How Laifen Should Enter Hard Floor Washers

A few days ago, I heard from friends in the supply chain that Leifen was going to make a hard floor washer, and the team came to Suzhou to inspect it.

A video I made about Leifen shavers was also recognized by Leifen Ye, and it has more than 100,000 views on several platforms.

This time I will also help Mr. Ye analyze, if Laifen wants to make a hard floor washer, how should it start?

First, let’s take a look at the current industry situation and see if there are any breakthrough points:

First, let’s take a look at Ovi’s data. Tineco still ranks first, with a market share of about 40, followed by Dreame, which is about 25, followed by Haier, and then other brands.

First, let’s take a look at the product line of industry leader Tineco, and then look at the breakthrough points of several other brands:

Tineco's products are roughly divided into 4 price segments, and different price segments have different product series to defend against competing products:

The one priced above 1.5,000 is the Fuwan Art station, a space station series. In this price range, you won’t be able to get much sales, mainly to establish a brand image. I checked it out, and basically all the available functions are included. Hot water washing, automatic steering, automatic water supply and drainage. The appearance of the current products has also been greatly improved.

1. Next is the Artist series, with prices ranging from more than 2,000 to 4,000. This series emphasizes more on appearance, and the high-end version has a wireless steam function.

1. Next is the Aesthetic Master series. This Aesthetic Master is a mass version of the Artist series, and the price is also around 2000-2500. It has all the basic functions such as lying flat, electrolyzed water, hot water, and front and rear power assist.

1. The main mass-market price range, the Streth series, is priced from about 1500-2200, and has all the basic functions such as lying flat, electrolyzed water, hot water, and front and rear power assist.

1. The goalkeeper is basic. The price of Tineco2.0, which initially sold for more than 3,000, has now dropped to around 1,000. As a goalkeeper for hard floor washers, this price puts pressure on others. Compared with other brands of products, Tineco2.0 has relatively strong product power.

Tineco's product capabilities can be seen from Tineco's product series. All price segments have strong products to defend against competitors. In 2022, the breakthrough point of our products was that one was a flat bed and the other was an all-in-one vacuum cleaner. This time Tineco made the flat bed function a standard configuration. Then, each series has a multi-functional model to prevent competing products.

Then let’s take a look at how other companies respond to Tineco’s product line.

The price range of Dreame's product line has increased from around 1100 to 2100, basically abandoning the products in the price range above 3000. The main focus is large quantity and full supply, misaligned competition with Tineco. In this price range, Tineco's products are the Strech series. In terms of price, Dreame should have a pricing strategy that is 10-15% cheaper than Tineco.

Let’s take a look at Roborock’s product line. Roborock has always invested tepidly in hard floor washers. The first hard floor washer released was criticized by many people because it could not stand upright. Roborock’s main product strategy is large single products, with relatively few SKUs. Now Roborock’s the main hard floor washer product is the A30 series, with prices ranging from 1999 to 2999. The main target is Tineco's Aesthetic Master series in the 2000-3000 price range. The currently recommended A30 steam with steam is priced at 2999, and the benchmark Tineco Artist 70 is about 4499.

Uwant/Uwant. Uwant also pioneered the popularity of the double-cup mite remover and fabric cleaning machine. Currently, the price range of hard floor washers is 1200-1500. Uwant is now promoted very fiercely at Bilibili. It is listed as one of the major financial backers of Bilibili along with Miaocian massagers and electric toothbrushes. Without Uwant, the life of Bilibili Up owners seems to be difficult. Current sales are not bad, with hundreds of thousands of units a year.

Narwal's strategy is the same as Roborock's, which is to focus on single products. Currently, Narwal's price ranges from more than 900 to around 2,000. The entry-level price of more than 900 still surprises me. This price, including various deductions, basically makes no money, and even if the return rate is higher, it will lose money. At present, Narwal should be able to sell hundreds of thousands of units a year, and the market evaluation is not bad.

Midea: The main price range of Midea's product line is between 1,000 and 3,000, and the real sales volume is around the 1,300 price range. Midea seized an opportunity for hard floor washers in 2023-24, and the sales of hard floor washers were also pretty good. In the price range of more than 1,000, Midea is a national brand, and consumers do not have much pressure to buy relatively low-priced hard floor washers.

Haier: The price range of Haier hard floor washers is around 1000-3000. Haier is also a company that entered the hard floor washer industry relatively early. In the early years, it relied on the double-roller brush hard floor washer of Shanchuan to occupy some ground in the hard floor washer. For a while, it ranked third in the industry. Now the most popular models are in the price range of 1200-1500. The Haier team was also the first to sell hard floor washers on Douyin. Washer's team has very strong sales on Douyin. It should sell more than 1 million units a year.

Supor: Supor's price range is around 800-1500. Although Supor is also a well-known brand, everyone's impression of Supor is more on kitchen appliances and pots. In recent years, it has entered into cleaning appliances and has done very well. The current pricing strategy is also relatively reasonable. This price range can capture volume while avoiding direct competition from Tineco and Dreame.

