Home appliance retail industry urgently needs a transformation in 2013

　 On July 4, the Ministry of Commerce issued the “China Retail Industry Development Report (2013)” (abbreviation report), which mainly introduced the development status and prospects of the retail and wholesale industry.

Last year, the sales of chain stores accounted for 2.4% of total retail sales of social consumer goods

The report shows that in 2012, the domestic online retail transaction scale reached 1.31 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 67.5%, accounting for 6.23% of the total retail sales of consumer goods in the same year. By the end of 2012, the number of domestic B2C, C2C, and other retail e-commerce models had reached 24,875, an increase of 19.9% ​​over 2011.

Online retailing has squeezed the market share of physical retailers to some extent. Taking the national chain top 100 as an example, in 2012, the sales of chain top 100 accounted for 9% of the total retail sales of social consumer goods, a decrease of 2.2 percentage points from the previous year, and the decline in the proportion for the first time since 2003.

The report believes that traditional retail companies are undergoing comprehensive and profound adjustments and changes. According to statistics from the China Department Store Business Association, in 2012, sales of 81 large and medium-sized department store retailers totaled 228.27 billion yuan, an increase of only 8.92% year-on-year, which was significantly lower than the 16.5% growth rate of department store sales from 2006 to 2011. Some traditional department stores Stores have even evolved into "experience sites" and "fitting rooms" that people can only see.

The report shows that in 2012, the retail industry realized an added value of 1.9 trillion yuan, accounting for 3.7% of GDP, and contributed 5.9% to the GDP growth of the year. The corporate net profit margin (profit margin of operating income) was only 2.46 percent.

“In recent years, expenses have increased rapidly, and rising rents and labor costs have been the main factors driving the increase in costs.” Guo Geping, chairman of the China Chain Store & Franchise Association, said that the average rent of the top 100 chain-based enterprises with large retail enterprises in 2012 was higher than the previous year. It rose 21%, labor costs rose by 20.5%, and utilities increased by 16%.

Yao Jian, spokesman of the Ministry of Commerce, said that it will further promote the development of the circulation industry, especially the retail industry.

Guo Geping believes that in the medium to long term, the development of China’s retail industry in urbanization will play a greater role in stimulating domestic demand. With the help of large markets, China’s retail industry, including chain companies, will maintain a sustained and stable growth.

Consumer services will be the focus of the next round of expansion of consumer <br> <br> energy-saving appliances subsidy policy officially expired in June this year. Previously, the policy of home appliance replacement, car replacement, and automobile transportation to the countryside have all expired at the end of 2010 and the end of 2011, and the policy of home appliances going to the countryside has also ended on January 31 this year. At this point, 2013 will be the year since the international financial crisis introduced the least consumption subsidies policy.

Yao Jian said that the next step is to expand consumer focus in three areas: First, through the development of urbanization, the integration of urban and rural development, and further expand the consumption of goods. The second is to further promote the upgrading of potential consumption through product innovation and green development, and further promote the upgrading and replacement of consumer products through product innovation and green consumption. Third, consumption includes commodity consumption and service consumption. As China's economic development and income increase, the consumption of services, especially service consumption in large and medium-sized cities, will become the focus of the next round of expansion of consumption.