Magic Mirror DialogueWe will interview industry leaders and brand leaders from time to time, and share valuable consumer insights through industry observation, user analysis, and dismantling of explosive products.Entering the cold winter, the steaming "hot pot economy" continues to heat up.This interview with Magic Mirror invitedZhang Jin, general manager of Midea's Household Appliances Division - Conditioning Appliances, for us to disassemble how Midea electric hot pot has insight into the market and creates explosive products on the electric hot pot track through the mind of quick boiling.
Hot pot has always been a popular track in the catering industry, and the "China Catering Development Report 2023" shows that the market size of hot pot is expected to appreciate to about 520 billion yuan. Mojing social listening data shows that in the past rolling year, the number of mainstream social ** content about hot pot has exceeded 19.51 million, an increase of 20835%It is worth mentioning that among themThe home scene is one of the three most frequent scenarios
*At a time when the catering market is becoming more and more involuted, the hot pot economy is gradually extending to the family scene, and related industries such as ingredients, ingredients, and home appliances are gradually showing growth potential. At the same time, the development of cold chain logistics has also provided a basic guarantee for the freshness and richness of ingredients.
According to the data of Mojing Growth Radar, under the category of grain and oil seasoning fast food, the concepts related to hot pot that have grown rapidly in the past three months include mandarin duck hot pot, hot pot meatballs, noodles, etc., with cumulative sales exceeding 50 million, a year-on-year increase of 303%。On the other hand, when we focus on the category of kitchen appliances,In the past three months, "split electric hot pot" has been the fastest growing concept, with sales of about 6.83 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6608%，The concept of "Mandarin Duck Electric Hot Pot", which has a scale of more than 36 million, also has 44High growth rate of 1%.
Sales trends of electric hot pot on mainstream e-commerce platforms from December 2022 to November 2023.
Magic Mirror Analysis+
After the recovery of offline consumption, the market demand for household electric hot pot has not decreasedMojing analysis+ shows that in the past rolling year, the overall sales of electric hot pot products on mainstream e-commerce platforms were about 36500 million yuanIt was basically the same as the previous year. In addition, the data shows that the market share of the electric hot pot track CR10 is 655%, how can the head home appliance brand grow steadily in the fierce market competition, and how can the new brand tap the potential opportunity to create a hit? In this issue, Zhang Jin, general manager of conditioning appliances of Midea's life appliances division, will dismantle it for us from the three dimensions of products, users and channels.
Digital and intelligent user insights to create a category moat
Magic Mirror:We understand that the sales data of Midea's electric hot pot in 2023 is very bright, with a market share of up to 40% on the Douyin platform.
Zhang Jin:Judging from the current settlement data, the overall growth of the electric hot pot category is very significant, with a year-on-year increase of 15% in scale, an increase of 24% in average price, and Q4 sales have exceeded 1.7 million units, especially the core series of Midea quick-boiling electric hot pot, with retail sales reaching 520,000 units. The series ranked TOP1 in sales volume in multiple channels in the Double 11 and Double Day promotions. Offline channels have also made major breakthroughs, with Q4 sales approaching 120,000 units through activities such as the Midea Hot Pot Festival.
Magic Mirror:With the whole category selling out, which item is the most prominent? What are the advantages that make this product stand out from the crowd?
Zhang Jin:Midea has followed the mind that has been precipitated since the winter of 22 years, and has undergone functional upgrades, among which MC-HGS303015 Midea's sub-controlled quick-boiling electric hot pot is the most prominent.
Midea's sub-controlled quick-boiling electric hot pot.
Midea's Household Appliances Division.
This hot pot has a metallic body, a black high-gloss lens panel, and a fashionable and round overall appearance, which is more textured and technological than the appearance design of traditional hot pot, giving consumers a bright feeling.
In terms of product experience, whether it is convenient to clean is one of the key points of user attention in recent years, and the sales of split electric hot pot have shown an obvious upward trend, before we observed through Magic Mirror Analysis + that in 2022, Q4 split electric hot pot **overall** exceeded 60%, so the detachable structural design has always been the highlight of the quick boiling series; In addition, in the listening of Mojing e-commerce, we also found the pain points of users in the process of use, first of allThe scenario of 5-6 people is a high-frequency demandThe conventional product size is small, and the upgraded product capacity is more suitable for multi-person dinner scenes; Heating speed is also the focus of consumers when buying electric hot potsTherefore, we have also upgraded the power of the product, which can achieve 10 seconds of rapid heating, and the boiling time of conventional water has been increased from 8 minutes to less than 6 minutes.
