Recently, under the support of the consumer goods trade-in policy, various regions have been continuously intensifying efforts to promote consumption and benefit the public. Among them, home decoration and kitchen and bathroom renovation are one of the key areas of support, with many places introducing subsidy policies and carrying out promotional activities to subsidize the renovation of old houses and partial transformations. These series of measures not only improve the living environment for consumers but also release consumption potential and stimulate market vitality.

Policy Active Support

At present, trade-in has become one of the highlights of the consumer market. In Jiangsu, the local area takes the renovation of old houses and kitchen and bathroom transformation as the entry point, increases the support for the public welfare, and continuously releases the potential of home consumption. Recently, the Nanjing Golden Autumn Home Decoration Trade-in Activity, guided by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, has kicked off. More than 50 Jiangsu provincial "residential decoration trustworthy consumption quality enterprises" and local well-known decoration industry enterprises have committed on-site to take "happy home" as the main theme, providing affordable products and services in aspects such as home aging adaptation transformation and renovation of old and new houses, promoting home decoration renewal, and stimulating consumption vitality.

In May of this year, the "Jiangsu Province's Action Plan to Promote Large-Scale Equipment Update and Consumer Goods Trade-in" was released, proposing to promote the development of new business forms and models such as "Internet + home decoration", and continuously promote home aging adaptation transformation and intelligent upgrading. In August, Jiangsu introduced the "Jiangsu Province's Implementation Plan for Supporting Consumer Goods Trade-in with Ultra-Long-Term Special Treasury Bond Funds", further clarifying the main measures for Jiangsu to support consumer goods trade-in. In the field of home decoration and home improvement, the "Plan" proposes to support the consumption of green building materials products, issue consumption vouchers to individual consumers who purchase green building materials products, with a subsidy standard of about 15% of the transaction price, and each person is limited to a 3,000 yuan quota, and consumers can enjoy it without review.

Since this year, Shanghai has continued to increase the support for trade-in in the fields of home appliances and home decoration, and has continuously introduced relevant policies. Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission and the Shanghai Municipal Finance Bureau jointly issued the "Shanghai Municipal Implementation Plan for Further Strengthening the Promotion of Consumer Goods Trade-in". The "Plan" has expanded the subsidy scope of home appliances, home decoration, home furnishings, and aging adaptation products, and has implemented subsidies for the purchase of sofas, mattresses, cabinets, bathtubs, toilets, sweeping robots, vacuum cleaners, air purifiers, and other home appliances, home decoration, home furnishings, and aging adaptation products that meet the requirements, so that consumers can enjoy real discounts. At present, the "Shanghai Municipal Implementation Rules for the National Home Appliance Trade-in Subsidy Policy" has officially landed. The subsidy scope of this time is eight types of home appliance products with first and second energy efficiency, including refrigerators (including freezers), washing machines, TVs, air conditioners (including central air conditioners), computers (including desktop and portable computers), water heaters (including wall-hung furnaces), household stoves (including integrated stoves), and range hoods. Consumers who purchase these eight types of first-energy-efficient home appliance products are given a subsidy of 20% of the product's sales price. For the purchase of these eight types of second-energy-efficient home appliance products, a subsidy of 15% of the product's sales price is given. Each consumer can subsidize one product per category, and the subsidy for each product does not exceed 2,000 yuan. At the same time, the purchase of items and materials required for the renovation of old houses and kitchen and bathroom transformation in the home decoration industry has also been included in the subsidy scope for the first time.

In terms of home decoration and home improvement, Zhejiang has actively responded to the "renewal" policy of home decoration and kitchen and bathroom, focusing on green, environmental protection, intelligence, and aging adaptation as the key directions, focusing on the renovation of existing houses, partial transformation of kitchen and bathroom, home aging adaptation transformation, smart home, and other fields, formulating specific support categories and subsidy standards for the region. The "Notice on Further Promoting the Action Plan for Consumer Goods Trade-in" recently issued by Zhejiang proposes that for consumers who purchase some items and materials needed for the renovation of old houses and partial transformation of kitchen and bathroom, a subsidy of 20% of the purchase price is given, with a maximum subsidy of not more than 20,000 yuan per person per house. Subsequently, Ningbo, Hangzhou, Zhoushan, Wenzhou, Jinhua, and other places have successively issued relevant operational rules, clarifying the operational rules for the purchase of items and materials for the renovation of old houses and kitchen and bathroom transformation subsidies.

