Sold out! Heating products are selling like hot cakes, with some sales increasing 13 times

"Fearing energy shortages, Polish people queued for days to buy coal", "Switzerland stipulates that the room temperature for heating this winter must not exceed 19 degrees, and violators will be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison", "Italians return to wood-burning heating, and demand for wood is high"... This series of news shows that Europe will face a heating crisis this winter.

Due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Europe is facing a natural gas shortage and soaring prices, which has made this winter difficult for Europeans who use natural gas for heating. In order to survive the winter, they have to find other ways, such as stockpiling wood and even buying electric blankets and heaters in large quantities on hot days.

As a manufacturing powerhouse, China immediately responded to the demand from Europe. Stimulated by high demand, my country's exports of heating products to Europe have soared. Some suppliers of heating products said they are stepping up production, and sellers in the industry also reported that the sales of heaters, electric blankets and other products have increased significantly recently, especially electric blankets have become the most popular single product. However, hot-selling products usually have many problems, such as infringement, qualifications, etc. In addition, the exchange rate in Europe has also deterred some sellers.

Ranked in the top 5 of Amazon's BS list, Europe is rushing to buy electric blankets

Data from the General Administration of Customs showed that in January this year, the monthly quantity of electric blankets imported into China by the 27 EU countries was 189,000, 73,000 in February and 61,000 in March, 154,000, 222,000 and 521,000 from April to June respectively , and 1.29 million in July (the top three buyers were Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands).

It is not difficult to find a strange phenomenon from the above data. Since April this year, as the temperature in the northern hemisphere has risen, the demand for electric blankets in EU countries has also been slowly increasing, especially in June and July when the sun is scorching, the demand has doubled compared with the previous month.

On August 25, the US Business Insider website also reported on the phenomenon of hot sales of electric blankets in Europe against the backdrop of 40°C high temperatures. According to reports, a British electrical retailer said that the company's sales of electric blankets so far this year are almost 13 times that of 2021. In addition, with only half of August over, sales have increased by 65% ​​compared to the entire January , and some varieties of electric blankets have been sold out.

Recently, sellers have been reporting that the orders for electric blankets on platforms such as Amazon are very impressive. In fact, as early as July, when the export volume of electric blankets surged, some buyers had already said in the comments section that they were preparing for the winter a few months later.

A buyer commented on a product on the best-selling list of electric blankets at Deya Station, saying that considering the reduction in house heating in winter and the reduction in gas consumption in district heating, he has started buying electric blankets now.

At present, the price of electric blankets on Deya Station ranges from 27.99 to 201 euros (about 193 to 1389 yuan at the exchange rate on September 26), and many of them have 4.5 stars, with thousands of reviews. Yien.com observed that some product links were only put on the shelves in April, proving that some sellers with a keen sense of smell have already set their sights on this wave of dividends.

There are quite a few suppliers of "electric blankets" on the supply website 1688, and it is obvious that most of their target customer groups are cross-border e-commerce sellers, because the titles of many links contain the keywords "cross-border supply", "exclusively for cross-border", "cross-border", and "Amazon", and the prices range from 25 to 170 yuan.

The Europeans' buying craze has driven the ranking of electric blankets on Amazon to rise rapidly. According to the data of the "Health & Personal Care" bestseller list of the German website on September 26, electric blankets occupied three seats, and one of them, which can automatically adjust the temperature and is washable, broke into the fifth place on the list, and the other two were ranked 42nd and 77th respectively .

Not only that, the most popular list of "Health and Personal Care Category" shows that there are 11 electric blankets that are often added by consumers to their wish shopping lists, of which 4 are in the top ten , and one even squeezed into second place.

The search popularity of electric blankets (heating pads) has also risen along with the purchasing enthusiasm of European people. Google Trends shows that since July, the search popularity of "heating pad" in the UK has shown a fluctuating upward trend. At the same time, among related queries and related topics, the search volume of "hot water bottle" has increased by 70%, and the search volume of the topic "heater" has soared.

