Gas wall-hung boilers (hereinafter referred to as "wall-hung boilers") have been developed for many years, integrating the bathing function of traditional water heaters and the heating function of traditional boilers. These years have also been regarded as a branch of the water heater industry in the industry. However, compared with traditional water heaters, wall-hung boilers have only been developed in China for more than 20 years, and most consumers still know little about them.

Wall-hung boilers originated in Europe. Since the 1990s, some European and Korean brands have entered the Chinese market and gradually expanded their market share advantages. However, the development of wall-hung boilers in recent years has mainly focused on the engineering market, and has played its advantages under the catalysis of coal-to-gas policies and refined decoration.

In recent years, the topic of heating in the South has attracted people’s attention. The heating cycle is short, and the heating period in some areas is only 40 days. Considering the complexity of heating equipment construction, it is not suitable for central heating. Wall-hung boiler heating has become the most popular heating system in the South. Excellent solution. In addition to southern fine decoration, consumer demand for wall-hung boilers at home has also begun to appear. In the process of communicating with reporters, many wall-hung boiler practitioners believed that the future of wall-hung boilers is not in the coal-to-coal reform market, but in the retail market.

Under the influence of the epidemic, the wall-hung boiler industry has been affected in both the engineering market and the retail market this year. According to industry online data, the sales of wall-hung boilers in Q1 this year were 230,800 units, a year-on-year decrease of 36.67%; among them, the sales of condensing wall-hung boilers (including secondary heat exchange) were 23,500 units, a year-on-year decrease of 66.03%. Gas Engineering) 169,300 units, a year-on-year decrease of 24.07%, and retail sales of 61,500 units, a year-on-year decrease of 56.55%. Recently, the State Grid Corporation of China interviewed relevant corporate leaders, wanting to understand the development of the wall-hung boiler industry and the problems it faces from a corporate perspective, and what new directions can be explored in the future.

Test the water live sales

The wall-hung boiler market is subject to short-term fluctuations under the influence of policies and the property market, but as a whole, the market will still be on the rise for a long time. Even if the sudden outbreak of the epidemic this year has a major impact on retail market sales, especially offline channel sales, the overall market growth direction will not change in the long run.

On the one hand, the country’s determination and intensity in the use of clean energy have not changed, and the epidemic has not affected the process of converting coal to gas and electricity in most areas; on the other hand, the rapid development of e-commerce during the epidemic has made more users recognize To learn about and purchase wall-hung boiler products online.

Although the retail market for wall-hung boilers tends to be offline, under the influence of the epidemic this year, wall-hung boiler companies have also begun to try to break through the bottleneck of product sales through live online sales. It is understood that Qingdong Nabian has previously launched a live sales of wall-hung boilers in Xinjiang and Hebei, which has achieved good results. Bosch is also experimenting with product sales in this form this year.

Previously, many wall-hung boiler companies had low investment in the online market. This year's changes in user consumption habits are also driving these companies to accelerate channel changes. However, Wang Yunfeng, Senior Marketing Director of Bosch Thermal Technology China, also told reporters that live streaming is the most popular online traffic aggregation and product promotion method. If you want to bring dividends to sales through this method, you need to compare the brand. With long-term cultivation and planning, the company is currently still in the testing stage.

Multiple pain points to be solved

At present, wall-hung boiler products need to face localization problems that are completely different from those in the European market. The geographical and climatic conditions of different regions in China are obviously different, and the usage habits of residents are also different. The wall-hung boiler is different from ordinary household appliances, and its operation is also affected by the quality of the local gas source, water quality, climatic conditions, and building structure. How to adapt the wall-hung boiler products to various use conditions and ensure the safe, stable, normal and efficient operation of wall-hung boiler products is a problem that every wall-hung boiler manufacturer must face.

Manufacturers of wall-hung boilers need to study and understand the Chinese market and application environment in depth, while using mature technologies in the heating industry in advanced regions to provide professional solutions to specific problems, rather than blindly copying the R&D experience in these regions. It is understood that Bosch will introduce wall-hung boiler products that are adapted to the Chinese market and conform to the habits of Chinese people based on the company’s mature technology applied in the European market, and based on the characteristics and application scenarios of the Chinese market; Qingdong Nabian will follow Domestic air pollution prevention and control requirements have also increased investment in environmental protection and energy saving, and further optimized and upgraded low-nitrogen condensation wall-hung boilers.

At the same time, product research and development, product quality and durability, and after-sales service will greatly restrict the overall development of the industry. At present, Qingdong Nabian uses the form of actively returning to end users and collecting user experience information to adjust and optimize product functions and ensure product reliability and safety according to consumer pain points, and control in accordance with strict quality standards and quality control procedures Product quality puts forward higher requirements on production personnel, implements more scientific and rigorous production management, and adopts original imported accessories to improve the stability and durability of the whole machine. In addition, regarding the after-sales service of wall-hung boiler products, Qingdong Nabian has improved its service quality by increasing after-sales sites and training more maintenance personnel and after-sales engineers.

It is worth noting that the low awareness of wall-hung boiler products is also a problem faced by the industry so far. Statistics show that compared with the 90% penetration rate of European and American countries, the penetration rate of domestic wall-hung boilers is less than 10%. Considering that the domestic gas penetration rate is increasing at this stage, the market share of gas-fired wall-hung boilers and gas water heaters is also With the improvement year by year, even if the central heating in the northern heating area is excluded, the wall-hung boiler is not suitable for heating, the wall-hung boiler market still has huge room for growth.

Therefore, how to properly cultivate the wall-hung boiler market and actively guide the consumers of wall-hung boilers is the responsibility of the entire industry. Since wall-hung boilers involve water, electricity, and gas, they have high requirements on the design, manufacture, installation, use, maintenance, and repair of equipment. Consumers are greedy to buy "parallel imported machines" at a low price, and they often fail after failures and accidents. Get the original factory's formal after-sales service, and suffer economic losses and safety risks. The relevant person in charge of Qingdong Nabian also said, “In addition to the media and advertising, we must focus more on the existing 10%, do a good job in products and services, and let users help us promote positive recognition. Only by knowing can this industry develop healthily."

Many wall-hung boiler practitioners believe that health, environmental protection and intelligence will become important directions for the future development of the wall-hung boiler industry. During the epidemic, consumers paid more attention to home appliances that are closely related to their health. Unlike air conditioners, wall-hung boilers do not have forced hot air circulation, thus reducing the risk of virus transmission through air circulation, and may become a selling point for consumers in the future. Taking into account the domestic investment in clean energy, the future integration of solar energy, air source heat energy, and ground source heat energy will become an important development direction for wall-hung boiler heating systems. In addition, the wall-hung boiler heating system will also hopefully be gradually incorporated into the smart home system. For example, Qingdong Nabian has embedded smart and Wi-Fi modules in last year’s new wall-hung boilers, aiming to improve the user experience at the same time. Lay the foundation for the development of smart home.