Since the beginning of 2022, due to factors such as rising costs and recurring epidemics, news has spread from individual slate manufacturers to suspend kilns and take holidays. At the 2022 Guangzhou Construction Expo held in July, the special "Stone Slab Pavilion" in previous years was gone, and there were only a handful of participating rock slab brands. Just when everyone began to speculate "whether slate is not good", the grand occasion of nearly 40 slate brands gathering at the 2022 Xiamen Stone Exhibition once again boosted confidence.
In response to the current development status of rock slabs, some industry insiders joked that rock slabs are performing a "song of ice and fire". On the one hand, the slate market has been cold; on the other hand, ceramic companies such as Dongpeng, Jiangjun, Tengda, and Ruiyang have all launched new slate production lines in the first half of the year. Some ceramic companies even revealed that the sales of slates in the first half of the year exceeded 250 million news.
Looking back at the development of rock slabs in the past few years, from a blowout development to a return to rationality, the most obvious change is that product prices have dropped significantly, and even the ex-factory price of some small-sized rock slabs is close to that of ceramic tiles. The previous market perception was that of "high-end slate for decoration", but it is very likely to become "low-end slate for decoration" in the future. Some people blame all this on the price war caused by vicious competition. However, is price war really the "culprit"?
01 Online channel prices have bottomed
In recent times, many "Guangdong slate manufacturers" have been active on Douyin, Xiaohongshu and other platforms. They hold high the banner of "special prices" and attract sales by publishing works and live broadcasts. After observing for a period of time, the reporter found that the prices offered by these merchants were indeed very "attractive."
Take the 900×1800㎜ rock slab as an example. Whether it is an ultra-white slab or an infinitely connected rock slab, it only costs 78 yuan/piece, and it comes with free shipping nationwide. In addition, the price of 800×2600㎜ rock slabs is as low as 98 yuan per piece. When consumers asked the question of "how many pieces should be shipped," the merchant's answer was "if you buy one piece, it will be shipped."
The reporter also learned that the sales of 1200×2400㎜ rock slabs through online channelsThe price is 149 yuan/piece, and the 1600×3200㎜ rock slab is priced at 499 yuan/piece. However, because this type of oversized rock slab requires wooden pallets for transportation, the cost is high, so only the whole pallet is accepted for purchase. What is surprising is that although these are special price slates, there are not many colors to choose from. Whether it is snowflake white, Lauren black gold, Pandora or Hanjiang snow, you can basically find the same style.
Compared with the prices in online channels, the prices of rock slabs in offline stores are obviously higher. The reporter visited a store of a certain first-line brand in a high-end building materials store. The salesperson introduced that currently three 800×2600㎜ rock slabs are used to make a set of simple background walls, and the overall price (including materials, transportation, processing and installation) is not high. If the cost is less than 5,000 yuan, if you need to add metal strips, light strips, grilles, TV cabinets, floors, etc., you will need to increase your budget appropriately.
02 Price plunge is the inevitable result
Behind the diversification of "special price rock slabs" is the homogenization of high-quality rock slabs, and homogeneity is only the trigger for price wars. Wu Junliang, brand director of Litai and deputy general manager of Delitai, once said at a forum that since slate is a mass-produced commodity with a very high degree of automation, with the conditions for cost reduction, there is naturally room for price reduction. .
On the one hand, from the perspective of supply and demand, the surge in rock slab production capacity will inevitably lead to a substantial reduction in rock slab prices. On the other hand, investing in and building a slate production line requires a lot of capital. Enterprises without sufficient funds can only choose the "low price and fast sales" method to speed up the return of funds. In addition, it cannot be ruled out that some companies take into account the cruelty of market competition and adopt low-price strategies in order to allow brands to quickly occupy market share.
In fact, there are some unconventional factors that affect the price of rock slabs in the development process, such as unsaleable products due to unpopular colors, trial production products whose manufacturing processes are in the exploratory stage, and defects found in quality inspection processes. Secondary products, etc., these products will generally flow to the market at ultra-low prices.
To sum up, the sharp plunge in rock slab prices is actually an inevitable result. The existence of a market proves that there is demand. After all, there is a certain gap between the rich and the poor in different regions and different consumer groups. From another perspective, the lower price of rock slabs is not necessarily a bad thing. More people can afford rock slabs, which will also promote the further replacement of other materials by rock slabs.
03 The consumer psychology of buying rock slabs at special prices
Speaking of consumer psychology, I believe many people know that "you get what you pay for". This psychology means that consumers who want high-quality products will acquiesce and accept higher prices. If the price of a product is too low, consumers are prone to rebellious psychology and question the quality of the product.
If everyone deeply understood the principle of "you get what you pay for", would special price slate slabs still be so popular?
In fact, the younger generation of consumers now pay more attention to cost-effectiveness when buying slate, for fear of being expensive or "being ripped off". Therefore, in addition to considering product quality and performance, consumers will also pay special attention to price factors. The reporter found that many consumers shared their experiences in purchasing and installing rock slabs on Xiaohongshu, and the most popular ones were basically tips on how to save money.
In addition to focusing on cost-effectiveness, there is also a consumer psychology that prompts consumers to buy special price slates.
For example, the consumer in the above video shared his experience of purchasing customized slate countertops for cabinets. He accidentally chipped the countertop when installing a range hood, accidentally chipped the countertop while cooking, and accidentally chipped the countertop after washing it. A bowl accidentally knocked off the countertop and broke the porcelain... From then on, I just served three meals a day carefully on the countertop. So some netizens joked that a rock slab costing a few hundred yuan per square meter would crack, and a rock slab costing one to two thousand yuan per square meter would also crack. Why not just buy the cheaper one? It is not difficult to find that the reason why consumers have this mentality is precisely because they do not have enough trust in slate.
04 Standards for measuring high/low-end decoration
If the price of rock slabs decreases, decoration using rock slabs will become low-end. So what is the standard for measuring high-end decoration and low-end decoration? Industry insiders often use price to measure the quality of decoration, but consumers care more about the effect and value of decoration. There is an obvious disconnect between the two.
“There are so many rock slab brands across the country, and all of them want to be positioned as high-end.It is unrealistic to sell board materials at high prices. "A ceramic tile dealer said in an interview with reporters that in the process of selling slate slabs, consumers' trust is very important. Only when consumers recognize the dealer's service capabilities and are satisfied with the results will they be willing to pay for high-priced slate slabs. Pay for the board. If you just sell "a board", no matter how hyped the business is, consumers will not accept it.
At the 2022 China Slate Summit, Tang Jieming, assistant to the president of China Ceramic City Group and general manager of China (Foshan) Ceramics Headquarters, said that as a new material and new category, slate has experienced an explosion of popularity in 2019 and has also entered 2022. In the quiet years, the rock slab channel has not yet been fully rolled out at this stage, and the terminal application services are urgently needed. Just like finding a water source but no pipes, and having good ingredients but no chefs, the explosion of slate production capacity has produced many good products, but the best application of slate has yet to appear.
It can be seen that the standard for measuring high-end decoration and low-end decoration will definitely not be the price of the product, but the value of the product's actual application. In the long term, the outlook for rock slabs is not that pessimistic. The superior material properties determine that slate still has a large room for development in many fields. However, if slate wants to truly build trust and reputation in the minds of consumers and escape the "low price" cage, it must do a good job in packaging, A series of supporting services such as transportation, design, processing, installation and maintenance.
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Price wars may always exist, but price wars will not be the reason why rock slabs move from high-end to low-end. The inability to solve the problem of practical application is the "culprit".
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