Current status of the baby carriage industry

Baby carriages are divided into manufacturing industries, and the Chinese government classifies them as toy industries. The development trajectory of China's baby carriages and toys are exactly the same: At the beginning of reform and opening up, they began to shift from undertaking Taiwan-funded and Hong Kong-funded enterprises to OEM. With the rapid development of the domestic market in the past decade, the baby carriage industry has entered a period of great development. This trend This is particularly evident after 2008.

Product diversification industry clustering. Baby carriages in a broad sense, including baby strollers, walkers, bicycles, twisters, electric strollers, and children's bicycles, are very diverse. At present, there are multiple industrial clusters across the country with unique products, such as Kunshan and Taicang in Jiangsu, Pinghu and Ningbo in Zhejiang, Pingxiang in Hebei, Shucheng in Anhui, Hanchuan in Hubei, Tengzhou in Shandong, and Zhongshan, Dongguan and Foshan in Guangdong Wait. The baby carriage industry clusters in coastal areas such as the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta have developed early, and technology introduction has advantages to become the industry leader; but in terms of development speed, the baby carriage industry clusters in the mainland have developed faster in recent years. For example, Pingxiang, Hebei, the local government is very supportive of the industry and has performed well.

Export market slows down

During the interview, companies generally reported that it was difficult to do business and the pressure on exports was greater. The main reason for this is the decline in overseas market demand. According to the "World Population Status Report 2014" released by the United Nations Population Fund, there are currently 1.8 billion children and young people under the age of 18 in the world, accounting for a quarter of the global population, but the vast majority are concentrated in development. country. The aging population, low fertility rate and declining birthrate in developed countries and regions such as Europe, America and Japan continue.

Corresponding to the above situation is a report released by the American Toy Association. The data shows that the sales of strollers (excluding baby strollers) in the United States in 2014 were 1.25 billion US dollars, which was basically the same as that of the same period in 2013. It is $ 1.61 billion. In other words, the US stroller market has been stagnant and shrinking in recent years. The EU baby carriage market has the same capacity as the US, and the situation is similar. In addition, emerging markets with large populations such as Brazil and India have experienced sluggish demand for economic decline in the past two years. Russia and the Middle East have been affected by political factors, and the economic weakness and constant wars have affected the export of baby carriages.

Analysis of domestic market

Analysis 1 In the survey, manufacturers report that domestic sales are not easy to do this year. Except for coastal areas, sales of baby carriages in the Midwest and north of the Yangtze River are not ideal. Some companies have lowered production to reduce inventory pressure.

Analysis 2 During the investigation, it was found that there is a prominent problem in the domestic sales of baby carriages, that is, product homogenization is serious, low-price vicious competition, and profits are diluted. Some companies do not do market research, do not innovate, rely on simple takeover, and blindly compete at low prices, there is no way out.

Analysis 3 In the past ten years, the domestic market of baby carriages has been greatly supported. I think this is mainly due to three reasons: one is the change of the consumption target group. "Post-80s" and "post-90s" parents appeared and became the main force of baby carriage consumption. The second is economic development and changes in people's concepts. In general, urban strollers have changed from luxury goods to household necessities, and even rural stroller consumption has made considerable progress. Third, more convenient sales channels such as e-commerce platforms have matured and grown, and have played a large role.

Analysis 4 In the case that the support surface for promoting the domestic development of baby carriages has not changed, I think the difficulties are temporary, and are related to the national economic callback. It is believed that with the recent liberalization of the national two-child policy, there will be more development opportunities for the domestic baby carriage market in the future, and the market prospects are promising.

Breakout 4 points of thinking

Thinking 1 How can we break the dilemma and seize the opportunities for development? Here, the author throws a brick to attract jade, suggesting a few points: First, the domestic baby carriage consumption shows a polarized development, on the one hand, there is a large demand for low-end and popular products; on the other hand, high-end consumption is not small. On Taobao, the price of the top ten sales of "baby strollers" is more than 100 yuan, or about 500 yuan, which is clearly stratified. The monthly sales of single products exceed 1,000. Enterprises should adjust accordingly according to their actual situation, find the correct positioning, and develop more cost-effective products.

Think 2 The second is independent innovation. How to innovate? The most fundamental thing is to develop products around the changing needs of consumers. Now the requirements of young parents for baby carriages are more about safety, convenience, comfort, fashion, and pursuit of personalization. As long as you can develop new and innovative products, not only can you create considerable profits, but you can also sell without worry. The specific approach is to analyze consumer psychology more and find product development direction.

Thinking 3 Now that it has entered the information society, enterprises must establish Internet thinking and pay attention to the construction of e-commerce channels. According to a survey by GfK (German Marketing Consulting Company) in Germany, in 2014, 35% of consumers bought baby strollers through online channels, which surpassed supermarkets / hypermarkets (25%) and department stores (21%) )channel. According to the 2014 annual report of Goodbaby Group, a leading company in the baby carriage industry, its business revenue in the Chinese market last year was 1.47 billion Hong Kong dollars, of which the development of e-commerce channels was particularly rapid. 28%. We further subdivided in e-commerce channels and found that the development of mobile terminals, that is, mobile shopping is the fastest. How to make good use of it and build an enterprise fan ecosystem is a major topic worthy of in-depth research.

Thinking 4 In addition, professional exhibitions are still the most direct and effective means for companies to reach customers and expand sales. When the economic environment is not so optimistic, enterprises should go out more, contact customers, grasp market demand trends, and promote products. Cologne Infant and Teenager Products Exhibition, Hong Kong Baby Products Exhibition, Guangzhou Baby Car Show and March Shanghai Baby Car Show are all well-known high-quality exhibitions in the industry. There are many buyers at the meeting, and the participation effect is good. Companies can seek breakthroughs through these platforms .

In the face of difficulties, as long as the company can maintain its strength and practice its internal strength, through actively seeking change and bold innovation, to find a breakthrough suitable for its own development, it will surely achieve better development.