Introduction
In today’s rapidly changing consumer market, shaping exceptional customer experience has become a new pathway for enterprises to achieve stable and sustainable growth. By clarifying brand positioning and value, formulating comprehensive experience strategies, and creating unique and memorable experiences at critical moments, enterprises can connect deeply with customers, build solid relationships, and achieve continuous growth. As a company focused on experience consulting, we deeply understand the importance of experience empowerment. Leveraging our unique thinking and methodological models, we will analyze typical representatives of successful enterprises in the market, exploring how they achieve business breakthroughs and success through customer experience strategies. We look forward to sharing our research findings to provide inspiration and reference for more enterprises, jointly ushering in a new era of experience-empowered business.
——Case Analysis of FOTILE Kitchen Appliances
01 Industry Context
The Chinese kitchen appliance industry is evolving from providing basic kitchen appliances to offering users kitchen experiences and lifestyles.
The average kitchen area of Chinese households is only about 5 square meters. In such a small space, integrated kitchen appliances— which simplify space while enhancing functionality by integrating independent appliances such as range hoods, gas stoves, disinfection cabinets, steam ovens, and dishwashers—have become a trend.
However, as consumers pursue quality life, the compromises of downward integration can no longer satisfy those seeking a higher standard of living. The kitchen is no longer merely a place to "cook a meal"; it has become a key scene for home design. This means the kitchen is no longer a traditional space, and kitchen appliances are no longer just traditional tools—they need to integrate functionality, intelligent connectivity, and aesthetic design. In this context, FOTILE pioneered the Integrated Cooking Center, rooted in scenarios rather than mere product combinations, aiming to provide intelligent, high-quality premium cooking experiences.
While the kitchen appliance market faced challenges, FOTILE grew against the trend and secured its leading position.
Affected by the pandemic, the real estate market declined, and China’s consumer confidence index continued to drop. Most kitchen appliance enterprises began cutting prices, leading to a market reshuffle.
Consumers increasingly valued cost-performance, but the market was plagued by homogenization, plagiarism, and a lack of strong differentiation, dooming many brands to dwindle in competitiveness. Amid this environment, FOTILE maintained revenue growth. From 2017 to 2024, FOTILE ranked first for eight consecutive years in the Range Hood Category of the China Brand Power Index (C-BPI). In the first half of 2021, in the high-end range hood market (priced above 5,000 yuan), FOTILE accounted for 40.71% of retail sales, topping the list. Public data shows that FOTILE’s revenue reached 12 billion yuan, 15.5 billion yuan, and 16.243 billion yuan in 2020, 2021, and 2022 respectively, with growth rates of 10%, 29%, and 4.86%—all outperforming its competitor Robam.
FOTILE is also a drafter of national standards for Chinese range hoods, stoves, and disinfection cabinets, and the leading unit of the National Range Hood Standardization Working Group. It has represented China in revising international standards for range hoods for seven consecutive years. Endorsed by the state, it stands as an industry benchmark. How did FOTILE establish a high-end benchmark in China’s kitchen appliance industry? How did it integrate high-end into experience, create a lifestyle unique to FOTILE, and maintain competitiveness despite real estate market impacts? This article will analyze FOTILE’s successful approach to shaping high-end experiences.
02 Brand Characteristics
Differentiated Positioning: Focus on range hoods first, expand to other kitchen products after becoming the leader
FOTILE was founded in 1996, at a time when core technologies were entirely dominated by foreign brands. There were no high-end local home appliance brands in China, and hundreds of domestic enterprises in the industry were all focused on the mid-to-low-end market, caught in a fierce price war. While the price war boosted sales volume, the excessively low profit margins led to a year-on-year increase in product repair rates in the market. This came at the expense of product quality and service standards, with many brands becoming synonymous with inferior products.
Foreign high-end brands gradually entered the Chinese market, but foreign range hood brands lagged behind other home appliance products due to the stark differences between Chinese and Western cooking styles. After analyzing market opportunities, FOTILE determined that the low-end market and price wars offered no viable path in that environment. Leveraging foreign brands’ lack of familiarity with domestic consumers and cooking habits, FOTILE established a clear direction: to focus solely on range hoods, develop core technologies in this field, and only expand to other kitchen products after becoming the market leader. This strategy aimed to build China’s first local high-end home appliance brand.
Around 2003, multinational kitchen appliance giants led by Siemens and Electrolux launched an offensive into China’s high-end range hood market, with Siemens setting a goal to become the top player in the high-end segment within three years. At the same time, other domestic first-tier brands followed FOTILE’s footsteps into the high-end market, putting FOTILE in a situation of facing threats from both front and rear. In 2009, Robam held a 17.6% market share, slightly outperforming FOTILE (15.7%) which ranked second. It was at this point that FOTILE began to clarify its strategy of brand specialization, high-endization, and premiumization. With foresight, it established a professional engineering marketing team and fully entered the real estate fine decoration sector, becoming the standard kitchen appliance for fine decoration housing units. By doing so, it leveraged the high-end real estate brands recognized by consumers to endorse its own brand.
In 2010, FOTILE collaborated with Trout, a strategic positioning consulting firm. Following Trout’s advice, FOTILE decided to abandon mid-range products and focus more intensely on the high-end market. It launched the brand positioning: "FOTILE, China’s High-End Kitchen Appliance Expert and Leader," and clearly articulated its competitive edge: "The best-selling high-end range hood in China is not a foreign brand, but FOTILE—because FOTILE is more professional."
The implementation of this strategy yielded optimistic market results the following year: in the high-end range hood market (priced above 4,000 yuan), FOTILE’s market share rose from 30% in January to 38% in April, leading the second-place brand by 63%.
During this period, FOTILE also developed a set of core principles:
Insights into Target Users
Through in-depth market research and user demand analysis, FOTILE identified the needs of Chinese families—especially middle-class families pursuing high-quality lifestyles—for high-end, integrated, and intelligent kitchen appliances. FOTILE recognized that as living standards improved, consumers no longer viewed kitchen appliances merely as tools to meet basic cooking needs; instead, they expected high-end kitchen appliances to enhance their overall quality of life and kitchen experience. By engaging in real interactions with users—such as engineers communicating with customers during home service visits—and conducting in-depth research on the kitchen habits of Chinese families, FOTILE accurately grasped user pain points and needs, continuously launching innovative products and services to cater to the diverse lifestyles and kitchen space requirements of its target users.
For instance, during the research and development of dishwasher products, FOTILE engineers discovered that over 65% of the time spent on pre-meal preparation and post-meal cleaning is directly related to the sink. As the core of kitchen workflow, the sink was the only space in the kitchen not yet electrified. Thus, FOTILE decided to focus its research on the sink, a high-frequency activity area. Starting in 2010, FOTILE visited over 1,000 Chinese families in 25 cities and engaged in repeated exchanges with dozens of "geek users." From user feedback, the team translated users’ "likes" and "dislikes" into technical language, and through rational conceptualization and technical translation, originally invented a sink-integrated dishwasher tailored to Chinese kitchen needs, ushering Chinese kitchens into the "machine-washing era."
The Launch Event of FOTILE Sink Dishwasher
In addition, FOTILE has collaborated with professional institutions such as the National Survey and Big Data Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to jointly release the *Report on the Development Trends of Chinese Kitchen-Dwelling*, further deepening its understanding of demand scenarios in Chinese families.
Innovation and R&D Investment
FOTILE invests no less than 5% of its annual sales revenue in research and development, with 30% of this allocation dedicated to cutting-edge technologies such as material science and intelligent technology. Additionally, there is no budget cap for research on major projects. FOTILE maintains an industry-leading number of patents and sustained investment in product R&D and technical upgrades, continuously iterating and upgrading its products to ensure higher quality and deliver greater value to users. As Chinese consumers’ purchasing power has grown, FOTILE’s years of dedicated research and substantial investment have yielded rich returns, perfectly aligning with Chinese consumers’ multifaceted demands for quality, convenience, and aesthetics.
