Samsung relies on custom refrigerators to win over millennials
After booming sales of refrigerators and cleaning products during Covid-19, Samsung Electronics Co.’s home appliance business is turning into the post-pandemic era by focusing on offering personalized devices to consumers. younger clients.
The South Korean giant’s home appliance business, which accounts for nearly 10% of total revenue, is expected to report a 10% increase in sales for 2020, said Jaeseung Lee, president and chief executive officer. digital device activity, in an interview. Demand will continue through the first six months of this year, but sales will start to weaken in the second half of the year once the economic effect of the subsidies wanes and people start to return to normal lives after the deployment of the vaccines, according to Lee.
“We are making contingency plans because we expect sales to slow down in the second half of the year,” he said at Samsung headquarters in Suwon. There will be another new battle for market share. We will aggressively achieve second half new product sales and overcome challenges by delivering differentiated products. “
Driven by demand to stay at home, the world’s largest memory chip and electronics maker benefited from strong sales of semiconductors that go into everything from PCs and TVs to data centers and digital devices. Samsung’s home appliance business initially suffered from plant closures when Covid-19 spread to Europe and the United States last year, but the company quickly adjusted its supply chain global to meet the increased demand for larger refrigerators for storing food and for vacuum cleaners and washing machines.
Beyond the post-Covid era, Samsung plans to target millennial customers who shop online and prefer custom designs, Lee said. Online sales increased by 50% globally in the third quarter, while bespoke refrigerators which can be customized for size, material and color – specialty kimchi refrigerators are a popular option – accounted for over 67% of the Korean market last year.
Customers had few options among products made by a traditional manufacturing system, Lee said. Our manufacturing method must be changed for the personalization of devices. And it’s a great transition. “
As the shift to order-based production will increase costs, the company is betting the strategy will create sales opportunities, Lee said. Samsung, whose Bespoke line also includes wine coolers and dishwashers, is looking to open up its production ecosystem to suppliers and furniture studios so customers can have more design options. It plans to launch the sale of custom refrigerators in the United States, the Middle East and Europe this year.
The division is also pushing software customization that will enable its home appliances to deliver AI-based solutions to users. Although the company’s Bixby voice assistant is here to stay, Lee said Samsung is ready to work with Amazon.com Inc and Alphabet Inc.’s Google to connect their rival systems to its gadgets.
With the increasing demand for sterilization and hygiene capabilities on digital devices, Samsung plans to manufacture integrated water purifiers as well as a new version of its Air Dresser closet for shoes, while also boosting the sterilization functionality of its air purifiers. At an online event for the consumer tech show at CES this week, the company will also unveil a new robot vacuum, called the JetBot 90 AI +, with three cameras with LiDAR and 3D sensors that will go on sale in the world in the first half of this year. .
