As the research team’s in-depth visit to the Nanjing market, more and more local industry professionals have joined our Interviewed ranks. In addition to domestic ceramic tile agents and heads of direct-operated companies of brand manufacturers, foreign ceramic tile agents, Nanjing Decoration Materials Trade Association, heads of Nanjing mainstream stores and Nanjing leading decoration companies also accepted exclusive interviews from our research team. The information they provided from different perspectives has greatly enriched our sampling library, and the face of Nanjing's ceramic tile market has become increasingly clear. After gaining clarity, the author also started thinking and looking for opportunities in the Nanjing market.
Opportunity 1: Renovation of old houses, a future not to be missed
Liu Dalong, head of the Nanjing Decorative Materials Trade Association, mentioned in an exclusive interview with this website: Nanjing's material dealers are actually Too much attention is focused on the new housing decoration market, but another potentially huge market is ignored. "I think Nanjing's old house renovation and old house redecoration market cannot be ignored. Even if it has not yet shown a trend of scale at the moment, it is inevitable in the future. Taking the Shanghai market as an example, there was a market as early as a year ago A decoration company once collected and sorted out massive household information from 10,000 old communities and began to study these old house renovation projects. ”
Liu Dalong, head of Nanjing Decorative Materials Trade Association
The research team already understood this during the Shanghai market research in September last year. They vaguely remember that old houses in Shanghai are no longer Decoration has become one of the important battlefields for ceramic tiles in the city, and there are decoration companies that specialize in the renovation of old houses for their decoration positioning, and their performance has steadily increased.
Nanjing, which is also located in the East China area, lags behind Shanghai by several years in terms of development. If Shanghai shows the There is an obvious trend of renovating old houses, and the market in Nanjing will inevitably gradually emerge at some point in the future.
Meng Huafei, head of the Nanjing Branch of Xingyi Decoration Company, also expressed his affirmation of this when being interviewed by the research team Agree, "As far as the amount of renovation and decoration of old houses in Nanjing is currently seen, although the amount is not large, it shows an upward trend every year." Meng Huafei said that this part of the market will indeed be a trend.
Meng Huafei, head of Nanjing Branch of Xingyi Decoration Company
When the author was conducting market research in Shanghai, the person in charge of Shanghai Marco Polo Agency made it clear that they hadThis type of old house renovation and decoration market has been included in its strategic planning scope, and it has been clearly stated that to obtain customer sources for this part of the market, information sources can be obtained from some kitchen and bathroom product merchants - the kitchen and bathroom in old houses are no longer functional in terms of functionality. Given the current needs, perhaps the most urgent renovation is to start with the kitchen and bathroom.
From this point of view, Nanjing's ceramic tile retail can consider planning ahead of time, and it is also an opportunity to seize this part of the market.
Opportunity 2: Small balcony, big achievement
Zhao Lichun, head of the Nanjing Marketing Department of Marco Polo, revealed that among the markets currently targeted by Marco Polo, balconies in finely decorated houses are also one of them. Very important section. "In the delivery of finely decorated houses, the balcony is standard for non-finished decoration. This actually means that the bricks used in the balcony are not affected by the policy and strategic procurement of finely decorated houses."
Zhao Lichun, head of Marco Polo Nanjing Marketing Department
Especially, as people's living standards rise day by day, people's demand for quality of life becomes more urgent, and balconies are also valued by more and more families. A small balcony is likely to carry more With the function of rest and relaxation, when the finely decorated rooms deprive people of their need for personalization in their home space, the space creation in the corner of the balcony may instead assume the function of personalization and taste release. Therefore, in a certain sense, balcony tiles may become a space in the future. New Opportunities
Opportunity Three: Top-end high-end, a counterattack market space
Although the proportion of finely decorated houses in Nanjing is increasing day by day, strategic centralized procurement has become the mainstream channel, and traditional retail has been greatly impacted. , but in a certain sense, the proportion of large flats and villas will not be greatly affected - after all, fine decoration is mainly aimed at small apartments that are just in need. This phenomenon gives some ceramic tile agents or brands who want to counterattack space to counterattack.
Nanjing’s high-end demand has shown steady growth every year, according to Nanjing’s Roberto Cavalli luxury jewelry tiles Zhao Jinhong, an agent for imported brands, revealed that the shipment volume of the top imported ceramic tile brand products he represents doubles every year, and the market growth is significant. Liu Changhong, the person in charge of the Jinsheng store, revealed that the sales of high-end imported ceramic tile brands on the first floor of the store have increased steadily in recent years, indicating that Nanjing's high-end demand is obvious.
Roberto Cavalli luxury jewelry tile import brand agent Zhao Jinhong
Zhao Jinhong said that Chinese consumers are showing a large demand for high-end top products, which is also a reflection of consumption upgrading and the overall national economic environment. One of the main features presented below. In this regard, he made the following judgment: "In the future, China will definitely become more polarized. Consumers' demand for high-end products will definitely become more and more high-end. Consumers want better, better !" Meng Huafei also holds the same view.
Opportunity 4: Excellent team provides the possibility of turnaround
"The material supplier partners we are looking for, especially the ceramic tile partners, sometimes do not pay much attention to the brand. "The most important thing is to look at the local (Nanjing) agent resource integration capabilities and team marketing capabilities!" The words of Meng Huafei, the head of Xingyi Decoration Nanjing Direct Sales Company, seem to have rekindled hope for a large number of non-first-line ceramic tile brand agents. He said that Xingyi Decoration Company pays more attention to the comprehensive operation capabilities and team capabilities of the material suppliers, because the quality of ceramic tiles is usually not very different, so the ability to work together to obtain customers and the ability to refine later services are very critical. At least it won't cause trouble to the decoration company.