03 Brand Experience Analysis
Brand Promise
——Clarifying brand promise to reshape consumer perception
FOTILE is committed to building a high-end kitchen appliance brand belonging to Chinese people, and promises consumers "Greatness through Love." By providing high-quality products and services, as well as creating a healthy and tasteful lifestyle, it enables millions of families to enjoy a happier and more secure life. This philosophy also serves as a shared internal goal, driving FOTILE’s team to work together to make customers perceive and recognize the value promised by the brand.
Experience Strategy
——Defining clear experience strategies and principles to guide experience implementation and fulfill brand promises to consumers
After gaining in-depth insights into the market environment and core target groups, FOTILE, based on its strategic positioning of "professional, high-end, and responsible" and its caring brand philosophy of "Greatness through Love," provides consumers with the experience value of "customers’ peace of mind" and clarifies its customer experience vision. Under this value proposition, FOTILE has formulated an implementation system for customers—"Innovation for beauty, quality for trust, cost for benefits, and brand for justice"—to guide the execution of experience initiatives.
Specifically, "Innovation for Beauty" emphasizes that in products and services, continuous innovation should be used to enhance aesthetic value and the overall user experience and perception; "Quality for Trust" means adhering to high standards in quality to establish and maintain customers’ trust; "Cost for Benefits" refers to effectively controlling production, operation, and other processes to improve efficiency, allowing consumers to enjoy prices that match the value they receive; "Brand for Justice" requires that in building the brand image, enterprises should demonstrate their commitment to social responsibility and adherence to customer promises, thereby establishing long-term relationships with customers rather than pursuing immediate short-term gains. These four principles are interrelated and jointly form a comprehensive customer experience framework, serving as experience guidelines to guide the execution team in implementing the brand’s experience value.
Analyzing FOTILE Kitchen Appliances Using the Value Proposition Pyramid Model:
Customer Journey and Moments of Truth (MOT)
——The core of shaping an experience journey lies in starting from customer needs, creating key Moments of Truth (MOT), and leaving unforgettable memories for customers.
Leveraging its strengths in products, technology, and culture, FOTILE prioritizes customer experience, gains insights into the customer journey, and innovates at critical stages to deliver delightful surprises to users.
The customer journey of kitchen appliance users spans pre-purchase, during purchase, product usage, and post-purchase stages:
FOTILE, integrating its business goals, customer experience objectives, and capability advantages, has created surprise moments in key stages to deliver experiences that exceed user expectations:
1. In-store product experience: In FOTILE’s experience centers, users can intuitively and scenically experience product effects in themed exhibition halls, enhancing their sensory perception, connecting products to real-life usage scenarios, and facilitating decision-making. These centers integrate spatial scene display, experience, and product sales, satisfying users’ endless imagination of a "happy home" in one stop.
As the first brand in the kitchen appliance industry to open brand experience centers, FOTILE interacts with consumers through cooking classes, private chef events, and other forms to convey its lifestyle concept. Some offline stores have also been upgraded to 300-500 square meter "FOTILE Life Home" city experience stores, allowing more intuitive product function experiences.
2. Price comparison and decision-making: Products and discounts remain consistent across online and offline channels, eliminating the hassle of frequent price comparisons. Unlike many brands in the kitchen appliance industry, FOTILE effectively integrates online channels (official mall, JD.com, Tmall) and offline channels (specialty stores, experience centers, Gome, Suning), unifying product lines and prices, and synchronizing product promotions across all channels.
3. ngredient cleaning before cooking (dishwasher products): Dishwashers tailored to Chinese kitchens offer a fruit and vegetable cleaning mode, capable of cleaning ingredients—even crayfish—effortlessly. This extends product functionality to the pre-cooking stage, helping users save time and effort in ingredient preparation and enhancing their sense of life well-being.
4. During cooking (Integrated Cooking Center): A kitchen cooking integration solution that integrates range hood, stove, steam, baking, and disinfection functions into one central area enables simultaneous cooking, soup-making, steaming, and baking. With efficient collaboration between modules, six dishes and one soup can be prepared in just 30 minutes. This solves the problem of spending excessive time cooking after work, making the cooking process more efficient, effortless, and smooth.
