'Clean' demand spurs Bissell business

Bissell Inc, a US-based floor care product maker, said it is upbeat about the potential of the Chinese consumption market, and hence has decided to increase its investment in the country.

Venny Liu, managing director of Bissell Asia, said: "The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly raised global demand for deep family cleaning, and this is especially true in the Chinese market. Last year, our sales revenue in China experienced tenfold growth. This year, so far, the sales revenue grew by 400 percent to 500 percent. The reason behind the growth was the rising demand for a cleaner family."

The China market presents a contrast to the US market. Families in the United States mostly use carpets. But, in China, tiles and wood floors are more common, necessitating use of high-quality floor cleaner products in the wake of rising COVID-related hygiene awareness.

So, Bissell launched a multi-surface, twin-mode (wet and dry) vacuum cleaner, which is engineered to vacuum and wash sealed hard floors and rug areas simultaneously, saving time.

"Our business in China has been growing rapidly, and we attach great importance to the market. Our Asian Research and Development Center is based in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, where we develop products based on local needs.

"One of our target groups is middle-aged women, who have to balance work and chores, and have strong cleaning demand. With the wet-and-dry vacuum cleaner, the time to clean floors is cut from one-and-a-half hours to just 10 minutes. Another target group is families of three generations living under one roof. Their houses are big, which require more cleaning efforts," Liu said.

With growing market demand, in 2020, Bissell's wet-and-dry vacuum cleaner topped T-mall's product category-wise sales list.

According to Liu, in the coming year, Bissell will establish a sole proprietorship in Shanghai, to quickly expand its retail channels in China. It also plans to open 200 physical retail stores in the country, and expand its R&D teams in Shanghai and Suzhou, Jiangsu province.

"It is expected that we will have a twofold to threefold growth in China in 2022," Liu said.

A report from industry information e-network Chyxx showed that between 2015 and 2020, China's cleaning appliance market had grown steadily. In 2020, the sector's sales reached 24 billion yuan ($3.7 billion), up 20 percent year-on-year.

"The outbreak of the epidemic raised the public's domestic cleaning awareness, and spurred demand for sanitation and healthcare. It also accelerated the popularization of home cleaning products, and promoted the development of the cleaning appliance market," said the report.

According to the report, as most of Chinese homes have hard floors, demand for floor-sweeping products and demand for mops co-exist. Up to 81.8 percent of surveyed families said they mopped the floor at least once a week, and more than 60 percent of the families spent over 20 minutes on mopping every time.

"That is why, we developed and launched wet-and-dry vacuum cleaners in China. Our products can sweep and mop the floor simultaneously, thus saving much time," Liu said.

Lai Yang, a member of the expert committee of the China General Chamber of Commerce, said: "In the past, house-cleaning was a complicated job. Consumers increasingly wish to be freed from heavy housework, and save time for leisure and entertainment. If advanced appliances can make the job easier, consumer demand will be strong.

"With consumption upgrade, consumers are willing to spend more money on high-end, fully automatic machines, which contributes to the rapid growth of the wet-and-dry vacuum cleaner market," he said.

Song Qinghui, an independent economist, said: "In a growing market, enterprises should formulate diversified business strategies, and develop higher-end, more personalized and innovative products."

Agreed Zheng Lei, chief economist at Glory Sun Financial Group: "So far, there have been some sophisticated products in the domestic wet-and-dry vacuum cleaner market. However, enterprises should increase their staff members' technical and design skill levels, to invent smaller, more automatic products."

Liu said that Chinese consumers favor light, good-looking and safe machines with natural cleansing fluid. "In the first half of next year, we will launch an updated version of wet-and-dry vacuum cleaner. It will be lighter, and have higher velocity and deeper cleaning ability. It's expected that the wet-and-dry vacuum cleaner will further meet Chinese consumers' cleaning demand."