Introduction

Is it finally time for e-commerce platforms to legitimately sell electric cars?

Over the past decade, China's automobile manufacturing industry has thrived, akin to a silent war, attracting the attention of numerous cross-border enterprises. These companies, hailing from diverse backgrounds such as the internet industry, home appliance giants, and even non-automotive fields, have ventured into the challenging yet opportunistic realm of automobile manufacturing.

However, the competition in the automotive market is far more intense than anticipated. As the market elimination race intensifies, this automotive manufacturing feast has transformed into a brutal battle for survival.

Some cross-border automakers have seen their projects collapse due to funding, technological, or market strategy issues, failing to even produce a prototype. Others have barely launched products but have suffered significant losses in the fierce market competition, ultimately being forced to exit the industry in disgrace. Clearly, making cars is no easy feat.

Amidst this automotive manufacturing storm, some retail enterprises have spotted another opportunity. Realizing the difficulties of manufacturing, they saw selling cars—an integral part of the automotive industry chain—as a profitable venture. Consequently, these retailers have begun to expand into the automotive sales business, aiming to carve a share of the automotive market pie through collaborations with automakers.

Not long ago, GOME Holdings Group made a high-profile announcement that it had entered the automotive retail sector with the launch of "GOME Auto Mall." Centered around the "venue," this initiative integrates display, experience, sales, and delivery into a four-in-one model, achieving online and offline integration, effectively creating a new type of comprehensive automotive marketplace. Upon reading these descriptions, does anyone feel a sense of familiarity?

In fact, the concept of automotive new retail has been proposed for some time. This idea aims to optimize the consumer car-buying experience by integrating online and offline resources, breaking free from the constraints of traditional automotive sales models. Despite its innovative and forward-looking nature, however, we have yet to witness a single enterprise that has truly paved a successful path for automotive new retail.

Striving to become a new force in car sales?

Let's set aside GOME for now and turn our attention to another news item. Last November, it was rumored that Haier Group was preparing to acquire a controlling stake in Autohome, one of the three major vertical websites in the domestic automotive industry, with its main business being the sale of automotive advertisements and sales leads.

Haier, known as a home appliance giant, has long extended its tentacles into the automotive industry, involving businesses such as used car sales, automotive parts, car-home ecosystems, channel sharing, and industrial internet platforms. The purpose of acquiring a controlling stake in Autohome is undoubtedly to further expand its influence in the automotive field and promote the innovative development of Haier Group in areas such as automotive new retail and intelligent connected vehicles.

However, as of the time of writing, there has been no further confirmation of the news regarding Haier and Autohome. It is certain, however, that this is a covetous move by a home appliance giant or retail platform towards the automotive industry. Similarly, what GOME Auto Mall is doing is quite similar, and it has also incorporated an automotive media company, but GOME's planning is more comprehensive.

From the information released, GOME Auto Mall's approach to automotive retail revolves around several keywords: live streaming sales, marketplace construction, new energy vehicles, used car exports, battery recycling, self-media communication matrix, etc. At first glance, this aligns well with the current development status of China's automotive market, and the successful implementation of these strategies could yield substantial returns.

To put it bluntly, this is akin to a "new force in car sales." Since it is a new force, what does the old force look like?

In recent years, although China's automotive market has maintained robust growth, with annual sales expected to exceed 30 million units, this huge market faces numerous challenges and changes.

The traditional 4S store model, once the mainstream channel for automotive sales and service, is now on the decline. Its high operating costs, rigid sales model, and difficulty in adapting to market changes have gradually become apparent, prompting more and more consumers to seek a more convenient and personalized car-buying experience.

Meanwhile, while direct sales by manufacturers can directly reach consumers and provide products and services that are closer to market demand, their high costs also put pressure on many automakers. In the fiercely competitive market, reducing sales costs and improving market competitiveness has become an urgent issue for automakers to address.

Furthermore, the original comprehensive automotive trading market model appears outdated. These markets often have limited functionality and lack innovative sales models and service experiences, making it difficult to attract the attention of young consumers. Although the shopping mall model offers a more convenient car-buying environment to a certain extent, it fails to meet consumers' demands for a comprehensive and multi-dimensional experience of intelligent vehicles.

