Sanitary Ware Enterprises Entering E-Commerce Must Solve Three Major Problems

In an era of fierce Internet penetration, all industries have begun to test the waters of "e-commerce," hoping to explore a path that integrates with the Internet. The sanitary ware industry is no exception and has begun to enter the e-commerce sector one after another. However, due to the limitations of the industry's characteristics, there are many problems to be solved on the e-commerce road of sanitary ware.

Conflict of Interests

Traditional sanitary ware enterprises sell products in multiple regions through distributors. As things stand, most traditional enterprises sell about 80% of their products through distributors, and offline sales still account for the bulk. Enterprise transformation must take into account the interests of distributors. However, selling products directly to consumers through e-commerce at lower prices will affect the interests of distributors, creating conflicts between online and offline channels.

The key to solving the conflict of interests lies in achieving shared interests with distributors. For example, sanitary ware manufacturers can assign after-sales tasks to local distributors and let them handle product after-sales processing. On the one hand, this can solve the problem of service provision; on the other hand, it can also bring distributors onto the e-commerce platform, forming a win-win situation. At the same time, products on the enterprise mall platform can be sold by distributors through online channels via micro-distribution, allowing enterprises to gain more traffic on the Internet.

Logistics and Transportation

Unlike the fast-moving consumer goods commonly seen in e-commerce, sanitary ware products are large items, and there is a relatively high risk of product damage during transportation. At the same time, due to irregular operations in the logistics industry, this risk is further intensified, ultimately leading to many people being unwilling to buy large sanitary ware products online. This problem will be gradually solved with the development of the e-commerce logistics industry. At present, what sanitary ware enterprises can do is choose reliable express and logistics companies to reduce transportation risks, while providing consumers with more guarantees and eliminating customers' worries.

After-Sales Service

Sanitary ware products also involve installation issues. Purchased products must be installed before use, but merchants usually do not provide free installation services, and in some areas, they cannot even deliver goods indoors. At the same time, if consumers are dissatisfied with the product or the product has quality problems and they want to return, exchange, or repair it, the process is very troublesome, and after-sales service cannot be guaranteed, seriously affecting the further development of sanitary ware e-commerce. To address this problem, sanitary ware enterprises can develop an O2O model, such as opening offline experience stores, to improve user experience while solving after-sales installation and maintenance services.

It is undeniable that the e-commerce model can significantly promote the development of sanitary ware enterprises. If this issue is not taken seriously, they will surely lose the opportunity brought by the mobile Internet wave. In short, under the current background of a relatively sluggish sanitary ware market but extremely fierce competition, sanitary ware enterprises need to adhere to market-centered transformation and gradually solve related problems on the development path. Only in this way can they ultimately win the market.