According to industry sources, the price of hot-rolled and cold-rolled stainless steel in Asia has risen by US$300-400/ton. Stainless steel prices for East Asian countries' CIF exports to China: 304 grade hot rolled stainless steel sheets are $5,000-5,200/ton, and 304/2B 2mm cold rolled coils are $5,400-5,600/ton. The prices of hot-rolled and cold-rolled exports to China in April were $4,700-4,900/ton and $5,000-$5,200/ton, respectively.
Since the end of last year, stainless steel prices have been rising. At the same time, the prices of other raw materials used in solar water heaters are also rising, which undoubtedly brings cost pressure to the manufacturers. Surprisingly, although the price of domestic solar water heaters fluctuates, the overall market price tends to be stable, and there is a tendency for prices to fall.
This situation is completely different from other industries. Why are solar companies not raising prices? The reporter recently interviewed some solar energy companies, and the result was that the production companies had previously adopted various means to reduce operating costs and digested the cost pressure of rising raw materials. However, since the beginning of this year, the prices of raw materials such as copper and stainless steel have risen all the way, and have already broken through the bottom line of many enterprises. 80% of dealers strongly resisted product price increases. On the contrary, they believe that prices should be lowered, otherwise their business will not be able to continue. At the same time, some workshop-style small enterprises began to adopt the method of cutting corners to further suppress the market capitalization of the solar energy industry. The margins reserved in the original pricing are relatively large, and the natural endurance is stronger. They can naturally sacrifice some profits to digest. Blind price increases due to fluctuations in raw material prices. In this way, some small and medium-sized enterprises that survived in the market are caught in the confusion of chemical factors such as rising raw materials, increasing dealers’ price calls, and price suppression of miscellaneous brands. The price increase is to seek death and not to increase prices. Waiting to die!
The price should be reasonable
According to the author's observation, a well-known solar water heater in China recently hired a star to be the image spokesperson, and cooperated with the big-name planning company to refine a product selling point and began to raise the price banner. Many dealers purchased the goods in advance, and the products basically card. In the throat - the dealer. The top leaders of the company thought that they had spent a lot of money, invited celebrity endorsements and well-known masters of planning, and the price increase was taken for granted. As everyone knows, this is their wishful thinking. In the face of complaints from dealers, I don’t know how to be good? Not even do not understand where the problem is?
First: no disease. After the analysis, the author believes that the company's failure reasons are as follows: First, did not tell the consumer, why should the price increase? That is, the reasons and reasons for the price increase; Second, did not tell them that there is almost no difference before and after the price increase? What are the benefits of rising prices for consumers? It’s just telling consumers that “I’m going to raise the price, can you buy it?â€, the typical practice and meaning of raping consumers.
Whether it is a strong brand or a weak brand, when dealing with price increases, we must humbly explain to consumers, listen gently to consumers' opinions, and accept the different voices of consumers politely, even if they do not want to really listen to their opinions. Even if it is the opposite, it must be understood and recognized by them to gain their respect.
Second: lack of product support. A lot of work has not been done, including the transformation from standardized terminal image to product replacement packaging, lack of relevant support points for core selling points, etc., only advertising on CCTV, the content of advertising is not enough, does not highlight the company's brand image, and is aimed at business people channel Play, the time period has not been selected, many people sneer, the effect can be imagined. This simple propaganda to promote the price increase seems to be insufficient.
For a strong brand, the price increase is not a positive publicity. It needs to be done with the wind and the night, and it is easy to be used by the opponents. At the same time, because it is a strong brand, relative In other words, the price of the product is quite transparent. If the value of the product after the price increase cannot make the consumer feel the improvement, it cannot spread and publicize on a large scale.
For the weak brands, the price increase cannot be promoted separately. Although the price is not transparent, it must be related to the new product (either a brand new new product, a new product that can be replaced, or a replacement). Model new products, etc.), new promotions, etc. combined operation.
Third: the lack of value of price increases. In addition to the new selling point of the price-increasing products, there is no article that has a strong value. The function, quality and concept of the product are almost exactly the same as the original one. Although the product is changed, it is changed from the previous one. Similar, and the product content is exactly the same, even the product color is the same. In this case, the so-called carefully planned price increase, in the eyes of consumers, is worthless; in the eyes of competitors, it is to lie.
