Japanese home appliances have long enjoyed a high reputation in the global market for their innovative technology, durability and sophisticated user-friendly design. Even though the prices are often high, many consumers are still willing to accept "you get what you pay for" and regard their home appliances as long-term investments that can be used for many years. However, in recent years, a different approach has emerged in the Japanese market. The price of home appliances from one brand is only half that of other competitors. The price of front-loading washing machines and refrigerators is below 100,000 yen. What is behind it has also become the focus of attention from the outside world.
Japanese media reported that Nitori has rapidly increased its presence in the home appliance market in recent years. The secret of its low prices is not just to cut down on functions, but also to be different from traditional home appliance companies in terms of development, logistics and sales methods.
It is reported that the price of large household appliances in Japan is easily 200,000 to 300,000 yen (approximately NT$40,000-60,000), but the 10-kg drum washer and dryer launched by furniture brand Nitori is priced at less than 100,000 yen (approximately NT$20,000). Large-capacity refrigerators are also priced below 100,000 yen, and a 55-inch Mini LED TV only costs 79,900 yen (approximately NT$16,000).
Tetsuya Okuda, executive director of Nitori Holdings and general manager of the home appliances department, pointed out that the Japanese home appliance market has long-standing problems of too many manufacturers and mass merchandisers and unclear product differences. Price competition may even cause the selling price to be nearly halved one year after the product is launched. Nitori adopts an integrated model of "manufacturing, logistics, IT, and retail" and participates in product development itself. It also distributes and installs through the group's logistics system, so that the reduction in logistics costs can be directly reflected in the selling price.
Starting in 2022, Nitori will set up a home appliance development center in Osaka. Currently, the entire home appliance team has about 80 people, of which nearly 50 are in Osaka. It has shifted from simply purchasing goods from suppliers to joint development. Okuda said that the company does not set prices after seeing the market price, but first decides at what price to make more consumers affordable, and then works backwards on product design.
Take a front-loading washing machine as an example. The general market price is about 300,000 yen. Nitori hopes to reduce it to less than 100,000 yen. However, it does not delete basic functions simply for the sake of cheapness. Instead, it finds and removes unnecessary functions while retaining necessary functions. Additionally, item size is directly related to cost.
In addition to being cheap, Nitori's front-loading washing machines are also smaller in size, which can reduce distribution costs. Since distribution is also handled by the group system, the cost savings can be directly reflected in the selling price of the goods.
Another four-door refrigerator with a width of 75 centimeters and a capacity of 410 liters. In the early stages of development, some people even thought that it was too large to be moved into homes and could not be commercialized. However, the development team cooperated with the group logistics company responsible for distribution and installation, used residential layout diagrams and scale models to verify the handling method, and finally successfully launched it on the market.
Nitori currently has about 700 to 800 types of home appliances. It adopts the Fabless model without its own factories and cooperates with about 150 to 200 overseas suppliers. The company believes that the real advantage is not simply "price destruction", but that it links product planning, supply chain, logistics, stores and after-sales services to reduce costs and establish a development model that is different from traditional home appliance manufacturers.
