Home building materials industry sprouted "reverse exhibition phenomenon"

In a few days, the annual online shopping event “Double 11” online shopping carnival is coming soon. With the rapid development of e-commerce, due to its price advantage, many consumers will first go to the physical store to experience the product and then place orders on the site. This phenomenon is called the "exhibition hall phenomenon." However, due to the fact that home building materials products are large and durable consumer goods, especially household products that need to be customized according to size, online shopping often cannot see physical objects, and problems such as damage in the delivery process, incorrect versions of goods, and incomplete after-sales services may occur. In addition, the soft underbelly that cannot be experienced on the Internet has also caused many consumers to abandon their plans to purchase online home furnishings.

Recently, when the author visited the market, he discovered that many “smart” consumers would browse the lowest prices of home building materials on the Internet first, then went to the home building materials store to experience the bargaining orders, and the home building materials industry sprouted a “reverse exhibition phenomenon”. ".

After-sales online shopping problems

Citizens transferred from the line

When the author visited a certain brand sofa shop in the Xiyingmen store, she encountered Ms. Li who was making payments. Ms. Li is a shopping expert. Recently, she is currently renovating and installing furniture. She has been walking between online stores and physical stores. “I took this sofa of the brand very early and the official online flagship store price was 5,999 yuan. And the installation also need to pay another 200 yuan, but this sofa is also selling 5900 yuan in the store, you can also enjoy 9.7% discount, and free delivery to the door installation." Ms. Lee said that many big brands are now online and offline prices Unity, concessions are relatively stable, online shopping not only does not have the price advantage, but also need to pay for door-to-door installation costs, in contrast, or in the physical store shopping cost-effective.

Mr. Wang, who lives in East Bay, is a firm supporter of the “reaction hall phenomenon.” He said he would not buy furniture online. However, he admitted that he would check the style and price on the Internet in advance to purchase similar or the same products in the store. The reference. "I think online shopping is mainly worried about late-stage services, furniture, this kind of thing is still more secure in the store to buy, you can first choose your favorite products on the Internet, and then go to the physical store to see the real thing, feel quality and then start More reliable, compared with online shopping, the physical store to give more comprehensive services, can be door-to-door installation, after-sales service is also guaranteed.” Mr. Wang said.

Focus on the consumer experience

Stores have an advantage

For this kind of "reverse exhibition hall phenomenon" that appears in home building materials, many building material merchants are not surprised. "Wardrobe, kitchen cabinets and other building materials products, need to measure, install and other localization services, customization of product installation and debugging services are currently the electricity supplier can not be resolved." An urban brand custom wardrobe business told the author, in the physical store Purchased consumers can intuitively feel the quality of the product. At the same time, the physical store has a dedicated service staff to introduce it. Online shopping is impossible.

Actually, the owner of a famous brand sofa said that although the brand sofa has a flagship store on the Internet, most of the stores display high-end series of products for sale, while the line is an ordinary series, and the two cannot be directly compared. The most important thing is that in physical store purchases, consumers can personally experience the comfort of the sofa and enjoy the promise of lifelong maintenance, which is beyond the reach of online shopping. “Furniture products are different from clothing, and many large pieces of furniture such as sofas, beds, wardrobes, and dining tables are expensive. Even if they’ve seen a physical object in a physical store, it’s hard to keep the same as online, if it’s for furniture. Materials, exterior paint, etc. are different from real objects, and non-innovators do not see it at all. Nowadays, consumers are very environmentally friendly. Many people will choose to place orders in physical stores considering multiple factors.”

Why does the phenomenon of "reverse exhibition hall" sprout in the home building materials industry? Industry analysts said that home building materials focus on the special nature of consumer experience and its customization, personalization and other characteristics, is the main reason. Industry insiders remind that this is an opportunity for offline home building materials stores. Physical stores should better grasp the opportunity of face-to-face communication with consumers and better enhance the consumer experience.