Furniture trade-in pilots still need to sharpen the industry's call for improved details

The pilot project on furniture trade-in promoted by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce officially ended last Friday. It is reported that the pilot is considered for "providing a practical basis for the promotion and implementation in the future". After a month of promotion, the pilot policy has indeed solved some of the difficulties of the store version, but it also exposes the problems that need to be improved in operation. The reporter found that the industry has different views on it. Some insiders said that they warmly welcome the promotion to the whole country, and some people call for "the best market operation."

Over 100 million transactions during the pilot period

The Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce led the implementation of the old-fashioned pilot project for one month. A total of 17 stores including Real Estate, Red Star Macalline, Lanjingli Home, Jimei Home and Chengwaicheng were participating in the store. Among them, consumers can get 10% cash subsidy from the government and selling occasions when buying new mortgages. According to the information published by the official website of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce, from November 1st to November 25th, the sales amount of furniture trade-in has reached 1.06. 100 million yuan, accounting for 24.2% of the total sales of similar furniture.

Most of the store companies welcomed the government's pilot work on trade-in. Yin Bo, general manager of Lanjingli Home Furnishing Plaza, said that the pull of furniture sales really played a "very good role." Meng Xiangmin, vice president of the Real Estate Group, also believes that this is a good thing to “respect the people and benefit the business”, “pull consumption” and “promote industrial upgrading”.

Government version solves problems

Before the start of the pilot work, the actual home, the Blue King, and Jimei Home had already started their own trade-in work, but the implementation policies were different. In the event that the store launches itself, what should be done if the new furniture purchased by the consumer is not in the same place as the old furniture that needs to be recycled? How do the old furniture owned by consumers correspond to the new furniture to be purchased in terms of material and quantity? How to deal with the recycling of old furniture... All these problems make the store a headache.

The government pilot version has solved many problems. "First of all, it is more credible." The store executives have said. Secondly, the pilot version has led to a unified answer to some of the problems: in the case of new and old furniture, the vendors and companies are responsible for recycling old furniture into the warehouse, how to charge and other issues have reached a consensus; the corresponding between old furniture and new furniture It is also determined by the policy rules; the handling of old furniture, the Municipal Commerce Commission also solved the problem of recycling and environmental protection by designating old furniture recycling enterprises and waste disposal enterprises.

Part of the process still needs improvement

According to the planning of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce, the one-month trial of furniture replacement is mainly for the purpose of “inspecting and evaluating the process design and implementation effect of furniture replacement and providing a practical basis for future promotion and implementation”. Although the pilot time was short, it also reflected many problems. While welcoming the industry, the industry also hopes to summarize the pilot experience and implement the policy throughout the country.

Simplified operation process

The government and the store each bear a 5% subsidy for the consumer is indeed a big discount, but to get the money smoothly, it will take some trouble. Although the policy stipulates that consumers only need to go through the purchase of new accounts and fill out the return form to receive subsidies, it is not particularly easy to operate.

First, consumers need to buy new furniture and get furniture invoices; if the old and new furniture are not in one place, consumers need to send the old furniture to the warehouse corresponding to the store (possibly the store is not in the same location as the warehouse), or according to A fee of at least 200 yuan will be paid for the furniture company to recycle the old furniture to obtain the certificate. Then, within the specified time limit, you must go to the sales office with the corresponding documents to fill out the application form for subsidy. After one by one, you need to wait a few more days to get the subsidy amount for a single piece of furniture not exceeding 1,000 yuan. It is understood that since each step involves invoicing, reviewing, etc., although most stores have set up counters to deal with this matter, the old-for-new consumers still have to wait for a while, which also makes some consumers complain.

New and old furniture is not flexible

According to the regulations of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce: “The range of products for the renovation of furniture and old-fashioned products includes cabinets, sofas (sofa decoration renderings), beds, tables and chairs, 4 types of movable furniture. The purchased new furniture and the old furniture delivered should be The same type, the same amount, according to the cabinet for changing the cabinet, the sofa for the sofa, the bed for the bed, the table for the table, the chair (the chair decoration effect map) for the chair type change, no size, material and other restrictions."