Subsidies Benefit People's Livelihood

In this round of trade-in activities, various places focus on combining consumption promotion and people's livelihood benefits.

A few days ago, in the Ziyang Street of Shangcheng District, Hangzhou City, the first trade-in home aging adaptation transformation model room in Zhejiang Province was unveiled. Focusing on functions such as toilet and bath safety, indoor walking convenience, home environment improvement, intelligent monitoring follow-up, and auxiliary device adaptation, the house has been adapted for aging, and aging adaptation products such as entrance cabinets, beds, toilets, washbasins, and gas alarms have been equipped.

As the central urban area of Hangzhou, Shangcheng District has a dense elderly population and a high degree of aging, with people aged 60 and above reaching 249,000, accounting for 27.6% of the total population. "Including a batch of aging adaptation items and materials in the trade-in subsidy scope aims to bring aging adaptation products into the living scenes of the elderly, and improve their safety and convenience of life." said Pingyuan, the deputy director of the Civil Affairs Bureau of Shangcheng District, Hangzhou City.Local subsidies for elderly-friendly home renovations are implemented with a standard of 50% subsidy for households with seniors aged 60 to 79, and 60% subsidy for households with seniors aged 80 and above. According to Pingyuan, the original elderly-friendly home renovations were free for specific disadvantaged seniors, focusing mainly on decoration; whereas the "old-for-new" home renovation program is primarily targeted at all seniors aged 60 and above. Secondly, seniors can choose renovation projects and items based on their physical condition, home environment, and actual needs, and enjoy subsidies after the renovation is completed.

At present, Nanjing is carrying out the "Beautiful Renewal" consumer promotion campaign, planning to focus on necessities, quality upgrades, old-for-new purchases, and repair services in 145 residential areas managed by brand property management companies, as well as in government agencies, enterprises, and institutes. Companies are organized to provide free consultation, design, and measurement services. To date, more than 100 events have been held, benefiting over 20,000 households. In Lianyungang, Jiangsu, local organizers have launched a "model room 'into the mall, into the community, into the residential area'" campaign with home decoration companies, linking Suning, Golden Mantis, Jiangsu Bank, and major commercial complexes to promote home decoration consumption through on-site experience activities. Since the beginning of this year, furniture product sales have exceeded 72 million yuan, with a year-on-year increase of over 20%.

Since the beginning of this year, Jiangsu has focused on four key industries, including home decoration and kitchen and bathroom products, and has carried out a total of 8 provincial-level key activities and over 3,600 consumer promotion events. More than 830 million yuan in consumer support coupons and digital RMB red packets have been issued, with over 100,000 merchants participating, continuously strengthening the supply of consumer quality and optimizing a trustworthy consumption environment. "On top of the usual lowest discounts, we offer an additional 5% discount to consumers," said the person in charge of a Nanjing decoration company participating in Jiangsu's old-for-new activity. The company mainly focuses on the overall renovation of new and old houses and partial renovations. Next, they will strive to improve service quality and perfect the full-cycle service system from pre-service to post-delivery, further meeting consumers' diverse needs for a beautiful home environment.

The Shanghai Red Star Macalline Global Home No. 1 store, located on Zhenbei Road in Putuo District, Shanghai, has been very busy recently. The reporter found that the entrance of the mall and the major brand halls are prominently displaying signs advertising "up to 30% subsidy for the 'Golden Autumn Renewal Consumption Season'". "So far, all eight Red Star Macalline malls in Shanghai have been included in the activity, with a total of 800 brands and 30,000 single products in home decoration materials, furniture, home appliances, and elderly-friendly products," said a person in charge of Red Star Macalline. In addition, the mall continues to increase its efforts, launching a "10% subsidy discount for the Golden Autumn Renewal" in conjunction with factories and dealers. Consumers can enjoy dual subsidies, with a maximum of 30% per order and a single subsidy cap of 4,000 yuan.