Deerma: The price range of Deerma is around 800-1500. It is about the same price range as Supor and Midea, but the configuration is relatively higher. Deerma was very aggressive in pricing when it entered the hard floor washer industry and set a low-price strategy very early. Deerma does not follow Xiaomi's pricing strategy and belongs to Xiaomi that does not carry the Xiaomi brand. However, Deerma's disadvantage is that its technical strength is relatively weak, and the hard floor washer product line is relatively complex, and it will lose money if it is not done well.

Xiaomi: Xiaomi's hard floor washer ranges from 799 to 3899. Xiaomi has always been the biggest headache for all product practitioners. In terms of products, Xiaomi's configuration still has some price advantages compared to Tineco/Roborock/Narwal/Dreame, but it is not as obvious as the "half price for big brands" in the early years.

The current problem with Xiaomi's product line is that it is only sold through Xiaomi's own channels. Because the profit margin is too low, other companies such as Douyin/Xiaohongshu have not made much noise. After Mr. Lei built the car, the sales of Xiaomi's ecological chain products have also increased significantly. Now the products focus on products in the 2000 price range.

Dyson.Dyson's hard floor washer can be ignored.

Industry summary:

Tineco is still the only one, and it has occupied all possible forms at the product level. Other companies do not have the same breakthroughs in products as before, but Tineco's excessive products have also caused great trouble for consumers to choose. There is no way to do this.

Price range above 3,000. Products in the price range above 3,000 are basically brand marketing and do not have particularly large sales.

The price range of 2000-3000 and above is currently basically Tineco and Dreame. It is difficult for other brands to enter this range. In the current economic situation, it is difficult for consumers to pay for products above this price range. The functions of products in this price range should cover all mainstream functions.

The 1500-2000 price range is the most popular price range, and there are still some profits. Roborock, Narwal, Tineco, and Dreame have also deployed a large number of products and promotion resources in this price range. Competition in this price range is also the most intense, and brands with insufficient strength are afraid to enter this price range.

The price range of 1000-1500 is the main focus of several national brands. Midea, Haier, Supor, Uwant, etc. are also competing with Tineco for this price range. Products in this price range are designed to fulfill various basic functions, and costs must be controlled well in order not to lose money.

800-1000 price range. The cost pressure is relatively high in this price range. Tineco, Dreame, etc. have basically given up on this price range. The main reason is that Deerma, Midea, Haier, Supor, etc. are competing here. Narwal has produced more than 900 models, and the advantages of the product are still relatively large.

Below 800. This belongs to some white-label companies and will not be discussed here.

Now the industry is very complicated, and there is no room for product updates. In terms of price, each brand is also strictly guarding its main price range. Tineco's profit margin has also increased from 30% net profit in the early days to single-digit net profit. If Leifen comes in, I don't think it will necessarily make money. The style of Leifen products is better workmanship and lower prices. Xiaomi, the inventor of this current price strategy, has been on the hard floor for so many years. It has not achieved particularly good results on washer, so it is difficult for Laifen to break through without its own traffic channels.

If Mr. Ye must enter the hard floor washer industry, there are some breaking points that Laifen can refer to:

1. The product price range is set at around 1800-2000. It is difficult to sell above this price range. If the price is below this price, it is difficult to make any breakthrough in the product due to cost issues. Considering the marketing investment, it is impossible to sell without a certain profit margin.

1. Product form.

Basic functions: can lie flat at 180 degrees, single roller brush, hair anti-tangle, roller brush drying, hot water and electrolyzed water. Double roller brushes are not necessary, 5 and 1 are optional if they are multi-functional.

The only breakthrough point I can think of is the base station, which is used for automatic water supply and waste disposal. Tineco is called the space station. The current sales price is about 4,499. Obviously, it is difficult to have a large sales volume at this price. Basically, all robot vacuum products in the Chinese market have base stations. But hard floor One problem with the washer base station is that the garbage sucked back either needs to be filtered or flushed directly to the sewer. If it is filtered first, the filter needs to be cleaned every time, so the base station loses its meaning. If it is flushed directly to the sewer pipe without filtering, it may cause blockage in the pipe.

You can add a module to the base station, similar to a kitchen garbage disposer, to crush the garbage in the sewage tank and flush it to the sewer.

In this way, the hard floor washer is just like a robot vacuum, ready to use and does not need to be disposed of after each use.

The cost of the above product functions cannot be low, and it is difficult to hold on to the sales price of around 2,000. If Leifen can really sell this product for around 2,000, it will make it difficult for Tineco, Dreame and other brands to deal with it. Because everyone’s product line functions and prices have already been matched, it is impossible to release a product with a similar price to break their own product system.

1. Leifen's advantage lies in its strong marketing capabilities. If it can really make the above products, it will be able to sell hundreds of thousands of units a year. (This can also increase sales by about 1 billion).