The domestic market for doors and windows in China is already saturated, making it necessary to expand into international markets and establish sales networks overseas.
- Traditional Offline Channels
Exclusive Stores: Opening door and window specialty stores in major cities is a common sales approach. Such stores can provide one-stop services including product display, consultation, and sales, allowing consumers to directly experience the materials, craftsmanship, and styles. This helps enhance brand image and build consumer trust.
Building Material Markets and Home Improvement Malls: Building material markets are key locations for door and window sales. Companies can set up stalls or stores to target homeowners and designers. Partnering with home improvement malls to include doors and windows in overall home furnishing sales channels also leverages their foot traffic and brand influence to boost exposure and sales.
Dealers and Distributors: By developing local dealers and distributors, door and window companies can expand their sales networks into more regions. These partners have resources and channel advantages in their local markets, helping companies quickly gain market share.
- Online Sales Channels
E-commerce Platforms: Setting up flagship or specialty stores on major e-commerce platforms like Taobao and JD.com is an important way to grow online sales. These platforms offer wide reach, transparent pricing, and diverse marketing tools, enabling sales across China and even globally without geographic limits.
Official Websites: Companies can establish official websites to showcase products, offer online consultation, and allow appointment booking. These websites act as key brand showcases and online sales channels. Search engine optimization (SEO) and online marketing campaigns can attract traffic and drive purchases.
Social Media and Digital Marketing: Using platforms like Weibo, WeChat, and Douyin to run interactive marketing campaigns—such as posting product updates, sharing renovation cases, or hosting online promotions—can boost brand awareness and sales. Digital tools like SEO and search engine marketing (SEM) can further improve online visibility and attract potential customers.
- Project/Engineering Channels
Partnerships with Real Estate Developers: Building long-term relationships with developers to supply doors and windows for new residential communities and commercial complexes is a major sales channel. Real estate projects have large demand, and once secured, they provide stable orders and revenue.
Construction and Renovation Companies: Partnering with construction and renovation firms to supply and install doors and windows for hotels, office buildings, malls, and other public projects is another route. These projects often require high-quality, high-performance, and aesthetically appealing products, allowing companies to establish a strong reputation in the engineering market.
- Overseas Market Channels
Direct Export: With the rising quality and technological standards of Chinese doors and windows, more companies are selling directly to overseas markets. This can be done by participating in international exhibitions, building overseas sales teams, or working with foreign distributors. For example, in 2024, China’s architectural doors and windows exports exceeded USD 12 billion, up 15.3% year-on-year, with high-end products like smart windows and energy-saving systems accounting for over 40% for the first time.
Overseas Manufacturing Bases: To better serve foreign markets, some companies set up production facilities abroad. Local production and sales can reduce costs, improve competitiveness, and adapt to local market needs and regulations. For instance, Crown Doors & Windows built an assembly plant in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, cutting delivery times from 60 to 15 days and securing multiple landmark projects in Dubai in 2024 worth over RMB 200 million.
- Innovative Sales Channels
Customization Services: With growing demand for personalized products, customized door and window solutions have become an emerging sales channel. Companies can offer tailored measurement, design, production, and installation services to meet unique preferences in materials, styles, sizes, and functions, increasing added value and competitiveness.
Cross-Industry Collaboration: Partnering with other industries to co-develop products or sales channels is another innovation strategy. For example, integrating smart home technology into doors and windows to create intelligent solutions for a more convenient and comfortable living experience, or collaborating with furniture brands to offer bundled home packages.
Online-Offline Integration: Combining online booking, offline experience, online ordering, and offline installation in an O2O model enables seamless integration between channels. This approach maximizes the promotional power of online platforms and the experiential advantages of offline stores, enhancing purchase intent and customer satisfaction. Many modern business models adopt this online-plus-offline strategy to leverage strong online marketing and robust offline transactions for sales growth.