Industry data shows "dramatic" increase in sales volume since late March.

Worried over long lockdowns, Chinese consumers are increasingly investing in freezers to store food, fearing such measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 could make it difficult to buy groceries.

Amid lockdowns or concerns over them, leading home appliance brands such as Midea and Haier both said they reported rising sales of refrigerators so far this year. Midea Group told the domestic outlet Jiemian that they have sold 45% more refrigerators so far this month compared with the same period last year.

While refrigerator sales in Shanghai started to show “obvious” growth in the fourth week of March, freezer orders recorded a two-fold increase in the past week compared to the same period last year, Jiemian reported last week. Searches for terms such as “freezer” and “refrigerators” on the social app WeChat have also surged sharply since April 7.

Outside Shanghai, residents in Beijing, Guangzhou, and Shenzhen also bought more refrigerators, with industry data reporting a “dramatic” increase in sales volumes since late March.

Concerns over home appliance price increases due to the rising prices of raw materials from overseas have also contributed to the increase in sales volumes in late March and April. Many home appliance brands have issued price increase notices before May Day, as a result, many consumers used the May Day deals to purchase home appliances at more affordable prices.

We expect that the home appliance peak in sales will happen during the "618" (mid-year e-commerce shopping festivals), China's second-largest e-commerce shopping day celebrated on June 18. 

It is paramount for home appliance brands to grasp new market opportunities that are a result of the consumers' changing needs. Participating in forums, online surveys, networking with industry experts, and last but not least, attending home comfort industry exhibitions, such as Comforteco, can be beneficial for business development.

We are currently preparing our annual show Comforteco 2022. The exhibition is dedicated to home appliances, home comfort systems, cooling, heating, pipeline systems, and smart control. In the focus of the edition, 2022 are new solutions related to air conditioning systems, hot water systems, heating systems, ventilation systems, dust collection and dust removal systems, water purification systems, soft water systems, pipeline systems, and much more, as well as a smart control system, smart kitchen, and bathroom, smart IoT, smart monitoring of the safe and healthy environment, to name a few.

The attendees of the exhibition are industry professionals such as system integrators, agents, HVAC engineering companies, real estate developers, hotel management companies, architects, and industry KOLs who are potential customers and their presence can bring many business opportunities. Stay tuned for more information on specific dates in the coming months.