Under the epidemic, "fierce medicine" is needed to expand domestic demand and promote consumption. in order to stimulate the consumption of household appliances and furniture, the "trade-in" of household appliances, which has been mentioned many times over the past few years, has stood in the tuyere again: after more than 10 departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Commerce, have continuously issued documents to encourage the upgrading of household appliances, on November 18, 2020, the executive meeting of the State Council further made it clear that "it is necessary to promote the consumption of household appliances and furniture." Encourage areas with conditions to subsidize the elimination of old household appliances and furniture and the purchase of green smart appliances and environmentally friendly furniture. "
These measures are the full implementation of "home appliances to the countryside" in February 2009, when the central government arranged a subsidy budget of 20 billion yuan, a strong policy focus not seen in the industry for many years. Because with the continuous improvement of Chinese living standards, the consumption of household appliances is changing from increment to stock. According to the estimation of China Household Electrical Appliances Association, it is estimated that about 160 million household appliances will reach the safe service life in 2020.
However, in order for home appliances to "trade in old for new" to really unleash the potential of consumption and stimulate economic growth, people still need to gather firewood together and burn a few more "fires":
First of all, it is necessary to strengthen the popularization of science to consumers. Eating expired food will affect health, but do not know that home appliances also have a shelf life, old home appliances power consumption, noise, safety risks, many consumers are not clear. In early 2020, the China Household Appliances Association issued a series of standards on the safe service life of household appliances, which determined that the safe service life of refrigerators, air conditioners, washing machines, range hood, electric water heaters and other products did not exceed 10 years.
However, according to the 2020 Shanghai Household Appliances Safety Life Survey conducted by the Shanghai Consumer Protection Commission, 73.5% of consumers have household appliances with a long service life at home, and 60% of consumers do not know the useful life of household appliances and related hazards. According to the calculation of the total number of 8.2 million households in Shanghai in 2019, the number of large household appliances is 187 million and the number of mobile phones is 16.5 million, it is estimated that more than 38 million household appliances will be in use for more than 10 years or more. From 2020, about 8 million new extended household appliances will be added to Shanghai residents' homes every year.
Second, subsidies should have "practical information". Despite the "imperial sword" of national policy, the "trade-in" of household appliances still stays on the "optional action" of major home appliance manufacturers and platforms at present. For example, Gome retail and Yongle Life Appliances recently launched a "trade-in" activity for household appliances in Shanghai, with 10 types of household appliances, such as ice washing, color TV sets, kitchen and sanitary appliances, which can enjoy a subsidy of up to 200 to 800 yuan for each category, and 200 to 2000 yuan for mobile phones.
For another example, from November 1 last year to January 31, 2021, Midea's air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines mainly carried out "trade-in" in counties and towns, giving consumers 100 to 300 yuan in subsidies. These actions show that enterprises are actively practicing social responsibility, but after all, they are still a means of sales, and their universality, sustainability and influence are not the same as those of "home appliances going to the countryside" at the government level at that time.
After the national policy was issued, some home appliance retailers in Shanghai began to "trade the old for the new".
During the May five-year Shopping Festival in Shanghai last year, the policy of activating automobile consumption introduced by the government should be used for reference by "exchanging old for new" of household appliances. Since the first half of last year, Shanghai has given a subsidy of 4000 yuan per car for "trade-in" for old cars. data show that as of December 31, 2020, the cumulative number of applications for scrapping and replacement subsidies for old cars in Shanghai has exceeded 52000, and 25098 people have been subsidized, with a total amount of more than 100 million yuan. Many car buyers think that the amount of real money provided by the government, coupled with the joint concession of car factories and 4S stores, is not small, and it is really cost-effective.
Third, while "exchanging the old for the new", in order to avoid disorder and confusion in the recovery of household appliances, out-of-date household appliances in overage service must be completely dismantled and must not flow into the market again, bringing new hidden dangers to safety. At present, the domestic household appliance recycling industry is characterized by "small disorder", and many of them are still "guerrillas" who go from street to street. There are usually two ways for these "guerrillas" to recycle waste household appliances: either repair and fix them and turn them into second-hand goods and sell them; if not, they will carry out non-standard disassembly, and in the end, those "useless" parts will be mixed with domestic waste and thrown away, and the level of harmless disposal is low.
In fact, in May 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission and other seven ministries have jointly issued the "implementation Plan for improving the Recycling and disposal system of waste Household Appliances and promoting the Renewal consumption of Household Appliances". The aim is to build a standardized and orderly, smooth operation, collaborative and efficient recycling system of waste household appliances.
In this context, it is called for according to the provisions of the "Consumer Law" of "who sells who is responsible", while the offline platform of home appliance sellers carries out "trade-in", a regular army of waste household appliances recycling composed of highly qualified green environmental protection demolition and degradation enterprises must be well organized and managed, and local governments should also promptly introduce regulatory measures for the recycling and disposal of waste household appliances in accordance with state regulations. Prevent out-of-date household appliances from entering the market again, relevant industry associations strengthen self-discipline, and the three parties work together to form a life cycle closed loop of "purchase-recycling-re-purchase" of household appliances.
