Comments on: Chris Devonshire-Ellis: In China, White Goods Become Red

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 05:38:58 +0000

Actually with the spread of Guomei, Suning, Walmart and other big retailers into 3rd & 4th tier cities and even into towns, pricing and price transparency getting much better for rural consumers. Once upon a time, they were gouged for sub-standard product by local dodgy retailers, overpaying for shoddy goods.

Over the past 5 years the move by domestic retailers targeting lower tier cities, small town and rural markets has absolutely changed the rules of the game.

In these markets, prices are now much lower, goods of national standard and service much improved. Consumers also much more savvy.

I’m not convinced that fridges will become uniformly red (haven’t seen too many of these in rural houses), but it is certainly true that manufacturs have focused on good quality models that hit key price points in rural areas.

The tax refunds on whitegoods rolled out last year for rural residents have resulted in an absolute boom in sales. I would estimate that the overwhelming beneficiary would be domestic enterprises, with few foreign manaufacturers having models meeting the maximum.

By: Chris Devonshire-Ellis

Chris Devonshire-Ellis — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 03:07:54 +0000

Thats exactly my point Hugo, and considered ‘standards’ when it comes to China, not just in consumerism but alsom in politics and culture are starting to shift because of Chinese cultural preferences. I concentrated on the sales and marketing aspect where a new type of thinking is eveolving to sell to rural communities. America and Western Europe lost those sensibilities 60 years ago, but there are becoming increasingly valid again for the rural Chinese, Indians, and Russian, Africa and South American markets. “Selling Rural techniques” will become a major commercial strategy in getting products to these new emerging markets, and its companies that consider and adopt such policies that will prosper. – Thanks Chris

By: Hugo

Hugo — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:09:31 +0000

Seeing that the term “white goods” was coined by an American department store (Sears and Roebuck) certainly it is related to some American custom.

Since China has a clearly different folklore from the US, specifically an estimation by the red color, I see no meaning in give continuity to the American original appellation.