While keeping themselves warm, the British did not forget their pets. Among the related queries, the search volume of "self heating pet pad" and "pet heating pad" also increased by 40% and 50% respectively.

At the same time, in the keyword list of the Yingya site, Electric blanket has also been rising, ranking 41st this week, up 64 places from last week.

Regarding the wave of buying craze in Europe, many people lamented: "Electric blankets are rarely used in China now. I didn't expect that such a sunset product would become popular because of the European energy crisis."

However, during the heated discussion, some people also pointed out that Europe's natural gas supply is limited, but electricity is not necessarily sufficient, and electricity prices are also soaring. Stocking up and selling electric blankets now may result in a loss.

In this regard, Chinese netizens who have a lot of experience in using electric blankets said that electric blankets do not have to be powered on all the time, they only need to be turned on for a while before going to bed to make the bed warmer. Moreover, if both use electricity, there is still a huge gap between the power consumption of electric blankets and air conditioners.

Moreover, the British Daily Mail recently did the math in a report: the electricity cost of a 100-watt electric blanket turned on for a whole night (8 hours) is only 0.42 pounds, which is much lower than the price of turning on the heater.

As electric blankets become popular in Europe, many A-share listed companies have attracted market attention. Among them, Rainbow Group, the "first electric blanket stock", recently stated on the investor interaction platform that as early as May, the company had obtained a number of electric blanket export orders.

It can be seen that this winter, Europeans gave up heating the whole house and chose precision warmth as the second best option. In addition, in order to save electricity, people prefer electric blankets and electric heaters with lower power.

There are many problems with winter hot-selling products. This business is not easy.

Undoubtedly, electric blankets have set off a sales boom in Europe. However, before sellers enter the market, there are still some issues that need to be paid attention to, such as export qualifications, infringement issues, and safety issues.

The first step to export is to have relevant qualifications. If electronic appliances need to be exported to the EU, CE certification and ROHS certification will be mandatory. If they contain batteries, IECE certification is also required. It should be noted that the UK has left the EU, so CE and ROHS certifications are not available in the UK . Electronic appliances sold to the UK need to apply for UKCA certification.

In addition, due to the different usage habits and power supply of home appliances in different countries, special product adaptation issues should also be paid attention to . The most important thing is to comply with the electrical appliance standards of the relevant countries. For products sold to Nordic countries, special attention should be paid to environmental protection issues.

Not only that, product quality must be strictly controlled. Fire and burn risks are the most common problems encountered by such products, and there are many cases of forced recalls due to this. In 2020, the United States recalled InvoSpa electric blankets made in China. At that time, 7,000 units were recalled at once on Amazon alone, and the seller had to refund the consumers in full.

Most of the sellers who have not entered the market have also considered this issue. One seller said: "It is easy for Amazon to close the store, freeze funds, and then clear the inventory after a surge in orders for such products, which is a waste of time in the end. " Another seller also said that European regulations are very strict. Once a fire or injury occurs, account closure is a small matter, and the compensation for joint liability can make even big sellers go bankrupt.

Infringement issues cannot be ignored. Now many heating products such as electric blankets have applied for patents. If sellers are not careful, it will be easy to infringe. Therefore, sellers who want to enter the market must pay attention to self-inspection and avoidance.

Yien searched the picture of a hot-selling electric heater on Amazon at the European Union Patent Office and found that there are still many electric heaters with different appearances, so we must be aware of the risks in this regard. In addition, the same is true for electric blankets, electric heaters, and hand warmers.

Other issues include exchange rates and supply chain procurement prices.

As we all know, the euro is now depreciating severely. The People's Bank of China authorized the China Foreign Exchange Trading Center to announce that the central parity rate of the RMB in the interbank foreign exchange market on September 30, 2022 was 1 euro to 6.9892 yuan.

