serve to satisfy the demanding customers mostly.
In fact, Chinese customers prefer to buy foreign air purifiers. There are too many local brands offering one and the same thing at an entirely different price. Consequently, it is complicated for an ordinary consumer to define the one which is a value for money.
Foreign air purifiers are more precise in their price range and, therefore, are associated with quality for the Chinese consumers.
What do you need to make your air purifier a success in China?
Create a Brand’s Value for them. Here’s the list of things to be given due consideration:
- Chinese people also will never buy anything they have never heard of.
- Chinese people don’t use Google or any foreign online sources to search for an air purifier.
- Chinese people only buy from someone they trust.
- You might stress the quality of your air purifier but Chinese people won’t consider that.
- If you support your quality with an evidence of high sales and good reputation outside China, it won’t work as well.
- Businesses should rely on the power of a word of mouth – the more people say an air purifier should be bought from you, the more people will actually buy it from you.
- Chinese people only trust Chinese people.
So what is the general strategy of selling an air purifier in China?
The key is to make Chinese people easily find your air purifiers and get a lot of positive feedback PRIOR to selling. This will make them want to buy your air purifier without a need for direct persuasion to do so.
How to do it?
The answer is Online:
- China has the most digitalized consumer society in the world – they spend at least 4 hours per day on their phones and buy everything online now.
- Doing marketing online is also cost-effective for an air purifier business.
- Digital marketing strategy for air purifiers gives access to a wider target audience (which mounts to 1.5 billion people in China).
Starting to sell air purifiers in China: Questions and Answers
Visibility comes first
It is important for any air purifier seller to understand one peculiarity of the Chinese consumer.
When they want to buy an air purifier they go to search for it online. They need to check which air purifier fits their needs, provided higher value for money, which one is simply better. You would probably act in the same way. The difference is that a Chinese person would never search for it on Google. Why?
- Google is 100% blocked in China;
- China has its own search engine (Baidu) which is rich for facts about companies as well as for the feedbacks from other consumers.
| To ensure your visibility in the Chinese market, the following should be done:
- Getting a special website;
- Doing a successful SEO.
| Why is having a website so crucial?
- It goes without saying that a website is your air purifier’s presentation.
- It should be mentioned a website is a tool to contribute to your visibility from the technical side.
| What is a must for a good website to sell air purifiers in China?
- Mandarin version (most of Chinese people can’t speak English at all).
- Chinese/Singapore/Hongkong hosting (websites with a different hosting can be blocked at any moment in China).
- Being informative and attractive.
- Click-to-Chat tool (to make it possible for clients to ask questions about the air purifier).
| Search engine optimization
SEO on Baidu comes next after you have your website done. Search engine optimization ensures your high ranking on Baidu.
| Why is a high rank on Baidu so important?
As it was mentioned before, the air purifier market in China is extremely competitive. Once they search for an air purifier they might find all your competitors while you will be lost deep in the Baidu abyss.
| What can give you a high rank on Baidu?
- Keywords (general to specific keywords can make your website appear first in Baidu).
- Baike page (Chinese Wikipedia is an important source of credibility in China as it requires verification; it is also part of Baidu system so it gives a high rank automatically).
- Backlinks from Zhihu/Zhidao (Baidu-run Quora-like forums provide a higher rank and also contribute to the brand’s reputation).
Focus on E-Reputation
| What is E-Reputation?
E-Reputation is the defining factor in the Chinese market of air purifiers. It is built of the people’s opinion about your product. Chinese people will only buy a product with a perfect reputation throughout China.
In China, it takes one negative word to spoilt the reputation of a brand and make it absolutely unwanted; and it takes time and effort to build up a good image and ensure consumer awareness, and succeed thereby.
| Why is reputation crucial?
- People in China are used to being surrounded by fakes and scams – they need to trust the seller of an air purifier;
- They only rely on the opinion of locals when they make a decision to buy;
- When they hear a lot of people speaking positively of an air purifier brand they will also prefer to buy it.
| How to work on your e-reputation online?
- Making air purifier or electronics experts speak positively about you;
- Being mentioned in local electronics online magazines;
- Getting positive feedbacks on specialized websites like PChome.net;
- Creating an impression of being everywhere through Chinese social media.
Social media in China: the fuel of your Promotion
It is essential for a seller of air purifiers to be present and reachable on Chinese social platforms. It is a good tool for effective promotions in China.
| What Social Media gives in the air purifier market?
- Wide range targeting – Chinese social platforms have up to 1 billion active users each.
- Effective regular marketing activities.
- A chance to affect consumer decisions with influencers.
Selling Air Purifiers in China Online
Digital activities are a must not only in terms of promotional actions but also when it comes to selling.
| Why is selling online recommended?
- Chinese people buy everything online.
- Online sales can reach unprecedented levels in China compared to selling offline (like 33billion USD I one day on Single’s Festival, for instance).
- 8 in 10 air purifiers are now being bought online.
- Online platforms occupy the whole country which means each of 1.5billion has access to your store.
- It is also more cost-effective once compared to selling in offline stores.
| What are the main platforms for you to sell air purifiers in China?
- Tmall and Tmall Global.
- JD and JD Global.
- Kaola.
- Suning Global.
What are the advantages of selling air purifiers on Tmall/Tmall Global:
- Tmall is China’s leading domestic online marketplace;
- Tmall is the first platform for the Chinese people to look for high-quality products like air purifiers;
- Tmall Global offers country pavilions to classify products by countries;
- It uses Alipay for payments.
What are the advantages of JD/JD Global?
- JD platforms dominate in home appliances and consumer electronic goods;
- JD Global hosts foreign brands’ flagship stores;
- JD Global uses an online payment escrow service to complete transactions in USD.
What are the advantages of selling air purifiers on Kaola?
- It has been the number one e-commerce platform in China for 6 years in a row;
- It contributes to the brand’s credibility;
- It buys air purifiers directly from you avoiding numerous distributors;
- Quick payments;
- It is a platform for cost-effective, high-quality and trustworthy products.
What are the advantages of selling air purifiers on Suning Global?
- This is an online mall of the largest commercial company in China;
- It focuses mainly on electrical appliances;
- It has its own online payment escrow service both in RMB and foreign currencies.
Further:
- Which of the platforms is better for you right now?
- How to open and operate the stores on these platforms?
- How to attract more buyers to your stores on these platforms?
For these and other questions of the kind, don’t hesitate to contact us.
We are GMA
- We are honest instructors;
- We are the guides into your e-commerce future;
- We know the target marget;
- We are the connoisseurs of China’s e-commerce procedures.
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