Battle in the bottled water market! Nongfu Spring at 74 cents per bottle, Tingyi's Master Kong at 65 cents per bottle... Experts: Price reduction is not a long-term solution

In the scorching summer, the sun is blazing. The battlefield of the drinking water market is filled with smoke, and the "water war" dominated by ultra-low prices has begun.

Recently, NONGFU SPRING has been vigorously promoting drinking purified water on various social media platforms, with a super low price of 9.9 yuan per pack sparking a new round of price wars in the market. A Beijing Business Daily reporter found that some channels even offer it at 8.9 yuan per pack, equivalent to about 0.74 yuan per bottle.

In various supermarkets and convenience stores in Changsha, brands such as NONGFU SPRING, Wahaha, and Yi Bao are offering discounts on packaged drinking water, with prices as low as 0.8 yuan per bottle. Online, brand discounts and promotions are also ongoing.

The drinking water market starts a "water battle" Single bottle as low as sixty to seventy cents

According to Beijing Business Daily, purified water manufacturers in the 2 yuan price range suddenly found a strong opponent recently. "9.9 yuan per pack, two packs for 19.8 yuan, with free shipping." In NONGFU SPRING's official Douyin live broadcast, 12 bottles of 550ml purified water are priced at only 9.9 yuan, equivalent to about 0.83 yuan per bottle. In the barrage, there are constant prompts of successful orders from consumers.

The product information of NONGFU SPRING's drinking purified water shows that the daily price of 24 bottles of 550ml is 48 yuan per pack, equivalent to 2 yuan per bottle. During the promotion period, it is equivalent to a 59% discount, and consumers can have it delivered to their homes through NONGFU SPRING's over 1,000 "delivery to home" stores nationwide, regardless of floor, stairs, elevators, or cargo elevators, with no extra fees.

This promotion has been going on for a month for NONGFU SPRING. According to the data released by NONGFU SPRING, from May 31 to June 3, the sales of the new purified water exceeded 1 million units. On "6.18" day, the purified water product surged to the top of the JD Water and Beverage New Product Ranking.

According to Hai Bao News, as NONGFU SPRING reduced prices, its competitors such as Wahaha and Yi Bao naturally followed suit and lowered their prices. The supermarket price tags show that Wahaha's 596ml pure water, 12 bottles, is priced at 11.9 yuan; Yi Bao's 555ml pure water, 12 bottles, is priced at 11.9 yuan; Kangshifu's 380ml cool boiled water, 15 bottles, is priced at 9.8 yuan, as low as 0.65 yuan per bottle. It is obvious that in the purified water sector, NONGFU SPRING and Kangshifu have a price advantage.

As is well known, there is a distinction between purified water and mineral water in the current market, and different consumers have their own preferences for drinking water. On the promotional shelves of supermarkets, NONGFU SPRING's 9.9 yuan purified water and Laoshan mineral water priced at 16.9 yuan are placed in order. Ms. Li, a citizen, casually picked up a pack of Laoshan mineral water and put it in her shopping cart. Ms. Li believes that mineral water contains trace elements and minerals, and she is not very sensitive to product prices. She tends to prefer mineral water over purified water Mr. Qiu, accompanied by his wife and child, arrived at the drinking water sales area and after comparing, chose one pack of Nongfu Spring 596ml and one pack of Tingyi 380ml. Mr. Qiu mentioned that he has a habit of storing water in his private car, making it convenient for the family to drink water while traveling. He stated that he doesn't have any specific requirements for natural or purified water, and would choose the product with a lower price.

The bottled water market is lively this year Expert: Price reduction is not a long-term solution

Public data shows that there are 19,000 drinking water manufacturing companies in China, with Shandong having the most at 1703 companies, accounting for 9.1% of the total nationwide. Following are Henan with 1683 companies and Hebei with 1157 drinking water manufacturing companies.

According to a report by Zhishi Consulting, the size of China's ready-to-drink soft drink market in terms of retail sales is expected to reach 909.2 billion yuan in 2023. Among them, packaged drinking water is the largest category in terms of retail sales, with a market size of 215 billion yuan in 2023. It is expected to have a compound annual growth rate of 7.9% from 2023 to 2028, making it the fastest-growing category among all ready-to-drink soft drink categories.

According to Hunan Daily, the bottled water market has been very lively this year - Nongfu Spring is launching a new purified water product, while another well-known brand, Baisha Mountain, has announced new marketing initiatives.

At the same time, Dongfang Zhenxuan has also stirred up the bottled water market by introducing a daily water product priced at no more than 2 yuan per bottle in its self-operated products. Currently, the product is available on the Dongfang Zhenxuan App platform at a discounted price of 37.81 yuan/pack (24 bottles of 350ml) and 45.41 yuan/pack (24 bottles of 500ml).

Currently, the intense "water battle" of 2024 has been launched with comprehensive low prices. Zhu Danpeng, a Chinese food industry analyst, stated that Nongfu Spring's listing of purified water products and the implementation of a low-price strategy have made it a "disruptor" in the purified water market this year. However, "price reduction is not a long-term solution, and may lead to market confusion and damage to brand image," said renowned strategic positioning expert and founder of Fujian Huace Brand Positioning Consulting, Zhan Junhao, in a media interview