When analyzing the risks, some sellers said that no matter how good the product market is, given the current depreciation of the euro, the profits can be eaten up in minutes, and in the end they are probably working for Amazon in vain.

And as the export boom of electric blankets soared, supply chain prices also moved. One seller worried: "Because of the sudden increase in orders, factories are now working overtime, there is a lot of uncertainty about quality and delivery time, and the purchase price has also risen. In the end, the seller may not be the winner. "

However, some people have proposed another idea: Don't be a gold digger, be a shovel seller. Some people use the example of masks during the epidemic. At that time, many sellers of masks were out of business due to losses, but those selling epidemic-related products made a lot of money. Therefore, those who sell popular heating appliances such as electric blankets may not make much money, but the sales of warming products are definitely good. Compared with products, focusing on demand is more important.

Demand for heating products is high, and suppliers are stockpiling to make a profit

In fact, since many European families have fireplaces, European people initially wanted to restart traditional heating facilities, fireplaces, to replace the natural gas heating systems in their homes. However, they found that wood has also become a hot commodity and its price has soared.

According to Euractiv, wood prices have risen by about 2.5 times in countries such as Germany and Belgium. In addition, since July, the EU's ban on imports of Russian wood pellets for energy production has come into effect, making wood supply more scarce and prices higher.

Due to the scarcity of resources, thieves are rampant in countries such as Germany and Switzerland, and timber is frequently stolen. Many Swiss timber producers have complained that boxes of firewood stored in their factories have "disappeared". In order to reduce losses, some forest operators even plan to install GPS trackers on the timber to facilitate locating after theft.

With wood in short supply, people are focusing more on heating equipment. In addition to the electric blankets mentioned above, European consumers are also stocking up on products with temperature regulation functions, such as air conditioners, air source heat pumps, and electric heaters (electric heaters) for the coming winter. In addition, their demand for hair dryers, electric water heaters, and electric kettles is also rising.

Data released by the China Household Electrical Appliances Association showed that the export volume of most household appliances to Europe has been on a downward trend since 2022. However, air conditioners, electric water heaters, electric heaters, electric blankets, and hair dryers have bucked the trend and grown, with cumulative export volumes from January to July being US$1.99 billion, US$130 million, US$490 million, US$33.4 million, and US$160 million, respectively.

Among them, electric heaters, electric blankets, and air source heat pumps performed well. In the first seven months, exports of electric blankets to the EU increased by 97% year-on-year, leading other categories. According to statistics, in the first half of the year, China's air source heat pump exports increased by 71% in Spain, 198% in Italy, 373% in Poland, and 614% in Bulgaria.

According to market intelligence firm GFK (one of the top five market research companies in the world), German shoppers bought 35% more heaters in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year. At least 600,000 heaters were sold in Germany in the first half of this year. The same growth was seen in Switzerland. Tagesanzeige (a national German-language newspaper published in Zurich, Switzerland) reported that sales of portable electric heaters at two local retailers this year increased by 300% compared to 2021.

Google Trends shows that the search popularity of "heater" in Germany and Switzerland has risen rapidly since August, and the upward trend has not slowed down so far, proving that the closer it gets to winter, the higher the purchasing enthusiasm of Europeans.

It is reported that at least 80% of the 50 to 60 million heaters purchased in Europe each year come from China. It is conceivable that with the general increase in sales in European countries, its export volume will grow.

In the face of this wave of dividends, people who are sensitive to market changes have already made preparations. Earlier, in a conversation with a supplier who had made popular products such as fidget spinners and ice buckets, Yien.com learned that they were desperately producing heaters and said that they had already shipped a lot of them in June and July.

Now most people in Europe have reached a consensus: reduce spending but don't let themselves get cold . Therefore, in addition to the popular products mentioned above, heated USB gloves , hot water bottles, stoves, fireplaces , heated jackets , hand warmers, etc. are also what they need.

Winter is cold and long, the products can be sold until April next year

Behind the surge in demand for heating products in Europe is a sharp drop in natural gas from Russia. As we all know, Europe is heavily dependent on Russian natural gas. In 2021, Russian natural gas accounted for 45% of Europe's total imports. As of the end of July 2022, Russia's share of Europe's natural gas supply has dropped to 4.3%, which has been made worse by the suspension of Nord Stream 1.

European countries have varying degrees of dependence on Russian natural gas supply, among which Germany, Italy and Poland are among the most dependent countries. Before the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Germany even imported more than 60% of its natural gas from Russia. Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why heating products are selling well in Germany this year.

However, many people also say that winter in Europe is not very cold, and it is not a big problem to not have natural gas heating. Whether this is true or not can be obtained from the geographical location of Europe and the winter temperature.

Europe is divided into Northern Europe, Central Europe and Southern Europe. Southern Europe has a Mediterranean climate, with warm winters and cool summers, and the winter temperature is above 10 degrees. The temperature in Central Europe and Northern Europe is much lower, with the temperature in Central Europe being above -10 degrees Celsius. The temperature in Northern Europe is lower at higher latitudes, with most temperatures around -10 degrees Celsius, and occasionally below -20 degrees Celsius.

Therefore, it will be difficult for countries in Central and Northern Europe, such as Germany and Sweden, to have no heating. On September 28, Beijing time, the lowest temperatures in European cities such as Berlin, Germany, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Stockholm, Sweden were 6℃, 7℃, and 8℃ respectively, while the lowest temperature in the ice city of Harbin was only 12℃ on the same day.

It has already snowed in some parts of Europe. For example, last week Bavaria, Germany, had the first snow of 2022.

In order to consume as little natural gas as possible, Switzerland has also issued a heating regulation, which includes that the room temperature of buildings using gas heating systems cannot exceed 19 degrees Celsius, and the heating water heated by gas can only be heated to a maximum of 60 degrees Celsius. Residents who violate the regulations may be sentenced to up to three years.

In fact, even if the government does not restrict the use of natural gas, European residents will back off in the face of high natural gas bills. Recently, a family in Berlin, the capital of Germany, told a local radio station about their shock when they received a prepayment bill from a natural gas supplier. The bill showed that they had to pay 1,515 euros per month, which was only 143 euros per month before, an increase of more than 10 times.

Half of German households use natural gas for heating, but a new survey shows that 40% of Germans expect to have problems paying their energy bills in the coming winter.

Compared with the high price of natural gas, electric blankets at 27.99 to 201 euros and electric heaters at more than a dozen dollars are obviously much cheaper. Another reason why these products are hot-selling now is that they consume much less electricity than air conditioners. After all, the price of electricity in Europe has also risen a lot.

In addition to replacing low-power electrical appliances for heating, some European families have also purchased electrical appliances such as induction cookers in order to reduce gas usage in the kitchen.

However, with this wave of sales boom, sellers can't help but worry whether they have missed the opportunity by entering the market now.

It is understood that Europe is located between 36°N and 71°N, with a large north-south span. Generally, the temperature gets lower as you go north. Therefore, although the winter temperature in Europe is not extremely cold, it is very long. Winter begins in October and lasts until late March or April. This shows that the sales cycle of heating products is not short, which lasts for 6 months from the beginning of winter to the end . And from north to south, the time of winter in different countries is different, so different markets can be selected according to different times.

Een.com found that some sellers still wanted to give it a try. After all, sales in Europe have been sluggish for quite a long time, and they all wanted to stimulate growth with the help of this heating product. Some sellers said that although it is impossible to enter the top of the category, there is still a chance if they operate well. Therefore, in order to seize the market, they are all asking which logistics method or channel can transport goods to Europe the fastest.

A few days ago, a logistics company told Ennet that the current air delivery time to Germany is 10 to 12 days, and the price is around 38 to 39 yuan.

In summary, heating products face crises, so sellers entering the market should think carefully and choose cautiously.

Electric blanket

Electric heater