5. Post-purchase waiting and on-site service: Users benefit from FOTILE’s self-operated service network, which guarantees on-site service within 24 hours in central areas and 48 hours in suburban counties, avoiding long waits. During on-site visits, users experience attentive service attitudes. Additionally, "FOTILE’s characteristic service projects"—including free on-site inspection, free pre-embedded range hood pipe installation, one-stop comprehensive inspection, and 100% service follow-up—provide standardized, efficient, and caring service guarantees.
These surprise moments run through the entire customer journey, collectively demonstrating FOTILE’s meticulous user insights rooted in benevolence and care-driven innovation. They reflect the brand’s high-end style and professional temperament, leaving a clear and lasting impression on customers and forging a deep brand imprint in their minds.
Internal Actions to Reshape the Journey
——Building a service brand, conducting internal cultural development, cultivating value awareness among R&D teams, establishing service networks, and providing work standards and rigorous training for service personnel.
To ensure the experience value is truly implemented and tangibly felt by customers, FOTILE has established the "Sincere Service" brand, advocating the service principles of "timely, professional, and attentive." Since 2012, FOTILE has persisted in promoting benevolent service, strengthened its "high-end" brand positioning, launched characteristic service projects and professional service products for customers, and implemented service strategies while building a service culture among employees.
FOTILE Cultural Lecture
Internally within the enterprise: FOTILE has established a customer-centric corporate culture, guiding employees to always start from identifying user pain points, explore the hidden needs behind these pain points, and make more innovative attempts to address them. Internally, FOTILE promotes cultural education aimed at cultivating employees’ "benevolent hearts" through continuous cultural learning. This culture is reflected in a series of guidelines, such as refraining from disparaging competitors, thereby reinforcing values of integrity and respect.
For the service system: To deliver high-quality services, FOTILE has built a self-operated service system through grid-based service outlets. It adopts a grid-based layout by region and allocates dedicated service records based on the scale of FOTILE users, fundamentally ensuring the timeliness and thoughtfulness of services.
For service personnel: FOTILE provides service personnel with unified professional tools, updated regularly to ensure service quality; designs work uniforms to enhance the high-end image and strengthen the brand identity; links service quality to income to motivate employees to improve service standards; and establishes an automatic dispatching system that matches each service with the qualifications and daily workload of on-site personnel, improving service efficiency and accuracy to ensure that "sincere service" is effectively implemented. To help new employees quickly grow into qualified staff, FOTILE implements a mentorship training system where experienced employees pass on their expertise, accelerating the growth of newcomers. These measures aim to build FOTILE’s service culture, enhance the brand image, and provide users with better service experiences.
Continuous Monitoring and Optimization
——Effective management ensures the sustainability of customer experience through experience monitoring and continuous improvement.
NPS Experience Management System ：
FOTILE has built a closed-loop management platform through the establishment of its NPS (Net Promoter Score) experience management system. It measures the external competitive landscape using strategic NPS indicators and monitors the current state of customer experience through full-lifecycle NPS metrics. By implementing measurement monitoring, response management, path planning, and experience improvement, FOTILE achieves continuous closed-loop management to enhance the full-lifecycle customer experience, ensuring customer loyalty from demand to satisfaction. Deeply integrating with the company’s customer value processes, FOTILE conducts over 3 million scenario experience execution monitoring annually, with a cumulative timely closure rate of customer demands reaching 99.9%. It continues to strengthen its closed-loop capabilities: as of 2022, cross-departmental business improvements driven by the system increased by 26.85% year-on-year, with over 100 system-level improvements accumulated.
Conclusion
Starting from its brand positioning, FOTILE identifies consumers’ hidden needs, centers on consumers’ health, and continuously upgrades products to create greater value for them. Meanwhile, it implements the "Sincere Service" strategy, providing timely, professional, and attentive services to let consumers experience more efficient and comfortable kitchen and service experiences, thereby strengthening their perception and satisfaction with the brand. Precise differentiated positioning, customer-oriented innovation, and sincere service complement each other, enhancing brand strength, stabilizing the high-end brand tone, and forming differentiated competitiveness. These factors have enabled FOTILE to secure a firm position in China’s kitchen appliance industry.
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