Merchants seize opportunities

Old-for-new not only benefits consumers but also brings new opportunities for businesses.

Bailian Group actively responds to policy calls, captures current consumer hotspots and trends, and holds the "2024 Bailian Consumption Renewal Festival" from September 15 to December 31, focusing on five major categories: home appliances, home furnishings, home decoration, elderly-friendly products, and automobiles. Walking into the Shanghai Haomeijia Xietu store under the Bailian Group, a dazzling array of home appliances and home decoration products caught the reporter's attention. Consumers who are currently renovating their new homes come with a list to inquire about the detailed old-for-new policies and discount ratios, preparing to purchase home decoration products. "Every year, the months of September and October are the peak season for decoration. At this time of decoration, it is just right to move into the new house before the New Year. Therefore, a lot of consumers have already come to ask when the activity will start," said Jia Jianyu, the Strategic Administrative Director of Haomeijia. Building materials and home furnishing products are included in the subsidy range for the first time. Driven by policy, the company's sales volume in the fourth quarter of this year is expected to increase by 30% to 40% year-on-year.

"With the support of relevant policies, the average customer price has increased significantly. From the data, from September to the National Day period is the peak sales season, which is a rare opportunity for home appliance companies," said He Xiaowei, the General Manager of Suning Shanghai region. The company will take this old-for-new policy as an opportunity to continuously improve the scene experience, optimize the product structure, and improve service efficiency to fully activate consumer potential. At the same time, Suning will also join hands with related brands in Shanghai to add additional corporate renewal subsidies, and will link with banks and other resources to form a joint force to promote the renewal consumption in the field of home appliances and home decoration.

"I just renovated the old house, and the range hood is still from more than 10 years ago. The smoke absorption effect is poor and the noise is large. I want to replace some new home decoration products during the holiday." On October 3, Yu Qian, a citizen of Shengzhou, Zhejiang, walked into a local mall and prepared to purchase a new generation of kitchen electrical products. After selecting several brand counters, Yu Qian finally chose a silent, high-efficiency, energy-saving, and environmentally friendly large suction T-type range hood. The store manager of the brand told the reporter that after the old-for-new activity was launched, the store's daily customer flow increased by 200%, and the daily sales volume increased by nearly 100% year-on-year.

As an important domestic production base for kitchen utensils, Shengzhou's kitchen utensil output accounts for about 30% of the national total, and the integrated stove output accounts for more than 60% of the national total. Shengzhou has formed an industrial cluster of kitchen electrical product research and development, manufacturing, and brand sales, with nearly 500 kitchen utensil and supporting enterprises. The person in charge of the Shengzhou Economic Development Zone Management Committee said that the old-for-new policy not only provides a stage for enterprises to showcase their innovative capabilities and provides more space for product innovation and upgrading by eliminating backward kitchen electrical products and production capacity, but also encourages the kitchen electrical industry to adapt to the continuously upgrading consumption trends. It is of great significance to the high-quality development of the entire industry."The vast existing market makes the 'trade-in' concept in home decoration have great potential," said Qiu Xuefu, the president of the Nanjing Decoration Industry Association. The association will urge companies to create high-quality projects, ensuring consumer rights in terms of quality and service, and providing a worry-free consumption experience. At the same time, it will also organize companies to promote home decoration model rooms into shopping malls, communities, and platforms, participating in diversified promotional activities to help upgrade consumption and industry development.

Jiang Zhaoyi, a researcher at the Jiangsu Academy of Social Sciences, said that quality, differentiation, and personalization are becoming the consumption trends of home decoration trade-ins. Only by continuing to expand the policy space for promoting consumption and promoting the joint efforts of the industry and enterprises can we continuously meet the increasingly diverse consumption needs of residents.