How does the security industry respond to changes in e-commerce in the new situation?

Currently, e-commerce is leading a revolution in new business models. For example, through the Internet platform, e-commerce has opened up new business development space for traditional enterprises; under the influence of e-commerce, the open Internet platform is changing the traditional supply chain organization model and promoting the upstream and downstream industry integration; The profit model is also being grafted with various different web platforms, and new business models are emerging, such as the integration of e-commerce and SNS, new media, and community websites; e-commerce is moving in a deeper direction. The B2B and B2C vertical websites are blooming all over the world... All this has a profound impact on our business environment, affecting the direction of the industry and the choices of companies.

In the face of the surge of e-commerce, the security industry cannot afford to stay out of the way. As a branch of industrial products, where is the opportunity for the security industry to implement e-commerce? What are the challenges? How should security companies choose their own e-commerce model to help enterprises enter the fast lane?

Security industry is an inevitable trend to implement e-commerce Security industry is a new industry, but also a special industry. It includes the production and operation of security protection products such as video surveillance, access control, and anti-theft alarm equipment, as well as related security protection engineering and maintenance of security protection systems. The security industry is essentially an industrial product field. Its service targets are generally government public departments, factories, enterprises, shopping malls, and communities. Therefore, the needs of security, purchase, and transaction have their own particularities. However, this does not hinder the application of e-commerce in the security industry. On the contrary, the security industry has good basic conditions for the implementation of e-commerce, and the marriage with e-commerce is also an inevitable trend.

The arrival of the “buyer market” will push the security industry to embark on the road to e-commerce. The security industry has developed rapidly in China in recent years. The extraordinary development of the real estate market, the country’s large-scale investment in public infrastructure and the need to build a socialist harmonious society in China All of these have greatly stimulated the development of this industry. According to statistics, the security industry in China has maintained a growth rate of 15%-30% in recent years. Even in the economic downturn of 2009, the industry maintained a growth rate of about 18% [1]. With the intensification of competition, the security market is gradually changing from the “seller market” to the “buyer market”, profits are beginning to thin, and users have more room to choose. Under this background, the transformation of brand building and marketing model has become a prominent issue facing security companies. In order to obtain more user resources and provide better services, security companies must in the past simply rely on traditional distribution channels to expand into three-dimensional marketing, and e-commerce has obvious advantages in corporate advertising, product promotion and transaction costs. It has become an important part of the important platform for business operations and product promotion strategies of security companies. At present, China Security Network, Inter Security Supermarket, HC Network, etc. have also become the industry's most influential security product promotion and trading platform.

The diversification of product demands will provide good opportunities for security companies to use e-commerce. With the continuous development of domestic economic construction, the application fields of security products are becoming more and more widespread. The demand for products is becoming a diversified development trend, intelligent buildings, large public places, The emergence of a large number of shopping malls and new communities has brought newer and higher requirements to security products, and e-commerce has catered to the needs of individualized and diversified users. At the same time, with the improvement of living standards of residents and the enhancement of security awareness, security products have gradually entered the family, and security products for families and individuals have also begun to increase, such as access control intercom systems and burglar alarm systems. Currently, monitoring products have a certain degree of coverage of the personal market. Although the coverage rate is very low, there is huge room for growth. This will be a promising area for future security companies to implement B2B and B2C.

The flattening of sales channels will effectively promote the development of e-commerce in the security industry. The flattening of channels is a common trend of enterprise development under the conditions of market economy, and so is the security industry. The so-called flat channel refers to the process in which companies use their modern management methods and high-tech methods to minimize sales levels and strive to sell their products directly to end consumers. In the history of the development of the security industry, large manufacturers initially adopted the general agent model. In 2003, they turned to regional distributors as the key sales model. In recent years, more and more manufacturers believe that users are the real buyers. Turning to big customer marketing and project marketing, some forward-thinking companies began to use e-commerce platforms to directly target users for product promotion and sales. E-commerce reduces intermediate links and reduces the cost of product circulation. It will be an important choice for security companies.

The bottleneck and challenge of implementing e-commerce in the security industry As the security industry has its own particularities, there are many bottlenecks and challenges in the application of e-commerce, which is reflected in:

The consumer groups are specific organizations and the decision-making process is more complicated. The main consumer groups of security products are organizations that need to install security equipment and security solutions. These organizations include the government’s public sector, factories, enterprises, shopping malls, and communities. They are different from ordinary consumers, not mainstream groups of the Internet, and their purchasing behavior. Relying on group decision-making, the decision-making process is more complex, so it is impossible to adopt the conventional operating mode in the implementation of e-commerce, and e-commerce is also difficult to run through the entire process of e-commerce.

