Spicy Review • Issue 22
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Watch the various aspects of the pottery industry quietly, and comment on the pottery people.
You have stories and I don’t drink. The truth is just as easy to get drunk on.
The 22nd issue of [Spicy Review] is coming, please prepare the watermelon and small bench for the ceramic people.
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Affected by factors such as the continuous plunge in rock slab prices, rock slab companies encountered "Black June" not long ago.
What is "Black June"? Industry media reported that some large factories “didn’t sell a single slate in June.” It has become the norm for warehouses to be blown up, kilns to be shut down, and kilns that have been built not to be ignited.
Why did "Black June" happen? According to incomplete statistics, the number of domestic slate production lines exceeded 160 in June, and the production capacity reached a considerable scale; some industry insiders reported that they deliberately visited more than a dozen terminal markets and found that “most slate products are still stocked in In the hands of stone dealers, it has not really reached the hands of consumers, and the volume is still very small."
Using slate furniture as a carrier, what about the slate that has already reached the hands of consumers or is about to reach the hands of consumers? Brother Chan believes that this is more worthy of attention and research by rock slab companies.
01
Let’s first take a look at the slates that have already reached consumers. It is not easy to collect offline information, so it is better to focus on online information, and e-commerce happens to be an important sales channel for slate furniture such as slate dining tables, slate coffee tables, and slate side tables.
A search on "Black Cat Complaint", a consumer complaint platform owned by Sina, using the keyword "slate dining table" yields 34 results, most of which are related to the slate itself. There are many powerful furniture brands among the targets of complaints.
The first situation is all kinds of "cracking", what are "cracking", "breaking" and "fragmentation""Broken", "cracked", "cracked", etc., are obviously problems with the quality of the rock slab.
Although the second situation does not involve various "cracks", what about "the tabletop is an ordinary ceramic plate with artificial patterned leather pretending to be a light luxury rock plate" "the tabletop rock plate is deformed" "the tabletop has many adhesive scratches" "Bumps and bumps", "dirty table edges, stains on the tabletop texture, gaps and damage at the table edge joints", etc. are also closely related to slate. Either the slate dining table manufacturers or merchants use slate as a gimmick to deceive consumers. Either there is a problem with the quality of the rock slab, or the wear resistance, scratch resistance and anti-fouling properties are not good enough, or the processing is not good enough, but it is not that serious compared to various "cracks".
It can be seen from the above situations that regardless of the price of the slate itself or the slate home furnishings, the quality of the slates produced by many slate companies for the furniture field is indeed worrying, which undermines consumers' expectations of the "legendary" The various good impressions of rock slabs have made a bad start for the cross-border development of rock slabs.
02
The situations mentioned above are more serious and are manifested as consumer complaints; while the situations mentioned below are relatively better and are just complaints.
A consumer of slate dining tables posted a note on Xiaohongshu entitled "The Pitfalls of Slate Dining Tables": "I chose slate among dining tables made of various materials because I think it is wear-resistant and hard enough. It was taken care of. I bought it in a certain physical store. It has not been a month since I bought it. It cracked on its own in the middle of the night last night. It cracked on its own. It was true that nothing hit it. I guess it might be... It was originally cracked during transportation but was not found, and then the temperature difference between morning and night caused it to burst. Fortunately, it cracked within the shelf life. The store promised to replace it with a new one, but I still feel upset.
In response to this, several people commented: "This seems to be ceramic tiles, slate does not look like this..." "Can't tell the difference.""Slate is a type of ceramic tile." "Slate is originally a ceramic tile." "I am installing a second house, so I have some experience. Slate dining tables are popular now, but after thinking about it, I still think it is better to buy a solid wood dining table. , Firstly, it’s resistant to manufacturing, secondly, it’s environmentally friendly, and thirdly, it’s not outdated. The store will give it to you to use first, and then exchange it if you have money.”