Therefore, before any price increase, any enterprise must solve the problem of the value of the product, whether it is the path of a new product sub-brand, or the way to replace the new product, or change the form value of the soup. Do you have a good article? Different choices will have different results and different strategies will be needed.
Fourth: Lack of conditions for price increases. Many price increases have led to a weak market due to the lack of clear objectives, effective timing, product and channel mix, and a variety of formal articles.
Price rises against the wind
The price has always been regarded as a double-edged sword, and the price increase has been regarded as a devil by many marketers and corporate people. It can only be seen from a distance. However, many solar water heater companies have to raise prices, otherwise they will not be able to survive, but how can they achieve the intended purpose?
1. Develop new products and raise prices. New products with good quality and novel features have high added value because they have the first to occupy the market and lead the trend of consumption. Develop such products and implement high prices to enter the market according to the principle of high quality and high price, so that the famous users are easy to accept. Therefore, under the pressure of rising current costs, solar energy companies should raise the price of their products by adopting new technologies, researching and developing new technologies, and insisting on independently developing high-end new products, in accordance with the principle of "people have me, people are better, new people, new people" The idea of ​​“turning people and turning me†adjusts the product structure, highlights the product cost performance, and constantly cultivates its own core products to foster the activation of the market, so that it can raise prices and gain higher market returns. If you are unable to introduce new products for a while, you can also change the color pattern, color variety or even change the specifications or models and crown the new name and then increase the price may get better results. Sun Rain Company has done a good job in this regard. It has launched a new technology of “warm wall†and provided a large number of technical support points, which has set off a boom in the market.
2. Reflect differences and increase prices in disguise. The cost reduction is ultimately limited, and the value of differentiation tends to increase with the brand's deep roots. For example, a product without a brand and a famous brand may vary greatly in price, including the intangible assets and consumer surplus that are differentiated to the business and end users. Therefore, enterprises should strengthen product characteristics by establishing brand image, providing characteristic services and superior technologies, and increasing product added value by product differentiation, service differentiation and channel differentiation, so that consumers feel the cost of payment despite It may be higher than similar products but value for money. Understanding and accepting the rising price of solar water heater products is the trend of the industry development, so that enterprises have reasonable profit margins, which can further strengthen product quality, new technology development and additional services. Investing in the aspect to achieve a virtuous circle of business.
3. Pay attention to communication and properly raise prices. As customers and consumers, they have already accepted the original product price, and now suddenly raise the price to be upgraded, which is generally not easy to accept. Under such circumstances, if the price of the enterprise product is to be appropriately increased and the user accepts the price of the raw material, it is necessary for the enterprise to seriously investigate and research, communicate with the customer and negotiate more, and find a solution acceptable to both parties, as long as the plan is met. It is practicable, the increase is reasonable, and the timing is appropriate, there will be a good ending.
4. Unify thinking and raise prices in the region. Due to the different "identity status" of resources and environment in China, it is difficult to implement the whole industry-wide price hike. However, due to the close internal and external environmental conditions and resource endowments, the high-end brands will raise prices together. Have certain operability. Beijing Tianyuan Sunshine Solar Co., Ltd. asked well-known training experts to unify their thoughts, refine the core selling points and launch new products. After the price increase, the company achieved a win-win situation.
The author believes that the price increase is a systematic project. There are many factors to consider before price increases, but one thing is that consumers must be changed. If there is no change in perception, ordinary consumers can choose to save a little, and replace some of the "economic" consumer goods with the original "big". Consumption, so after the price increase is still "original soup" is difficult to make consumers psychologically balanced. However, the price of raw materials has risen rapidly, and companies that do not raise prices cannot live. Therefore, even if it is to raise prices, we must pay attention to the way, and we must have the resilience and endurance of Tai Chi. Introducing new products is the first choice for price increases: the clever ideas of changing packaging, adding services, and developing high value-added products will make the “price increase†more lovely.
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Dongguan Hengqing Electronics Co., Ltd. , http://www.chbluetooth.com