Toilet seat makers eye domestic market

The irony of Chinese consumers going crazy for made-in-China, high-tech toilet seats being sold in Japan has led to bemusement among domestic sanitary players, with some trying to seize the opportunity nonethless.

During the Chinese Lunar New Year holiday last month, Chinese tourists reportedly spent around $959 million in Japan with many snapping up the "smart" electronic seats with clever built-in functions such as washing and heating.

The majority of Japanese brands, including TOTO Ltd and Panasonic Corp, actually manufacture their products in China.

Liu Wengui, secretary-general of Foshan Sanitary Ware Industry Association, said increasingly Chinese consumers demand a simple combination of quality and brand reputation.

"When it comes to sanitation technology, Japanese and other foreign companies with long histories are market leaders compared with Chinese companies which are only two decades old," he said.

"As an industry we have made big strides, but Chinese brands have less presence at the higher end of the market, which requires cutting-edge technology and innovation," said Liu.

According to the association, the domestic sanitary-ware market was worth 230 billion yuan ($36.7 billion) last year, of which foreign companies accounted for around 10 billion yuan, or less than 5 percent.

But with increasing incomes and standards of living, there is ample opportunity for domestic brands to expand into the top-quality sanitaryware market, such as for smart toilets, and some have responded to the hype.

Foshan Dongpeng Sanitary Ware Co Ltd, for example, which started manufacturing smart toilets in 2009, launched its "Why go to Japan to buy your toilet?" marketing campaign on March 1. The campaign includes discounts for toilet seats starting at 1,528 yuan ($244).

Dongpeng will also run promotions that give away other Chinese-made appliances such as rice cookers, which are similarly sought-after in Japan, again by Chinese tourists.

Lin Lini, head of marketing at Dongpeng, said: "The difference between Chinese and Japanese companies is brand reputation, so our campaign focuses not only on promoting our smart toilets but all Chinese products."

Aside from reputation, there is also the issue of consumer exposure.

While smart toilets started being sold in Japan in the late 80s, very few Chinese had access to them.

"In Japan, 90 percent of the toilets have some high-tech features so it is understandable that Chinese tourists would buy them after using them during a holiday there," said Lin.

"We have to do a better marketing job highlighting the products' benefits to the uninitiated."

Jomoo Kitchen & Bath Co Ltd has introduced a "try first, pay later" promotion for their smart toilets to introduce the concept to Chinese consumers.

Zhang Lijun, a salesman at an outlet of the Japanese department store Ito-Yokado in Beijing, however, said sales of its Panasonic smart toilets have been nothing like the reported frenzy in Japan.

"Customers prefer to buy goods overseas even if they are made in China because there is the belief that products made for export are of higher standards than those destined for the domestic market," said Zhang.

Persuading consumers to buy domestic products will continue to be a challenge, however, based on the most recent figures from the Ministry of Commerce, which show more than a trillion yuan was spent last year by Chinese consumers overseas. Yang Lichun, a shopper at Sundan Electronics Appliance Store, told China Daily she would consider buying a Chinese brand smart toilet if prices were competitive compared with Japanese brands and good post-sales customer services were provided.

muchen@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 03/17/2015 page15)