On May 9th, Gree Electric Appliances released two announcements, one titled "Notice on Establishing the Household Appliance Business Department" and the other "Notice on the Appointment of Comrade Lu Luqun." This move is seen as heralding a new era of coordinated development in the full range of household appliances marketing at Gree Electric Appliances.
The home appliance industry has learned that Gree Electric Appliances has established a household appliance business unit for the first time in the Chinese market, mainly responsible for all marketing work of household air conditioners, small appliances, refrigeration, and lifestyle appliances. In simple terms, Gree Electric Appliances will comprehensively integrate the marketing system of all C-end household appliance categories, breaking the previous independent marketing systems of household appliance categories over the years and establishing a Chinese marketing headquarters similar to Haier, Midea, and other household appliance peers, creating this new platform and new department.
In the eyes of the home appliance industry, Gree Electric Appliances' move is seen as the natural result of optimizing its own operating system, especially the new retail transformation of channels, as well as the impact of external consumer changes and peer efficiency drivers. In the short term, the goal is to address the current market situation where "air conditioners have been dominant for a long time, while refrigeration, lifestyle appliances, and other household appliance categories have been slow to develop." Through the synergy of the marketing system and the sales promotion of categories, the aim is to achieve integrated growth of other household appliance categories driven by the strong air conditioning category.
Lu Luqun, the first sales director of the consumer electronics category integration department at Gree Electric Appliances, hails from Zhuhai Huange Digital Technology Co., Ltd., where he serves as the CEO. Public information reveals that Zhuhai Huange Digital is the agent of Gree Electric Appliances in Hebei Province, with JD.com as its major shareholder. In 2022, it replaced the original agent, Xu Zifa, due to a fallout over investment in Philips air conditioners.
Over the past two years, under Lu Luqun's leadership, Gree's sales company in Hebei not only effectively dealt with the market impact and aftermath of Xu Zifa's departure but also successfully drew on JD.com's digital marketing experience and Gree's new retail transformation. They took the lead in accelerating the new retail transformation in Hebei Gree, involving digital marketing and more.
Insiders in the home appliance industry have revealed that Lu Luqun's appointment as the first sales director of Gree Electric Appliances' consumer electronics business is akin to transitioning from a distributor on the second party side to the market leader at the first party factory. This move primarily signifies the recognition of his capabilities and expertise by Dong Mingzhu, the Chairwoman and President of Gree Electric Appliances.
Before becoming the CEO of Zhuhai Huange Digital Technology Co., Ltd., Lu Luqun held positions such as General Manager of the Jingpin Home Appliances Project Department of JD Home Appliances. From JD Home Appliances in Beijing to the Hebei Gree Sales Company in Shijiazhuang, and now heading south to the Gree Electric Headquarters in Zhuhai, Lu Luqun, trusted by Dong Mingzhu, hopes to bring new strength and changes to Gree Electric's multi-category home appliance marketing synergy and scale growth.
As early as 2022, Gree Electric and JD Home Appliances explored the "Jingree Exclusive Store" model in the first-tier market. JD Home Appliances is responsible for developing Jingree joint stores in the sinking market, mainly focusing on finding new distributors to operate Gree Electric's full range of home appliance products. The Jingree Exclusive Store is completely independent of the Gree Exclusive Store system and is seen as Gree Electric's attempt to seek coordinated development of a full range of home appliances. This move should also provide experience and lessons for the establishment of the Home Appliance Business Department at Gree Electric.
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Declaration: Personal original work, for reference only.
