Vorwerk aims for more breakthroughs in digital products in China

Vorwerk Group, the German manufacturer of household appliances and cosmetics, will set up a team to make more breakthroughs in digital-related products in China next year, and export more items manufactured from its plant in Shanghai, said a senior executive.

Apart from expanding the production capacity by 10 percent in its Shanghai plant this year, the company will open a new customer experience stores in Beijing in December, said Zha Sheng, general manager for Chinese operations of Vorwerk Group.

"We will further diversify our sales channels in China's third- and fourth-tier cities to meet the growing market demand during China's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period," he said, adding lower-tier Chinese cities, such as Shaoxing in Zhejiang province and Haimen in Jiangsu province, are all having growing demand for its products.

"Many opportunities also arise from Chinese consumers' growing demand for high-end home appliances, such as smart cooking machines and vacuum cleaners, as well as the evolution of consumer needs, from purchasing expensive products to customized solutions," he said.

Because of the unexpected COVID-19 pandemic, the executive found a surging number of Chinese consumers have been keen to express their way of living by sharing how they eat and cook at home during the past several months, given that people have more flexibility regarding their working schedules and also more free time since the second half of this year.

"Before, during the weekdays, many people are just coming home and having a very quick dinner. It is more like living instead of enjoying," he said, noting there are an increasing number of Chinese consumers today are more willing to develop their own recipes at home for family and friends over the weekend or during their spare time.

"Weathering through the pandemic, we have become more confident in the Chinese economy. Vorwerk will offer our its products, technologies, experience and human capital to advance the country's consumption upgrading," he said.

As China moves to further expand the scope of opening-up and encourage closer synergy via more inclusive and diversified partnerships, Zha said that the government's supportive policies has not only better protected the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors, but also pushed the government to offer more power and services to global companies.

Sun Fuquan, a researcher at Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Science and Technology for Development, said that in the household appliances sector, players are now increasingly leveraging digitization, automation and other potential disruptive technologies to develop new products and business models.

He said artificial intelligence, energy-saving solutions and connectivity will be part and parcel of life in the future.

Vorwerk operates in more than 70 countries and regions. It currently runs a plant, an innovation center and 31 customer experience stores in China.