The rapid rise of the household central air conditioning market has attracted many home appliance enterprises to join the competitive fray. Major home appliance giants such as Midea, Gree, and Haier have also set their sights on this huge market of household central air conditioning. Besides, foreign brands like McQuillan, Trane, Daikin, York, and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are also paying more attention to their home central air conditioning businesses. According to the data, the overall scale of household central air conditioning in 2014 was approximately 15 billion yuan, an increase of 36% compared to 2013. It can be predicted that in the future, household central air conditioning will become the main force in the air conditioning market.
In recent years, the product line of household central air conditioning has been continuously improved. The emergence of new products such as living room air conditioners, kitchen air conditioners, and unit air conditioners has led to an increasing number of end customers, and the enterprise channel construction has also become more diversified. In addition to the original channels, the abundance of home appliance chains, building materials markets, and online platforms has also played a promoting role in the popularization of household central air conditioning. Currently, in addition to the traditional distributor, agent, and specialty store models, household central air conditioning has also gradually become a key channel for expansion with home appliance stores and real estate developers.
By the end of 2014, Gree household central air conditioners had quietly started selling in various stores of Beijing Guomei and Beijing Dazhong. The sole online and offline sales venue for Gree household central air conditioners is currently Guomei, which has begun selling in all Guomei and Dazhong stores in Beijing. At the same time, it is expected to be promoted to major cities across the country such as Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Nanjing in 2015. It can be seen that major domestic home appliance chain enterprises, such as Suning and Guomei, have all entered the central air conditioning field. They have successively set up exhibition halls for well-known central air conditioning brands like Gree, Haier, and Midea in their core stores, thus ending the history of large home appliance stores not selling central air conditioners.
"Three parts product, seven parts installation." The uniqueness of household central air conditioning products determines that home appliance stores must establish their own teams for the sales and service of central air conditioning. Currently, some home appliance retail enterprises are also entering this field. Major appliance chain giants such as Suning and Five-star have all set up professional central air conditioning sales companies. This is undoubtedly a huge boost for the expansion of the channel for household central air conditioning.
It is said that home central air conditioning is a "new blue ocean" in the air conditioning industry. However, just like home central air conditioning, e-commerce platforms are also regarded as a "blue ocean". In recent years, the popularity of e-commerce has remained consistently high, and many air conditioning enterprises have also resolutely "marched online" and fully laid out their e-commerce business.
In the early days, in the field of home central air conditioning, e-commerce platforms almost became the "price comparison" platform for consumers when purchasing household appliances. Before going to the store, they would search for prices online and then negotiate and purchase at the store, which seemed to have become a habit. Now, the consumption model of online purchase, delivery, installation and one-stop service is gradually changing Chinese families. In the after-sales evaluation of a certain model of home central air conditioning on JD.com, most consumers who purchased the air conditioner online gave positive reviews, and many consumers also gave praise for the after-sales service. Unlike other products, the logistics, installation and after-sales of home central air conditioning determine its special position on e-commerce platforms. How to provide perfect after-sales service on e-commerce platforms has become a major challenge for many brands to focus on in their online efforts.
In the future, as the proportion of refined decoration of family residences continues to rise, home central air conditioning will accelerate its penetration in the residential field. An authoritative institution predicts that by 2018, the home central air conditioning market is expected to reach 60 billion, and with the continuous expansion of the channel construction of home central air conditioning, the popularity of home central air conditioning will also further increase.