Samsung Store tops home appliance store in S. Korea

Samsung Store, Samsung Electronics Co.'s direct-to-consumer (D2C) channel, has exceeded Lotte Himart in domestic sales for the first time in its history. Samsung's sales and marketing strategy, which emphasizes boosting D2C sales of premium home appliances, smartphones and TVs, has proved successful in increasing Samsung Store's revenue.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service, Samsung Store's sales reached 3.45 trillion won ($2.61 billion) last year, surpassing Lotte Himart's 3.34 trillion won and LG Best Shop's sales of 2.69 trillion won. This is the first time Samsung Store has surpassed Lotte Himart since its establishment in 1996.

Samsung Store's success is attributed to the popularity of its main products, including home appliances, smartphones and TVs. Samsung's personalized home appliance brand, Bespoke, has been a major contributor to Samsung Store's growth since its launch in Jun. 2019.

The steady demand for Samsung's QLED TVs and Galaxy S and Z series smartphones has also played a significant role in Samsung Store's rise to the top of home appliance sales.

According to market research firm Counterpoint Research, nine out of ten best-selling smartphones in Korea last year were Galaxy series models.

An IT industry official explained that Samsung Store overcame the slowdown in the home appliance market in the second half of last year by leveraging the popularity of the Galaxy.

Samsung Electronics' Korean headquarters, responsible for Samsung Store's operations, is also being praised for its successful sales and marketing efforts.

Kang Bong-gu, the head of the Korean headquarters since 2020, is a sales and marketing specialist who successfully led the launch of Bespoke as the head of the Strategic Marketing Team in the Home Appliances Division. Kang's aggressive D2C strategy during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to Samsung Store's rise to the top.

He led the name change of Samsung Digital Plaza to Samsung Store and is now focusing on targeting Millennials and Generation Z consumers.

Write to Seung-Woo Lee at leeswoo@hankyung.com