Another consumer of slate dining tables posted an article on Xiaohongshu titled "Stone slabs that look like ceramic tiles, are they really not good-looking?" 》's note: "The thing is like this. I bought a dining table some time ago. My friends and family all said how to use floor tiles as a dining table? I was speechless at that time. I bought this dining table from a friend. It is relatively cheap and costs less than 2,000 yuan, and he said it was the latest model. I also gave him 200 yuan as a thank you fee. Now that I think about it, it’s really crazy.”
Someone commented in a joking tone: "If a relative comes to my house and doesn't praise me, I will never ask him to come to my house again." "There are not many relatives who are ignorant these days." The poster replied. : "That's what my better relatives said."
No need to give any more examples, there are many similar cases on the Internet. They reflect a more common problem: consumers cannot tell the difference between slate and ceramic tile. The reason for this situation may not be that consumers are ignorant and cannot tell the difference between slate and ceramic tiles. It is more likely that the color and texture of the slate for the table they bought is very poor, and it is really no different from the ceramic tiles.
If this situation prevails for a long time, it will definitely disappoint consumers who originally had high expectations for slate furniture. In recent years, slate, which has become a popular item in the home furnishing field, will be pulled off the altar and become an ordinary material.
03
Someone on the Internet taught consumers how to choose a slate dining table through a video and said this: for about 5,000 yuan, you can buy a slate dining table with imported slate as the tabletop; for no less than 3,000 yuan, you can buy the best domestically produced slate dining table. The slate dining table is a tabletop made of slate; and the table tops of slate dining tables that can be bought for 2,000-3,000 yuan are mostly made of slate produced by small domestic factories.
I don't know if this statement is reliable.
China Ceramics Network, where Brother Chan is located, in addition to being in the "GlobalI have been exposed to slate furniture many times during the "China Ceramic Ceramic Market Survey", and I also specifically went to Foshan Lecong Louvre International Furniture Expo Center, Shunlian Furniture City and other home furnishing stores to do market research on it.
Judging from the market research of China Ceramics Network, the price of slate dining tables in high-end stores ranges from 10,000 yuan to tens of thousands of yuan, while the prices of slate dining tables in mid- to low-end stores are mostly between 2,000 yuan and 10,000 yuan. between.
The price of slate dining tables in high-end stores is very high and easy to understand. Firstly, because its brand (here is the brand of furniture) has a strong premium ability, and secondly, because of imported slates (in high-end stores, The shopping guide for the slate dining table must say that his slate dining table uses imported slate, and he is confident) and has a strong ability to command a price premium. The fact that furniture brands can enter high-end stores shows that they are strong, and it is more credible to use imported slate as tabletops.
But what is the situation in mid- to low-end stores? As long as it is a slightly higher priced slate dining table, the shopping guide will confidently say that imported slate is used. Anyway, whether it is an imported slate, the best domestic slate, or a slate produced by a small factory, it all depends on what the shopping guide says (we don’t dare to ask, and we don’t dare to tell), because there is no brand certification, and ordinary consumers cannot It's hard to tell the difference from the surface.
As an ordinary consumer, there is only one thing that can be seen, that is, the warmth of a slate dining table is not as good as that of a solid wood dining table, and the texture, feel, and corner and edge processing effects are not as good as that of a marble dining table. Of course, they don't know that the main reason is that slate cannot be truly full-body like natural marble.
I believe that many people in the industry may feel the same way in their hearts, but they will not admit it.
Some people in the industry are not even willing to admit that there are quality problems and processing problems in many slates at present, and they are even less willing to recognize the status quo of slates in furniture materials. They just want to jump out of the limitations of ceramic tiles and realize the leapfrog of slates. Cross-border applications and even cross-border robbery.
Facts speak louder than words, so I end this article with two pictures of a cheap slate dining table.
Seeing pictures like this, do those in the industry who are unwilling to accept the reality still have confidence in the cross-border slate invasion of the furniture field?
(Author: Chan Can)
