(Yicai) Nov. 13 -- China’s biggest shopping event of the year has seen fierce price competition among home appliance makers, as a weaker round of national subsidies and last year’s high base pushed some to slash prices and others to tempt consumers with better services, according to  industry insiders.

Lower subsidies this quarter compared with a year ago has prompted many consumers to take a wait-and-see approach, pushing some brands into price promotions to stimulate sales, a tactic that weighs on profits, a senior executive at a television maker told Yicai.

Online and offline retail prices of major home appliances, including TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners, fell between Nov. 3 and 9 compared with a year earlier, according to data from market research firm AVC.

Sales growth for home appliances, especially large items, has been muted over Double-11 because the trade-in subsidy campaign that began in the second half of last year brought forward some demand, and because platform price-comparison tactics have forced further price reductions, AVC President Guo Meide told Yicai.

Since the market’s size has not expanded, stiffer price competition will further erode profits at manufacturers and retailers, Guo pointed out. “The growth model that relies primarily on lowering prices as a market expansion strategy has become a thing of the past, with the future lying in guiding consumption through new and trendy products.” he said.

Profit margins on low-end products are already thin, so there is limited room for price cuts, the TV firm executive noted, adding that this has led to the prices of some mid-to-high-end goods plunging during Double 11.

For example, the price of a 55-inch Mini Light-Emitting Diode TV on major e-commerce platforms such as JD.Com was less than CNY4,000 (USD565), or about 20 percent lower than during the mid-year promotional season.

Nanchang Yonghua Home Appliance has experienced its “coldest” Double-11 in recent years, said Wang Yang, head of the Jiangxi province-based company, blaming part of the slump on e-commerce listings whose retail prices undercut the firm’s costs.

"Double 11 online and offline sales both fell this year, with the average price of products also dropping," said a home appliance retailer in Central China. "Home appliance manufacturers and distributors have no choice but to respond by cutting costs."

An appliances retailer in Northwest China has begun integrating its products with home goods to cope with the overall decline in demand, it told Yicai.

During Double 11, the price of air conditioners fell by 5 percent to 15 percent from a year ago, according to Gan Jianguo, general manager of HarmonyOS Connect Meipont Intelligent Air Conditioner. The company is leaning on smarter products and added services, including a 10-year warranty, to attract buyers.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev