Upgrade your own appliances with a subsidy
Shanghai has opened a home appliance trade-in subsidy campaign, targeting eight key categories including televisions, air conditioners and computers.
This initiative, which began over the weekend, has been met with enthusiasm from both brands and consumers.
Its aim is to ignite a fresh wave of consumption and give the local economy a much-needed boost.
A home appliance in a store in Changning District.
The trade-in program, effective through to the end of 2024, is designed to encourage consumers to upgrade their old appliances by offering financial incentives, with 15 to 20 per cent for qualified products to meet green and energy efficient standards.
Every consumer can have maximum subsidiary to 2,000 yuan (US$281.7) for each category, which makes a total subsidiary of 2,000 to 16,000 yuan for the total eight categories, according to the government policy.
People can get subsidiary coupons through online payment platforms or directly in offline stores.
People are flocking to offline stores of Suning and JD to choose and purchase home appliance products, from TVs, air conditioners, washing machines and cleaning robots, Shanghai TV news reported.
A screenprint of JD during the weekend, with a Macbook computer image of its trade-in policy.
Xiao Tao, a Shanghai-based lady, purchased an Apple Macbook Air at final price of 7,999 yuan on JD.com during the weekend, with an trade-in subsidiary of almost 2,000 yuan.
"I was mulling over changing my laptop for a new computer for a while," she said. "Now it's the best price I have seen."
Others also plan to upgrade computers to play the hit game Black Myth: Wukong, which has high hardware and GPU requirements. The new policy has given them a strong reason to pay, Shanghai Daily learnt through social platforms.
By Saturday night, national and Shanghai home appliance trade-in policies boosted sales to up to 70 million yuan in Shanghai. Air conditioners, refrigerators and washing machines are the top-sales categories, according to the Shanghai Commercial Trade Association of Household and Electric and Electronic Appliance.
New design and functions also fuel the demands including artificial intelligence features, pet-friendly applications and elderly care design.
Samsung introduced an AI washing device for pet-owning families. The brand also introduced its own trade-in policy to boost consumption.
For example, Samsung released new AI-powered devices recently including Bespoke washing devices with a clothing care programs especially designed for families with pets. It can effectively remove pet odors, stains, and allergens from fur, creating a convenient and fresh living environment for pet-owning families.
It also introduced its own trade-in plan apart from government programs, which provides Yangtze Delta consumers additional subsidiaries valued up to 1,688 yuan until October.
AI products are welcomed by consumers with upgraded demands, like cleaning robots, smart lockers and intelligent elderly care devices, industry officials said.
