Market size expansion + consumer demand upgrade, traditional store popularity gradually picked up

In the first half of this year, the national building materials and home furnishing market has risen steadily, and consumption upgrades, physical hotspots, and rapid integration of online and offline have become new highlights in the industry. According to data from the China Building Materials Circulation Association, the National Building Materials Household Climate Index (BHI) was 94.25 in June 2018, down 10.13 points month on month and up 2.62 points year on year.

The sales of household building materials above designated size in June was 80.90 billion yuan, down 11.21% from the previous month and up 4.60% year-on-year. At the same time, the cumulative sales of building materials stores above designated size in the first half of the year was 448.78 billion yuan, up 10.23% year-on-year. The cumulative growth rate of retail sales of furniture and construction and decoration materials in the first half of the year was 10.1% and 8.1% respectively.

From the trend of the national building materials and household prosperity index in the first half of the year, after experiencing the market low in February, the building materials and home market entered the traditional peak season in March, and BHI rebounded rapidly and continued to rise to the May high. Overall, the BHI trend in the first half of the year was higher than the same period in 2017.

The relevant person in charge of the China Building Materials Circulation Association said that some trend changes in the building materials and home consumption market in the first half of the year are worthy of attention.

On the one hand, with the expansion of market scale and the escalation of consumer demand, the proportion of building materials and household consumption in residents' living consumption has continued to increase, and building materials and household consumption have released a gradual escalation of market signals. On the other hand, the trend of online and offline integration and penetration of building materials and home furnishing market is obvious. With the emerging technologies such as big data and artificial intelligence, the traditional building materials home market is renewing its vitality.

The reporter learned in the interview that the upgrading of building materials and household consumption is first reflected in the transformation of consumer groups. Statistics show that the mainstream population of household consumption in the past was mostly concentrated in the group of 35 years old and older, but now it is mainly concentrated in the group of 28 years old, and the proportion of consumers aged 25 to 35 is nearly 60%. At the same time, the change of consumption concept has also led to the upgrading of household consumption, mainly reflected in the more diversified consumer demand, the pursuit of individuality, the emphasis on quality, and the preference for convenience, experience and even social attributes in the consumption process. In addition, the re-decoration of stocks in the market is forming a new peak, and the demand for improved homes is constantly being released. It is understood that the current proportion of Beijing decoration from second-hand housing and secondary decoration has reached nearly 40%.

While the consumer market is gradually upgrading, some new changes in the building materials and home furnishing industry are also emerging. A very obvious phenomenon is that it is different from the consumption of e-commerce in the past few years. Since the beginning of this year, the sales of building materials and home entities have re-emerged, and the popularity of traditional building materials and home stores has gradually picked up. This is related to factors such as building materials and home furnishing companies increasingly focusing on online and offline deep integration, focusing on enhancing consumer experience and improving service quality.

In the first half of the year, around the concept of “developing smart homes, building smart stores, leading new demands, and promoting consumption upgrades”, the national building materials market has been frequent. Taking the actual home as an example, on February 11th, Alibaba and its related investment direction actually invested 5.453 billion yuan, holding 15% of its shares. After more than four months of operation, from June 16th to June 18th, the family actually joined Tmall for “6·18” for the first time. The three-day sales in Beijing area was 1.068 billion yuan, and the passenger flow reached the same period. Three times during the "May Day" period. Through the comprehensive extension of online and offline influence, the home has already taken steps in big data applications, digital store transformation and online and offline integrated marketing.

In addition, with the increasingly mature technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data, more and more building materials and home furnishing markets have accelerated the pace of transformation and upgrading. In the future, smart homes and smart shopping malls that can meet the new demands of consumption will be the main battlefield for industrial upgrading and service transformation, and also an important starting point for the upgrading of building materials and home furnishing enterprises.