LED Lighting Store Construction "Five Road Barriers"

LED terminal channel construction is relatively slow compared to the hot parts of LED R&D. At present, there are already thousands of professional LED lighting manufacturers, but in the market terminal, there are few specialized LED product operators, and LED stores are also rare in the market. Recently, the author had an exchange with the industry insiders on the topic of LED store construction. It was learned that LED stores must be well-established and internal strengths must be solid.

The emergence of LED stores was born in response to market demand. Zhongshan Guoguang Lighting Technology Co., Ltd. Guo Huaguo once stated the reasons for opening an LED store. In 2009, the company launched sales of LED interior lighting. Because LED interior lighting needs good product display and situational experience, the company has strengthened the construction of LED specialty stores. At present, 10 specialty stores have been established nationwide, with an area of ​​more than 60 square meters, while the large flagship store has reached 100 square meters. It can be seen that with the rapid development of LED, especially the promotion of LED interior lighting applications, the construction of LED stores will also accelerate.

The establishment of specialty stores plays a crucial role in promoting product sales, brand image creation, consumer attraction, corporate culture promotion, product display and promotion. At the same time, the store also carries the function of product after-sales service, which is conducive to improving the competitiveness of enterprises and market satisfaction. However, at present, the pace of LED store construction in China is somewhat slow. The reason is mainly the following five constraints.

Roadblock 1: The lack of professionals

Due to the high level of LED technology and the emerging sunrise industry, at present, LED is facing a shortage of professional and high-end talents, and this has also affected the construction of LED stores to some extent. The traditional lighting technology is low in content. After a small amount of training, the guide purchaser can clearly convey the product's functions, features, and usage methods to the customer. Due to the particularity of LED products, at present, many manufacturers' bosses and salesmen are in a state of little understanding of LED-related technologies and product features, and no matter whether they have corresponding training for merchants or shopping guides. On the one hand, consumers do not know much about LED, and they do not need professional shopping guides to explain the advantages and characteristics of the products. On the other hand, the existing sales staff are unable to perform this task, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty of operating the stores.

To open LED stores, manufacturers and merchants must inject professional talents, strengthen the training of LED professional knowledge, increase their attention and insight on the development trend of new products in the industry, and provide them with regular training to provide them with Provide customers with lighting solutions. Professional shopping guide is a key factor in improving store sales. If this piece of soft power can not keep up, it will inevitably restrict the development of the store.

Roadblock II: brand vacancy

For the store, it generally requires a more standardized, unified, standard image and operating mechanism, which requires LED manufacturers have a higher brand influence and market operation ability, can provide various aspects of the daily operation of the business, management guide. At present, the time for the emergence of LEDs is only two or three years. Domestic well-known lighting companies are still in the early stage of LED R&D and production. The influential LED brands on the market have not yet emerged, and the LED market is still in a quagmire state. The uneven quality of products and the lack of leading brands have caused many businesses to be very confused when they choose LED cooperative manufacturers. In the case of an LED store known to the author, the number of LED brands in its stores is as many as 10, and many are second and third tier brands. This mixed state is far from our true LED store.

Roadblock 3: Product positioning is not clear

Some time ago, I visited a certain energy-saving lamp company in Jiangmen. The company is preparing to launch the LED project. In the company's LED product showroom, the author saw LED lamps for outdoor lighting, LED downlights for shopping malls and supermarkets, spotlights, and home-use LED ceiling lamps. At present, many companies in the implementation of the LED project one-sided pursuit of large and complete, whether it is outdoor lighting, or indoor lighting, whether it is high-power, or low-power, as long as it is on the LED. Other companies are even more hungry and can do anything that makes money. However, operating a franchise requires a clear positioning of the product and the segmentation of the consumer's needs. Different product combinations and different levels of product elements are used for different functions and environments. In this way, it is beneficial to the promotion of the store's later period and market development.

Roadblock 4: Single product line

On July 8, the author visited Gao Chengfa, general manager of Zhongshan Sanglang Lighting Electric Co., Ltd. Selang Lighting has been operating LED lighting products since 2003, mainly LED decorative lights and light strips. With the increasingly prosperous LED market, this year, Mr. Gao also increased his investment in LED. The company invited the celebrity endorsement and LED store construction is also actively underway. However, Gao always frankly stated that these LED stores are not stores in the real sense. As the company’s LED product line needs to be further expanded and full, the current LED product line cannot support the operation of a single specialty store. Therefore, in the store, Also need to hang on energy-saving lamps, fluorescent tubes, downlights, spotlights and other products.

The situation like Gao Gou is also a problem faced by many LED lamp manufacturers. As a specialty store, it needs to provide a wide range of products to allow customers to enter the store to choose, so as to attract and retain customers. At the same time, specialty stores also need multi-level product mix to share the cost pressures such as rent. The single product line greatly influences the profitability of LED stores and becomes the biggest constraint in the development of LED stores.

Roadblock 5: High prices

Price is the most sensitive factor in consumer purchasing behavior and it is also a “watershed” of the competitive environment. At present, as the chip technology of the LED core is still in the hands of big foreign brands, the production cost of domestic LED products remains high, which makes LED lamps have no price competitive advantage in the terminal market. A fluorescent tube, energy-saving lamps as long as a few dollars, a dozen dollars, and an LED lighting needs a hundred dollars, which is difficult for consumers to accept. Therefore, although the total cost of LED luminaires (including acquisition costs + energy costs + maintenance costs + waste disposal costs) is lower than incandescent and fluorescent lamps, consumers are still using the acquisition cost as a selection criterion and do not care too much about high quality or Functional characteristics. In addition, consumers are also prone to consumption thinking, and they are worried that buying new products will bring uncertain losses and risks to themselves. Therefore, LED lamps have not yet been popularized and applied in the civilian market. If the LED lighting product only responds to engineering requirements, the opening of the LED store will appear to be unimportant.