There is no doubt that the status of decoration company channels in the current ceramic tile circulation channels, and this status continues to rise. Previously, many ceramic tile dealers have always held the position of The inherent concept is that home decoration companies value brands, and there is no way to build a home decoration channel without a brand. But what is the fact? Meng Huafei’s answer is very clear.
Similarly, the person in charge of Jinsheng International Home Furnishing Store also said that the most important entry threshold for them to enter the store is One of the key factors is that the merchant owner must have strong team operation capabilities and excellent resources, because only such merchants can stand out in the brutal competition, survive better, and work with stores to integrate resources and attract customers.
Opportunity 5: Small but beautiful brands also have their own space
Dongpeng Ceramics’ Nanjing agent Kong Xiangjun said: “Some small and beautiful brands still have room for development in Nanjing. "A large number of mid-range brands that are positioned as mass-market and cost-effective in all categories may not necessarily be able to compete with first-line brands such as Dongpeng and Marco Polo. However, they can have very good sales for some very personalized niche brand products." Misplaced development space. For example, some customized products, some independently developed innovative color products, etc.
Dongpeng Tile Nanjing agent Kong Xiangjun
Regarding functional tiles becoming the next trend, Zhong Binkai, the person in charge of the Nanjing area of Special Negative Ion Ceramics, also agrees very much. "The sales volume of our anion ceramic tile products in the last three years has increased significantly every year in the company's total sales of all categories of ceramic tiles. It was only 10% the year before last and 32% last year. So far this year, it has accounted for More than 54%. "If we talk about personalized products, then the positioning of healthy and functional ceramic tiles is obviously a differentiated positioning in the market. Compared with brands such as Dongpeng ceramic tiles and Marco Polo ceramic tiles, Its positioning is clearly differentiated.
Zhong Binkai, person in charge of Nanjing area of special negative ion ceramic tiles
" Instead, it may become an opportunity to develop here.
Opportunity 6: Customized brick market, perhaps another trend
Today, the author also visited a customized ceramic tile brand company. Yang Debin, the person in charge of the company, said that their company currently mainly The market targeted is the high-end personalized customization market. This market accepts customers' personalized customization. For example, if a customer brings a wooden board and needs ceramic tiles to create a high-simulation effect of wood grain, then the company can quickly find a way to feed it back to the factory, which will design and adjust it. After coloring, use appropriate technology to make it.
Yang Debin, General Manager of Diweidi (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.
As consumers’ personalized needs increase, this type of market will also steadily increase. At the same time, this type of customization is, in another sense, a process of obtaining consumer demand from the market, which provides support for what type of product inventory the factory will produce in the future. In the short term, it seems that personalization cannot achieve mass production, and it is more troublesome and thankless. But in the long term, this will be a trend. As the amount of customization increases, more products in line with consumer trends and needs will be left in the product library. Model has its positive meaning.
It is reported that there are currently no more than 3 dealers in Nanjing that can truly achieve customization. This pair of dealers A lot has to do with his team's thorough understanding of the ceramic tile process. For this reason, Yang Debin believes that the market in Nanjing is relatively blank and has its development prospects.
Opportunity 7: Background wall, alternative wallpaper, also has space
Liu Changhong, the store manager of Jinsheng International Decoration City, said that currently flooring companies have expanded their application fields to include walls and cabinets. body, then is it feasible to extend the application field of ceramic tiles to walls to replace wallpaper and cabinets?
Liu Changhong, store manager of Jinsheng International Decoration City
In fact, manufacturers have already been leading the way in this aspect of the industry, but it still takes some time to cultivate in the end market. This is also a major trend in ceramics. One of the reasons for the formation of the board. In this regard, although the current large-board market in Nanjing is still in its infancy, in the fierce market competition atmosphere, it may not be a new opportunity for some products in the initial stage.
Opportunity 8: Balanced opportunities under Nanjing’s inclusive culture
Nanjing is a very tolerant city. The views of Zheng Qian, head of Asia Nanjing Branch, and Xingyi Decoration company Meng Huafei coincided with the same. Zhou Lichun, head of the Nanjing Marketing Department of Marco Polo, agrees with this view. She said: "In Nanjing, it is difficult to achieve more than 100 million yuan. If you want to talk about ceramic tile brands with annual sales of over 100 million yuan, you can probably count them with one slap. Not only ceramic tile brands, there are also very few decoration companies with over 100 million yuan. Just like in Shanghai or Hangzhou, there are basically no decoration giants with over 100 million yuan in Nanjing. ”< /p>
Nanjing seems to have been greatly influenced by Sun Yat-sen's philanthropic culture, so it has a strong eclectic heritage. Who will be here? Everyone here can do business and do good business, but it is difficult for anyone to do very well. Everyone is evenly matched and equally divided. "Meng Huafei believes that it is precisely because of this kind of fraternity and tolerance that brands have equal opportunities to develop in Nanjing.
With the deepening of the research and interviews, a deeper picture of Nanjing gradually emerged: Nanjing is generally an inclusive city. In a city with great diversity, consumer groups are also very diverse, and everyone has their own needs and potential needs. Although competition is fierce and the environment may seem unfavorable, opportunities will always exist as long as you seek them with your heart. The key is: you have to find your place. No?
Author: Pan Chunhua