Electric hot pot sales trends on mainstream e-commerce platforms in 2022.
Magic Mirror Analysis+
The main aspects in the negative evaluation of electric hot pot products on the Tmall platform.
Magic Mirror Social Listening.
In terms of scene innovation, Midea pioneered the control mode of partition "real mandarin duck", each side can control the temperature independently, in addition to the traditional hot pot mode, the multi-purpose use scenario of hot pot and barbecue can also impress users.
So to sum it up,Attractive appearance, high-quality user experience, intimate and creative partition design are the main reasons why this product has become a hit
Magic Mirror:What are the unique features of Midea's electric hot pot products in terms of technology and technology? What adjustments and changes have been made in the optimization and upgrading of products in recent years?
Zhang Jin:I just mentioned that we will combine the data of Mojing e-commerce listening to consumer insights, and in the process we found electric hot potThe heating rate is frequently reported in user feedback。In order to allow consumers to get the ultimate "refreshing" experience when eating hot pot, the product form of Midea is also constantly changingFrom the most primitive mechanical thermostat integrated structure to the separable integrated butterfly four-ring riveting tube structure.
The process has also been upgraded in many details: where it can be seen, we use more expensive PC, metallic body materials and interactive parts of vacuum plating process; In the invisible aspect, we use a thickened pot body that can improve thermal efficiency, an aluminum heating tube that can be soaked and cleaned, and a silver-plated contact terminal, which exceeds the national standard requirements by more than 30% in device selection, and the test cycle is much higher than the industry average.
Detail of the rivet tube of Midea's sub-controlled quick-boiling electric hot pot.
Midea's Household Appliances Division.
Magic Mirror:What is the product evolution process of the electric hot pot track over the years? What are the trends that you have observed?
Zhang Jin:In the initial stage of the development of the electric hot pot category, most of the products are small capacity and low power, mainly using concentric circles and four-square grid design, and have developed to 21 years of lifting hot pot, glass hot pot, and now 23 years of quick boiling and IH electric hot pot, electric hot pot has begun to develop towards efficiency, rapid boiling and split easy cleaning; With the return to rational consumption and the increase in health attention after the epidemicMore durable and healthier coatings and materials will also become the development trend of electric hot pot in the future.
Consumers tend to be rational, and products need to return to users and experience
Magic Mirror:What are the significant characteristics of the consumer groups of electric hot pot? Based on your consumer insights, what factors are making electric hot pots more and more popular?
Zhang Jin: Hot pot has strong social attributes, regardless of east, west, north and south, suitable for all ages; The people who buy electric hot pot are mainly distributed in Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and there are many areas with a large floating population. Electric hot pot is essentially a product that is highly related to the consumer experience and dinner scene, and consumers choose to eat hot pot because they expect to bring happiness by eating hot pot and share happiness with friends. Contemporary young people working in cities are becoming more and more enthusiastic about weekends or daily gatherings with friends, and a simple meal that can be made while taking into account everyone's tastes has become the first choice for dinner, which is why the electric hot pot market continues to be hot.
Magic Mirror:Based on your observations, how have consumer needs changed in recent years? What are the differences before and after the pandemic?
Zhang Jin:After the epidemic, people's work rhythm and living habits have undergone many changes, and the taste of food has begun to tend to be light, focusing on "light health, making soup and drinking soup", and the popularity of Cantonese hot pot that meets the health demands of young people continues to rise, such as beef hot pot, pork belly hot pot, fish maw chicken pot, etc., which not only require fast boiling water, but also need to upgrade the frying experience simultaneously.
Although the overall environment shows a trend of consumption downgrade, as far as the electric hot pot market is concerned, among national brands such as Midea, the average price of the category actually continues to rise. From this phenomenon, the general environment is not a consumption downgrade, but another angle of "upgrading", consumption rationality requires the product to return to the user, return to the experience; This is also the reason why Midea electric hot pot has been upgrading its design around user experience.
Magic Mirror:Based on years of deep cultivation in the home appliance industry, what characteristics do you think the next hot pot may have?
Zhang Jin:We have been paying attention to the changes in the consumer groups and consumer needs of the entire category, and the R&D team will alsoThrough Magic Mirror Analysis + Consumer Analysis, based on the latest data, we found that the attributes of appearance design, heating efficiency, and capacity are still the most concerned by consumersThis is also Midea's R&D topic in 2024, which will continue to bring consumers a better product experience.