The conditions seem to be loose, but they are quite criticized in practice. In addition to the custom-made furniture is completely excluded from the old-for-new ranks, the reporter learned that the requirements for the types of actual operations are very strict. For example, if the new sofa to be purchased has a split structure, then two old sofas are needed. Redeem, otherwise the extra part can't participate in the trade-in.

In addition, for some consumers with rigid needs, there is no old furniture in the home. If you want to participate in the trade-in, you can only pass the tricks, such as going to the second-hand furniture market to find some old furniture. "It doesn't make much sense." The store also had questions during the implementation: "If the consumer takes a plastic stool to buy a chair, isn't that a problem?"

Promotion is difficult to superimpose the offer is not affordable

According to the pilot regulations, the 10% subsidy for trade-in should be a preferential activity after consumers participate in other discount activities, and the requirement is “no way to restrict consumers from enjoying corporate promotional offers and government subsidies for old-for-new”. Let consumers really enjoy the benefits. However, in practice, sometimes such a favorable price is not as desired by consumers.

Our reporter made an unannounced visit at the beginning of the pilot activity. Many furniture brands are preparing two options in the face of consumers: one is the old-for-new discount; the other is the direct discount, which allows consumers to choose. In the specific calculation of the transaction price, there are even cases where consumers do not participate in trade-in and the price is cheaper. Although the stores all said that the business would be severely punished, this situation did occur during the operation.

For the participating stores, the number of participating merchants in some stores is not large, and not all the participating merchants participate in the trade-in activities. Some market participants said that there are often consumer complaints: Why do I want to participate in the old-for-new activities? Some consumers even have the feeling of being cheated, "invisible affects the feeling of consumption."

Operational process is cumbersome, time-consuming and labor-intensive

For participating stores and furniture companies, it is an indisputable fact that trade-in can drive consumption and drive sales. However, in practice, the store needs to do a lot of work, which is time-consuming and labor-intensive. Therefore, the industry has called for the operation process to be done even more. Simple and easy.

According to the requirements, all the pictures, prices, specifications and other information involved in the trade-in products need to be reported to the Beijing Municipal Commission of Commerce and published on their respective official websites. However, since the government system and enterprise system are not completely universal, the store needs labor. Reporting related information, labor and time costs are higher; secondly, all subsidies are credited to the consumer account by bank transfer, but the consumers provide different bank accounts, which also brings certain financial work Difficulty; again, it is understood that because the store is responsible for reviewing the various information of consumers, it is necessary to provide corresponding information when applying for subsidies, and it is necessary to copy and retain the identity information, purchase information, invoices, vouchers, application forms, etc. of the consumer. The person concerned said: "There is a need to copy a dice file for a trade-in." These have all hindered the enthusiasm of some stores.

People with limited status are not widely

Compared with the old appliance replacement work, the furniture trade-in is more widely distributed in the consumer status. According to regulations, "Beijing household registration personnel; active military personnel and active armed police in Beijing; non-local household registration personnel holding valid "Beijing Work Permit"; non-local household registration personnel holding valid temporary residence permit in this city" People are eligible to participate in furniture trade-in, but some people suggest that the scope be wider.

Since the housing reform, Beijing's home buyers have come from all over the country. According to the law of house decoration, these houses have also reached the stage of secondary renovation, and the market potential cannot be ignored. If the old-for-new activities are not limited to Beijing and can be promoted nationwide, the identity problem can be solved, and more consumers in Beijing can enjoy preferential policies.

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The store continues to push trade-in

Although the government's pilot subsidy for old-for-new subsidies has ended, the reporter learned that most of the pilot stores will still carry out the activity on their own, but the subsidy has been reduced from 10% to 5%. The method is slightly different: the operation mode of the home. The same as the government version; Lan Jingli's custom-made cabinet products are also included in the scope of subsidies; Jimei Home has summed up its own model and the version of the business committee, and developed a new "trade-in" system; Cheng Waicheng has suspended the trade-in Activities, but also said that it will launch a new version of "trade-in", "more participating merchants, and the category will not be limited."