Picnic Camping Opens a New Direction for the Small Appliance Market

At a time when it is difficult to "say go" for cross provincial and outbound travel, more consumers are pinning their beautiful vision of "poetry and distance" on small and beautiful short distance travel routes - how to make picnics and camping more comfortable and beautiful? How to make up for the regret of distance and space with a better experience?
The reporter saw that the trend of exquisite camping has also driven the sales of various portable small appliances to become popular. Small items that were originally dispensable at home have now become "necessities" to enhance the outdoor leisure experience.
"Play with familiar landscapes for a better experience"
On October 7th, the "2022 National Day Holiday Travel Consumption Data Report" released by the same travel agency showed that due to the impact of the epidemic, domestic travel during the National Day holiday was still dominated by local and peripheral travel. According to the data of the same journey, during the "National Day" holiday in 2022, local orders for vehicles accounted for 89%, and local orders for hotels accounted for 65%, both of which were at a historical high level. At the same time, according to the 2022 National Day big data released by Shenzhou Car Rental, car rental and self driving have also become a craze. The proportion of generation Z young groups such as the "post 95" and "post 00" in the user group of car rental has increased year by year, and they are becoming more "soulful" in small tourist attractions and immersive cultural experiences, such as immersive afternoon tea, high-quality rural homestays, and so on.
The reporter saw that although the National Day holiday has ended, the demand for outdoor travel is still strong. According to data from Tuniu Tourism Network, after the National Day, finding and enjoying autumn and hot spring health have become popular choices for users who travel at different peaks. Among them, local and peripheral tourists accounted for 73% of the total number of trips, and the number of trips for a one-day trip accounted for 43%. After the festival, users who traveled mainly were small families with 2-3 people and friends.
"Since we can't go to more places, let's play with the familiar scenery for a better experience," consumer Wang Junru said in an interview with reporters. In addition to outdoor tables, chairs, and tents, car mounted audio, mobile KTV, multi-functional pots, kettle, mobile coffee machine, and wearable electric fans are all "fixed equipment" in their trunk, "There are directly-charged atmosphere lights, and I am also ready to start using an outdoor projector. I hope that even if it takes only half a day, I can come to a high-quality amateur who can walk away at once," he said.
"One thing with multiple capabilities" becomes a new demand for shopping
The reporter noted that from the data trend of the third quarter of "What's Worth Buying Consumption Data" in 2022, among the four main categories of user consumption, tourism and outdoor sports are among them, and the one with the fastest growth rate of GMV above the million level is "travel necessity". "It can be seen that consumers' enthusiasm for recent outings remains undiminished. In the third quarter, the consumption of what is worth buying essential travel products increased by 844.05% year-on-year." Zhang Yuang, the person in charge of what is worth buying, said. Consumers also have a more scientific attitude towards choosing essential travel products. While enjoying discounts, they also expect to obtain a higher quality travel experience.
The hot sales of camping related small appliances are evident in the data of e-commerce platforms. According to Suning eBay data, from July to October, the sales of multi-functional cooking pots related to camping increased by 49% year-on-year on Suning eBay. During the "11th" period, the sales of "camping kits" such as tents, awnings, hammocks, and picnic mats on Suning eBay platform increased by 286.3% year-on-year.
"The 'post 80s' and' post 90s' are the main consumers of portable small household appliances. They are more willing to try new lifestyles and pay more attention to the quality of life." The relevant person in charge of Suning Easco told reporters that while the overall small appliance market has cooled, portable small appliances have seen significant adverse growth, with sales of related products rising significantly.
"The most satisfying product I have recently started is the Jiuyang cooling travel kettle, which adds a cooling cup lid to the conventional thermal insulation travel kettle, allowing high-temperature boiling water to quickly cool down on the cup lid, meeting the need to drink warm water at any time outdoors. It is very friendly to family parent-child travel, and has a very good appearance." Camping enthusiast Hu Xiangnan confessed in an interview with reporters, "There are various motivations for purchasing small items for various outdoor uses. For example, high-quality tableware and tablecloths are designed to enhance a sense of ritual, audio and microphones are designed to enhance entertainment, while small household appliances are more designed to address common pain points, meet practical needs, and improve the overall outdoor experience." He said, because these devices are numerous and often carried with the vehicle, the number and space occupation are controlled Increasing the frequency of use has become my biggest consideration. "I hope that more products can be used in other scenarios such as home and office, as well as practical and beautiful, like this cooling travel kettle, to achieve multiple functions for one object."
Opening up "new possibilities" for the small home appliance market
Industry insider Zhang Tao pointed out that the experience of camping with self-contained camping equipment cannot be separated from the camper's complete equipment. Among them, portable small appliances have become an important category for bringing outdoor and home experiences closer, which has also led to the emergence of a new type of portable small appliances suitable for camping. However, the person also pointed out that currently, most popular products still have problems such as a single function and usage scenario, and a large gap in product quality and price.
In an interview with the media, He Penglin, Deputy Director of the China Institute of Electronic Technology Standardization, stated that when using outdoor electrical appliances, attention should be paid to product safety, not only selecting brand products with quality assurance, but also paying attention to the external impact of the use environment on the product.