Water purifier market chaos

The bottled water sector continues to have negative news. Consumers are increasingly worried about the safety of drinking water. Being able to drink “pure water” or “mineral water” directly from the taps in your home is a favorite for many consumers. As a result, water purifiers become hot commodities.

Jingdong Mall data show that Jingdong Mall sold only more than 10 million water purifiers in 2011, and the sales volume of water purifiers exceeded RMB 65 million in 2012. In 2013, the sales volume of water purifiers is expected to exceed RMB 350 million. Not only is Jingdong Mall, the entire water purifier market is currently undergoing blow-out development, and the problems associated with chaos, miscellaneous functions, and lack of standards have surfaced.

Outrageous prices are cluttered

The reporter visited several home appliance stores in Beijing and discovered that there are more than a dozen brands of water purifiers circulating on the market. Prices range from 999 yuan to 10,000 yuan. Open Taobao website, more water purifiers ranging from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.

A salesperson of Suning Appliance Beijing Tongzhou Xinhua Store told the reporter that the functional difference is the main reason for the different prices of water purifiers.

Through the introduction of sales personnel, the reporter learned that the water purifier can be divided into five levels according to the different number of filter elements, and the filtered water is also divided into ultrafiltration water, pure water, and purified water. "If the selling price of a water purifier is below 10,000 yuan, it is definitely not true. It is certainly false," he reminded reporters.

Is the fact that, as the salesman said, the number of filter cartridges determines the price of water purifiers?

Some media found through investigation that the wholesale price of water purifiers is much lower than the selling price. A water purifier with a market price of around RMB 1,000, the wholesale price given by many manufacturers is about RMB 150. What is the reason for such a large price difference? China’s report hall and Yu Bo’s intellectual market researcher Zhai Xiangdong told reporters that because the water purifier market is just emerging, consumers are not familiar with the quality and function of the water purification products, and the market is still in huge profits. stage. At present, the most expensive products can be sold in the terminal market for tens of thousands of yuan, but the ex-factory price for dealers is generally below 1,000 yuan. "In fact, the use of the effect is still good or bad depending on the filter, according to the current market conditions, a high-end filter is priced at 400 yuan, a low-end product must be more than one hundred yuan."

In addition to the price “outrageous”, the introduction of the water purifier functions by sales staff has also caused consumers to fall. At present, there are many equipments on the market that have the concept of water purification, such as water purifiers, water purifiers, and soft water purifiers. The concepts are numerous and the introduction of sales personnel is also different and even contradictory.

Yan Xiangdong said that water purifiers rely on filter cartridges to realize the function of water purification. The concepts of active water, ionized water, and so on, which are termed by the manufacturers in terms of pure technology, far-infrared mineralization technology, and softened water technology, are mostly speculation.

Missing standard foreign brands may not be imported

Recently, Wang, a consumer who had just ordered a water purifier, told reporters that he had purchased a water purifier from a foreign brand because of concerns about quality problems in domestic products. Through market research, he found that a U.S. brand water purifier not only had a flagship store in Tmall, but also had its own official website. The products were widely sold in Europe, the United States, and other places. "Quality should be trustworthy."

However, when he logged into the brand Tmall flagship store, he discovered that the store's company name was Kunshan Co., Ltd., which is located in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, not the United States. To this end, he asked the store clerk whether the water purifier was imported. However, the clerk's response surprised him: “In addition to the filter element, the other components are assembled in China.” And when he wanted to know whether other products could be used to identify the real origin of the product, the clerk said that where the assembly was not visible However, it is almost impossible to tell whether the product is imported or not, and can only guarantee product quality. In the end, Wang still reluctantly purchased this "absence of origin guarantee" foreign brand water purifier.

After visiting a number of water purifier brand stores, the reporter found that the purification standards for water purifiers are often different. Yan Xiangdong explained that currently there are four standards that apply mainly to the production of water purifiers: First, the processing of natural water into tap water must comply with the standards of GB 5749-2006 and must be issued through the health department; second is the Ministry of Health issued in 2001. The "General Water Quality Processor Hygiene Safety and Functional Evaluation Standards", the vast majority of water purifier manufacturers are in accordance with this specification for production; third is the introduction of the Ministry of Construction standards, mainly for water purifier nanofiltration; four is health Ministry of Industry released in 2001 the industry standard "health and safety of drinking water and functional specifications", mainly for the water purifier reverse osmosis function. “The root cause of the chaos in the water purifier market lies in the lack of industry-standard mandatory national standards. Although the water purifier industry has already issued a number of industry regulations, the mandatory national standard has not been introduced,” he said.