The top 4 aspects in the evaluation of electric hot pot products on the Tmall platform.
Data**: Mojing e-commerce listening.
Leverage interest e-commerce to create explosive products
Magic Mirror:At present, the competition in the electric hot pot track is very fierceAccording to Mojing analysis + data, the share of the mainstream e-commerce platform CR10 is about more than 65%.In the face of market competition and the diversified and changing needs of consumers, what adjustments have been made to Midea electric hot pot in terms of products and channel strategies?
Zhang Jin:Looking at the industry fabrics, the entrance routine homogenization is serious, the strategies of various brands on the waist are different, some friends pay attention to upgrading the capacity and power, Midea and other brands mainly innovate in the use scenarios of sub-control electric hot pots, and the development of the entire category in the future will continue to be in the high-end layout.
The quick boiling series we just talked about is an attempt by Midea to the mid-to-high-end, the first time in 22 years to promote the concept of rapid boiling, priced at 249 279 yuan, far higher than the industry's 120 yuan customer unit price, soon sold out after listing, two models sold out of 200,000 units in a quarter.
So in 2023, there will be confidenceIn the whole marketing strategy, it refers to the large single product strategy of the FMCG industry, and all communication and channel resources are focused on the main promotion of the quick-boiling series. We took the lead in planting grass on a large scale in the off-season, and cut in with multi-functional attributes to create different usage scenarios for consumers, stimulate demand, cultivate global daily sales, and win the first place in the new product list on each platform. Later, after the first cooling in the north in October, the natural search traffic exploded, and the mind of sub-control and rapid boiling was established.
At the same time, in order to meet the needs of different consumer groups, we have laid out different configurations of quick-boiling and non-mandarin duck models in different segments, as well as multiple colors and capacities to create a moat for this category.
Midea's non-mandarin duck quick-boiling electric hot pot.
Midea's Household Appliances Division.
Magic Mirror:We understand that Douyin is the key channel of Midea's electric hot pot, what do you think are the characteristics of Douyin as a "global interest e-commerce" compared with other e-commerce channels?
Zhang Jin:The choice of Douyin as the launch channel is also based on the experience of 2022. The winter of 22 was cold early, and the natural search of the entire Douyin electric hot pot increased several times, we just opened a live broadcast room, and we didn't do large-scale grass planting, and the daily sales could reach 100,000.
In 2023, we analyzed the competition intensity of Douyin and found that there are more white-label players, mainly influencer distribution + live broadcast, and there are fewer big brands to move. We observed that a white label can also make nearly 8 million sales in a quarter, and the customer order is close to 200 yuan, judging that this channel has growth potential, and there is an opportunity to quickly cut this cake through combination play.
Magic Mirror:Finally, could you please share with us the main reasons for Midea's success in the Douyin channel, and how Midea leverages its channel advantages to leverage growth?
Zhang Jin:The core is still foundPlant grass on Douyin, mow grass on Douyinway. In the past, we only used Douyin as a promotion tool, using influencers to plant grass and advertise to attract traffic to other e-commerce platforms.
An example of Midea's electric hot pot Douyin advertising.
Midea's Household Appliances Division.
However, with the rapid development of Douyin e-commerce, we realized that consumers' purchase path in interest e-commerce is very short: when they see a creative advertisement, they are curious to search, enter the live broadcast room for in-depth understanding, and place orders directly according to their needs.
Based on this insight,We have set up several key actions: off-season explosion volume + multi-crowd mining + scene-based materials + live broadcast room where the sun never sets. The refined operation of each link has made Quick Boiling the top keyword in the search of Douyin electric hot pot category, and the traffic overflows, thus further feeding back the traditional e-commerce channels.
Summary
Based on the insight into user needs, Midea has grasped the pain points of electric hot pot heating, such as slow and difficult to clean, and has always upgraded its products around optimizing the user experience. At the same time, taking advantage of the short, flat and fast purchase path in interest e-commerce, strengthening the user's mind through the combined operation strategy, and creating a sales closed loop of Douyin planting grass and Douyin conversion, so as to gain a leading position in the channel.
As Midea mentioned during the interview,In the context of consumers becoming more rational and concerned about quality, the return of products to user experience will become a compulsory course for every brand. Moojing Insight will also continue to help brands discover the real needs of users and grasp growth opportunities in an uncertain market environment through industry analysis and product iteration.