The requirements for product performance are high and the trading cycle is long. Because security products are used for public safety precautions and other specific purposes and require high product performance, it takes a long period of inquiry and negotiation to realize the entire transaction, and these cannot be completely resolved through e-commerce.

Large trading volume, high requirements for transaction security. Security products are bulk commodities, with large transaction quotas and high unit prices. Therefore, the requirements for transaction security are high. In the current situation where the domestic online integrity system and payment environment are not yet mature, the scope of e-commerce applications is limited, and the e-commerce transaction is limited. The rate is not very high.

The above bottlenecks and challenges have determined that the application of e-commerce in the security industry cannot be accomplished overnight, nor can it replicate the e-commerce model of mass consumer products. However, these bottlenecks and challenges are not static, and with the development of the industry and the increasingly mature payment environment, The use of e-commerce in the security industry will increase.

Security industry e-commerce operation mode selection From the "front-end" gradually to the "middle", "back-end" penetration The security industry's own characteristics determine the application of e-commerce is a limited application. From the aspect of sales, the pre-sale application is more at this stage. For example, establish a portal site, build a product catalog, and upload product pictures and product descriptions for potential customers to browse and refer to; or advertise on industry-related websites to promote companies and products; or e-mail product promotion and promotion. These are all good internet marketing models. Online marketing plus offline channel expansion and business negotiation will be more conducive to the development of security corporate business activities.

As the transaction and payment environment matures, the e-commerce application in the security industry will gradually penetrate from the "front end" to the "middle end" and "back end". That is to say, the company may be able to complete the transaction, distribution, and some after-sales services of the core business activities. This puts forward high requirements for security companies or security e-commerce platforms. For example, the design of the browsing interface is more reasonable and humane, the product display is more detailed and real, the trading platform is faster and more secure, and the logistics distribution system is more rapid. Efficient. At present, the security industry has emerged such as Internet security supermarkets such as the Internet store, but this has just begun, security companies have a long way to go for e-commerce.

From the horizontal "B2B" mode to the vertical "B2B" and "B2C" mode transition "B2B" is a common e-commerce model, that is, business-to-business marketing activities. "B2B" model is divided into two types: horizontal "B2B" and vertical "B2B". The former refers to the use of third-party e-commerce platform to achieve the docking and transaction of supply and demand sides, such as Alibaba, Lebai for; the latter refers to Companies build their own e-commerce sites (often called "virtual stores") and sell products directly to customers.

In view of the industrial properties of security products and the stage in which China's security industry is located, the current level of "B2B" is a good e-commerce model for most enterprises. This model saves the cost of establishing a company's own site and maintaining it. With the help of third-party expertise and a huge amount of supply and demand information, it can effectively achieve supply-demand matching. The current industry platforms that adopt this model mainly include HC Network. HC360.com is a leading B2B e-commerce service provider in China. Security Network is a professional security product trading platform of HC. It mainly engages in connection between supply and demand through the sale and purchase. In addition, it provides industry research and information consulting services.

Vertical B2B requires companies to have certain strengths and resource integration capabilities, and have a good professional level in the construction of network platforms. Typical examples of vertical B2B are Intel Security Supermarket and Ningbo Security Mall. The Intel Security Supermarket is a security network enterprise integrating production, supply, and sales. It operates products that include security products of nearly 100 brands in addition to Int's own security products. Ningbo Security Mall is a pure online shopping mall. It is a bit like the original "Jingdong Mall" and "Dangdang.com". It specializes in the sale of security products, but it does not produce products itself.

With the diversification of product demand and the breakdown of consumer groups, B2C models for families and individuals may emerge in the security industry in the future. Consumers will be able to submit their personalized needs through the mouse and complete the transaction of security products. , Just as it is now convenient and quick to buy daily necessities online.

E-commerce conforms to the development trend of the times and shows strong vitality and attractiveness. As a fast-growing sunrise industry, the security industry is inevitably linked with e-commerce. However, e-commerce in the security industry is a gradual process. Enterprises must choose the appropriate e-commerce model according to the stage of development of the industry and their own strength. Otherwise, they will probably be self-defeating and pay a price. However, from the perspective of the development of the entire industry, the security industry's e-commerce prospects can be expected.