Design Benchmarking Study Between Alessi Products and Chinese Commodities

Benchmarking is the ways to improve performance by comparing with the most successful competitors in its field. Yiwu has 1.8 million kinds of small commodities, which is the largest small commodity market in the world. Alessi is an Italian designer and manufacturer of household goods, which is famous all over the world for “ordinary citizens can also enjoy famous designer products”.

In this paper, aiming at the urgent need of Yiwu small commodities to enhance product added value, the classical design of Alessi product line are analyzed by case analysis method, and the design success factors are summarized by KJ method and cluster analysis method from the aspects of industrial background, design concept, design management, product presentation and other dimensions. The analysis results are compared with similar commodities in Yiwu market. The existing gap and its causes between Chinese commodities and Alessi products in the process of design are summarized and analyzed. The optimization strategy of design for contemporary Chinese commodities based on individuation and popularization is put forward. Finally, taking Chinese bamboo products as an example, the design practice shows that the design strategy has good application value. The research results of this paper have certain guiding significance and practical value for the future design of small commodities in China, and will further enhance the design level of small commodities in China.