Recently, the Chinese bottled water market has been shrouded in a haze of fierce competition. Nongfu Spring, with its ultra-low prices, has sparked a new round of price wars in the market, leading competitors like Wahaha, Evian, and Master Kong to follow suit in lowering prices.
According to reports from mainland Chinese media such as Daily Economic News and Red Star News, Nongfu Spring’s official Douyin live broadcast platform featured a promotion offering 12 bottles of 550ml pure water for only 9.9 yuan, equivalent to around 0.83 yuan per bottle. In Beijing, some supermarkets and channels even advertised prices as low as 8.9 yuan per pack, around 0.74 yuan per bottle.
In Changsha, multiple supermarkets and convenience stores are promoting discounts on bottled water from brands such as Nongfu Spring, Wahaha, and Evian, with prices as low as 0.8 yuan per bottle. Online, the trend of brand discounts and promotions continues.
On Yonghui Supermarket’s online mini-program, after stacking coupons, the price of Nongfu Spring’s green bottled pure water can go as low as 7.92 yuan per unit, or as low as 0.66 yuan per bottle.
The product information for Nongfu Spring’s pure water shows that a pack of 24 bottles of 550ml is normally priced at 48 yuan, which is equivalent to 2 yuan per bottle. During the promotion period, the price is effectively discounted by 59%, and consumers can have their water delivered to their doorstep through Nongfu Spring’s over one thousand “deliver to home” stores across China, with no limit on floors, stairs, elevators, or climbing fees.
The decrease in prices of Nongfu Spring’s bottled water has forced competitors like Wahaha and Evian to also decrease their prices. The price tags in supermarkets show that Wahaha’s 12-pack of 596ml pure water is priced at 11.9 yuan, Evian’s 12-pack of 555ml pure water is also priced at 11.9 yuan, and Master Kong’s 15-pack of 380ml cooled white water is priced at 9.8 yuan, lowering to as low as 0.65 yuan per bottle. In the realm of bottled water, Nongfu Spring and Master Kong have obvious price advantages.
Some netizens have pointed out that Huiyuan’s pure water and Hema’s softener pure water, both in 550ml 24-bottle packs, are sold at the same price of 9.9 yuan, averaging at just 0.41 yuan per bottle.
Regarding the intense “water war” of 2024, Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng told Daily Economic News that Nongfu Spring’s entry into the market with their pure water products and their low pricing strategy has disrupted the pure water market as a “game-changer.”
Renowned strategic positioning expert and founder of Fujian Huace Brand Positioning Consultation, Zhan Junhao, expressed that price reduction is not a long-term solution and may “cause market confusion and damage brand image.”