Faced with these challenges, innovation in automotive sales models has become a top priority. Consumers' desire for experiencing intelligent vehicles is growing daily. They hope to obtain more diversified and personalized services during the car-buying process, from vehicle performance and configuration selection to after-sales service, and get satisfactory answers to all aspects.

Automakers also eagerly desire to directly reach users through cost-effective methods, enhancing sales efficiency and market competitiveness. Therefore, they need to actively explore new sales models and service methods, such as online and offline integration, live streaming sales, and building new marketplaces, to meet the diverse needs of consumers, reduce sales costs, and improve market competitiveness.

So, the question returns to its essence. The "bridge" connecting consumers and automotive products requires a new model, one that aligns with current consumer habits. Such a "bridge" is still being explored by all automotive enterprises amidst the transition from fuel vehicles to new energy vehicles.

Whether GOME Auto Mall can truly establish itself remains uncertain, but it has drawn a blueprint for all automotive enterprises: the collaboration between GOME Auto Mall's comprehensive marketplace and automakers can adopt methods such as direct store sales by manufacturers, direct sales profit sharing, zero-inventory consignment sales, and order buyouts. The only question now is, how many channels does GOME Auto Mall have?

Essentially, it's about channel power

One is a home appliance giant, and the other is a home appliance retail giant. Faced with the fact that both GOME and Haier, industry leaders, are making inroads into automotive retail, especially in the field of new energy vehicles, online opinion has erupted, with discussions about whether electric cars will truly become large household appliances.

For consumers, this change may mean that future car purchases will be as convenient as purchasing large household appliances. In GOME and Haier stores, consumers may be able to personally experience the performance and comfort of various new energy vehicles, similar to selecting refrigerators and washing machines, and enjoy one-stop car-buying services.

Whether selling electric cars in the future will resemble selling large household appliances involves multiple considerations, including sales models, consumer habits, and market competition patterns. While it is currently uncertain whether electric car sales will fully replicate the sales model of large household appliances, there are indeed trends and possibilities indicating that the two may become increasingly similar in some aspects.

Currently, the sales model of new energy vehicles has shown a trend of diversification, encompassing direct store sales, dealer sales, online sales, and leasing models. This mirrors the sales model of large household appliances, which are also sold through various channels such as online e-commerce platforms, offline physical stores, and exclusive stores.

In the sales of large household appliances, experiential sales have become a pivotal model. Consumers can personally experience the performance and comfort of products in stores to make purchasing decisions. Similarly, experiential sales are crucial for new energy vehicles. In the future, with continuous technological advancements and increasing consumer demand for intelligent configurations, experiential sales will play an even more significant role in electric vehicle sales.

With the popularity of the internet and the development of e-commerce, more and more consumers are accustomed to shopping online. For new energy vehicles, the online sales model has become an important supplement and extension. Consumers can learn about the basic information, configuration, and price of vehicles online and can even place orders and purchase them online. This online shopping habit will drive the sales of electric vehicles towards greater convenience and efficiency.

Moreover, as the new energy vehicle market continues to expand and competition intensifies, the rivalry among automotive enterprises will not be limited to the products themselves but will also extend to sales channels, after-sales service, and other aspects. To increase market share and brand influence, automotive enterprises will pay greater attention to innovating sales models and enhancing consumer experience, similar to the competitive landscape of the large household appliance market.

Whether selling electric cars in the future will resemble selling large household appliances remains uncertain. But regardless of the form, process, experience, or scenario, the question is not what GOME or Haier will do, but how cars should be sold. The core issue lies in whether they have sufficient channels.

Capacity and channels play crucial roles in automotive sales, jointly constituting the dual constraints on fluctuations in sales. Capacity, as the foundation of automotive production, undoubtedly determines the upper limit of automotive sales. The scale of a car company's capacity is directly related to its maximum potential to meet market demand.

However, capacity only determines the potential upper limit of automotive sales. It is the channels that truly convert this potential into actual sales. Channels, serving as the bridge between automotive enterprises and consumers, have a direct impact on the lower limit of automotive sales through their layout, efficiency, and service quality. A well-established and efficient channel network ensures that automotive products are quickly and accurately delivered to consumers.

Whether it's an electric car or a household appliance, its essence is a commodity. For automotive enterprises, collaborations with home appliance giants like GOME and Haier may serve as a bonus. In the long run, however, only by grasping channel construction and improving channel operating efficiency can automotive enterprises truly lay the foundation for their market position and enhance their core competitiveness.