Consumption upgrading of Nuggets in Ceramic Industry

In the face of the severe and complex economic situation, China's ceramic enterprises actively adapt to the new changes in domestic and foreign markets, pay attention to technological upgrading, R & D, design and other aspects of development and innovation, enterprise innovation awareness is significantly enhanced, innovation ability continues to improve, product quality continues to improve, the influence of its own brand is gradually expanded, marketing channels continue to expand, international market share and exports of its own brand increase steadily. Consumption upgrading promotes the ceramic industry to speed up the transformation and upgrading trend is obvious. This is the information the reporter learned from the 2016 annual meeting of the China Light Industry Chamber of Commerce.

According to Chen Jiangfeng, vice president of the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Light Industrial Crafts, China is moving from a big ceramic trading country to a powerful ceramic trading country. At present, China has become a major exporter of ceramics in the world, accounting for more than 1/4 of global ceramic exports for many years, and more than 1/3 in recent years. Chinese ceramics enjoy a good reputation in Europe, the United States, Japan and other developed countries and have a high market share. In 2015, in the world's major ceramic markets, nearly 24% of US ceramic imports came from China, while 45% of EU ceramic imports came from China. China's domestic and craft ceramic exports have a higher international market share, accounting for more than 60% of the foreign market. In 2015, China's domestic ceramic exports reached 7.075 billion US dollars, which is 4.26 times that of 10 years ago, 12.94 times of 20 years ago, and 67.38 times of 30 years ago.

With the continuous improvement of Chinese living standards, the domestic market demand for middle and high-end ceramic products is increasing, which provides an unprecedented opportunity for ceramic enterprises committed to the development of their own brands. From the perspective of the domestic market, fresh and elegant, relaxed and fashionable, warm and modern products suitable for home life are in short supply; and due to channels, brand awareness and other reasons, many consumers who need to improve the quality of life can not find the ceramic products they need.

Chen Jiangfeng said: for a long time, domestic consumers lack understanding of export brand ceramic enterprises: first, due to the stable demand in foreign markets and the standard operation of export orders, enterprises' willingness to export is greater than that of domestic sales; second, because the domestic middle and high-end consumer groups are small, ordinary consumers do not pay enough attention to the quality and brand of household ceramics. With the growth of domestic middle-income groups, the demand for consumer upgrading has become increasingly prominent, promoting the transformation and upgrading of the ceramic industry, and changes have taken place at both ends of supply and demand.

According to reports, in the face of the pressure of weak demand in the international market, China's ceramic production enterprises realize the importance of establishing their own brands and mastering sales channels, and are no longer satisfied with branding production for foreign big brands and buyers. They began to make continuous efforts on both ends of the "smile curve"-- R & D and sales. In terms of R & D and design, many enterprises employ overseas designers to launch a large number of marketable products every year, moving from OEM to ODM. Some ceramic enterprises have also won the top international design award-German Red Dot Design Award. In terms of brand building, many enterprises have registered foreign trademarks to promote their own brand exports while stabilizing the production of their own brands.

In addition, ceramic export enterprises began to pay attention to the domestic market, adhere to "walking on two legs" and made great progress. In recent years, many traditional ceramic export enterprises have established brand stores, online stores and micro-stores through agent sales, and achieved gratifying results in domestic sales. In particular, some enterprises try to sell through online e-commerce, chain brand stores and other channels, and taste the sweetness of pushing their own brands.