Have you ever had this experience: every time your child comes back from playing outside, he always wears a pair of dirty shoes? Although you buy new shoes for your children every season, they soon become old, yellow and moldy? Every vacation you want to completely relax, but all your plans are disrupted because of one or two pairs of shoes that have to be cleaned?

As early as the 1980s and 1990s, washing machines entered thousands of households as one of the "four major appliances". In recent years, dishwashers have also been rapidly popularized with the concept of "improving family happiness". But in 2023, when the human brain is facing the risk of being "eliminated" by artificial intelligence, why are there still many people washing shoes manually?

Say goodbye to hand washing and let you have the freedom to wear shoes

As the quality of life improves, people pay more and more attention to the cleaning and maintenance of shoes. Studies have shown that shoes may carry a variety of bacteria, molds, viruses and other microorganisms. If they are not cleaned and disinfected in time, they may cause foot diseases such as athlete's foot and tinea pedis.

However, cleaning and maintaining shoes is not easy. Especially for families with children, there are many houseworks, and children's shoes get dirty very quickly. Manual shoe brushing is time-consuming and laborious. For busy office workers, they are reluctant to use their rare vacation time to clean shoes. Even if you put a "lazy shoe washing bag" in the washing machine, the shoe washing effect is not good.

Is there a better way to clean shoes easily? The demand in vertical fields will naturally give rise to segmented product markets, and the "shoe washing machine" came into being.

The use of a shoe washing machine is very simple. You only need to put the shoes into the shoe washing bucket, add the right amount of water and shoe detergent, then select the appropriate washing mode and press the start button to automatically complete the cleaning process. The shoe washing machine also has drying, disinfection, deodorization and other functions, which can make the shoes clean and tidy and look brand new in a short time.

A hundred flowers bloom, the shoe washing machine industry ushered in spring

Shoe washing machine is an innovative household appliance that can meet people's needs for cleaning and maintenance of shoes. The market potential and development space continue to expand, which naturally attracts many brands to participate.

Here is a brief summary of the more mainstream shoe washing machine brands and their main functions on the market. AUX shoe washing machines are mainly fully automatic, equipped with 360° artificial washing, blue light sterilization, drying, dehydration and other functions. Chigo shoe washing machines are divided into fully automatic and semi-automatic, which can achieve multiple uses in one machine, with brushes installed to wash shoes and brushes removed to wash clothes. Xiaoya shoe washing machine has UV blue light, 360° surround full wall brush, dehydration and other functions.

It should be noted that although the shoe washing machine market has huge potential and many brands are already involved, the industry has not really entered the stage of formalization and standardization.

Crabs are delicious but their legs are hard to break; opportunities and challenges coexist in the shoe washing machine industry

Judging from the current development of the industry, shoe washing machines still face many challenges.

First of all, the technical threshold of shoe washing machines is not high, the product quality is uneven, and there is a lack of unified standards and specifications. At present, most shoe washing machines on the market are based on washing machines with brushes added. There are differences in cleaning effect, safety, durability, etc., which makes it difficult for consumers to distinguish and choose.

Secondly, the user experience of shoe washing machines is not good, and the cleaning effect needs to be improved. Although shoe washing machines can clean shoes conveniently and quickly, there are pain points such as lace entanglement, incomplete cleaning of the inside and corners, and inability to clean shoes of certain materials. The industry needs to continue to innovate technology to solve these problems.

In addition, the shoe washing machine market is highly competitive and brand awareness is low. There are many shoe washing machine brands on the market, but user awareness is generally low. This requires brands to continuously come up with better products and experiences to gain user recognition, thereby providing support for the development of the shoe washing machine industry.

Finally, the consumer demand for shoe washing machines is unclear and the market education is insufficient. Although shoe washing machines can solve some users' pain points, not all users have strong demand and willingness to buy. Some users think that manual cleaning of shoes is more thorough, worry that shoe washing machines will damage shoes, or think that shoe washing machines are too expensive and take up too much space.

Therefore, the shoe washing machine industry needs more traditional big brands to participate, strengthen market education and publicity, and let more users understand and recognize the advantages and value of shoe washing machines.

New technology solves old problems, Haier's original ball-brush shoe washing machine strives to break through

As more and more users buy shoe washing machines, some industry problems are gradually exposed, and industry transformation and upgrading is imperative. It is found that Haier shoe washing machine relies on its own shoe washing and care laboratory, and with continuous user interaction and demand insights, it tries to break through by inventing a ball brush shoe washing machine.

Haier's ball-brush shoe washing machine has conducted machine washing tests, research and breakthroughs on more than 10,000 pairs of different types of shoes worn by real users, thus overcoming machine washing problems such as column-brush shoe washing machines not being able to clean thoroughly and violent shoe brushing damaging shoes, providing users with three new shoe washing experiences of high-cleanliness, low wear and tear, and healthy care.

Haier shoe washing machine adopts patented ball brush technology and is also equipped with patented sharpened silk bristles, which can greatly reduce wear while achieving reverse shoe washing. In addition, Haier shoe washing machine specializes in HP ionization sterilization technology, which can eliminate Trichophyton rubrum and solve the problem of athlete's foot infection. Starting from July 1, in order to let more users experience the washing effect of Haier shoe washing machine, Haier shoe washing machine set up a "shoe washing corner" in the terminal store and carried out an interactive experience activity of "washing shoes in the store".

The shoe washing machine market has great potential, but also faces many challenges. How to improve product quality and performance, how to formulate unified standards and specifications, how to enhance brand awareness and trust, and how to enhance consumer demand and market education are all issues that require joint efforts and exploration by the industry.

I believe that with the joint efforts of the industry, the shoe washing machine industry will usher in a broader development prospect, allowing more users to enjoy the convenience and healthy lifestyle brought by shoe washing machines.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.