The air-conditioning industry "sell inventory" model is outdated

The air-conditioning industry "sell inventory" model is outdated

The implementation of the new energy efficiency standards for air conditioners is imminent, but the market is showing two different phenomena: most companies have launched an unprecedented price war to hit the peak season market with low prices; a few companies such as Haier continue to innovate products and services with high quality Products and stricter services have won the favor of consumers. These two different phenomena essentially reflect two different business operating models, and companies that can quickly see and meet consumer demand will lead the 2010 freezing year.

China’s air-conditioning industry has developed from the era of shortage. The idea of ​​the era of shortage is the idea of ​​factories. Enterprises first manufacture products and then wait for consumers to buy them. Once the product is oversupply and a large inventory is formed, the risks of this model are fully exposed. : On the one hand, international currency prices are constantly changing, and the prices of air-conditioning raw materials are extremely unstable. If products are produced when raw material prices are high, companies will face huge cost pressures once the prices drop; on the other hand, they will be affected by weather, exports, etc. Due to factors, the market demand is very unstable, and the huge amount of inventory will put a heavy burden on the enterprise, and finally have to sell it at a low price.

In fact, this year’s price war in the air-conditioning industry is caused by this backward industry model. Most air-conditioning companies are still in the business mindset of “with factories and no companies", using the thinking of the era of shortage to do things in the era of surplus. As a result, a huge amount of inventory will inevitably appear. When consumer demand changes or shrinks, they have to cut prices and sell. This model not only disrupts the normal operation of the enterprise, but also affects the effect of consumers on the use of air conditioners, which in turn affects the healthy development of the entire air conditioner industry.

From the perspective of market laws, the operation of an enterprise is guided by market demand. Once a huge amount of inventory is formed, it will break away from the target and be held hostage by the inventory, which is equivalent to giving the market decision power to an unknown environment.

After the outbreak of the global financial crisis, the uncertainty of the market situation strongly requires air-conditioning companies to improve liquidity through model innovation, so as to meet market demand more quickly. Under this situation, Haier took the lead in implementing changes in the industry and fully transformed into a business model of “demand and supply under zero inventory". By accurately grasping the changes in market demand and organizing production in accordance with market orders, Haier achieved true orders. Development, completely overturned the industry’s backward model of "selling inventory".

The outbreak of the price war shows that the air-conditioning industry is undergoing tremendous changes. Previously, the air-conditioning industry was a scale-controlled pattern, which means that large-scale and low-cost companies have more advantages, and small-scale and high-cost companies are eliminated. Out; and now it is the market response speed control pattern, "drive slow", that is, fast market response companies drive out slow market response companies, and now the market has entered the era of winning or losing by speed, the test is not the original Cost control, but demand control.

Changes in the economic situation not only require companies to pay more attention to consumer demand, but also require companies to transform from simply selling products to providing overall solutions. Today's consumer demand is not only satisfied with the air-conditioning products themselves, the design, home improvement, and services based on air-conditioning products have become the focus of consumers' attention. Haier Air-Conditioning, through strategic cooperation with decoration companies and the establishment of an e-home platform, has created a complete set of service solutions integrating decoration and home appliances for consumers, becoming the first in the industry to realize the overall solution from "selling products" to "selling" "Transformed enterprise.

From "selling products" to "selling services", the core task is to collect consumer needs quickly, accurately, and in real time at zero distance from consumers. Among air-conditioning companies, Haier has two advantages that other companies cannot compare: one is a global marketing service network, which is the point of contact for Haier to systematically collect consumer needs, and the other is that it owns most of the user resources in the country. Through the analysis of these historical data and real-time data, Haier Air Conditioning can quickly predict consumer demand, and even predict consumer demand a few months in advance, so as to achieve complete synchronization between consumer demand and the services provided by the enterprise. Therefore, Haier air-conditioning nationwide Enterprises have taken the lead in developing new products such as fluorine-free inverter air conditioners and Internet of Things air conditioners, and eliminated fluorine-containing air conditioners.

In the future, consumer needs will become more and more personalized and instantaneous. This requires air-conditioning companies to establish a user-centered flexible organizational structure that can capture consumer needs in real time and achieve "as needed as needed". The supply chain model of Xiangyang is transformed into a two-way supply and demand chain model, which can maximize the competitiveness of enterprises while maximizing consumer value. Therefore, how to adapt to the changes in current market demand through changes in the company's own organizational structure and business model is the biggest challenge facing air-conditioning companies.