Hyundai Livart's Online Business Sales Soar Despite COVID-19 and Recession

Q1 Online Business Revenue Up 25% Year-on-Year... Bright Outlook for Achieving 150 Billion KRW Annual Sales Target

'Livart Online Legato Recliner Sofa,' the top-selling product of Hyundai Livart's online sales

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] Hyundai Livart's online business continues to show high growth despite the economic downturn and the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This is interpreted as the result of proactive business strengthening efforts, such as the expansion of non-face-to-face shopping trends and distribution networks.

Hyundai Livart announced on the 9th that its online business sales in the first quarter of this year increased by 25% compared to the same period last year. A Hyundai Livart official said, "Since January, the number of visitors to the Hyundai Livart section operating on various online sites has increased, resulting in overall online sales growing at twice the rate of last year," adding, "If this trend continues, online business sales this year are expected to easily achieve the target of 150 billion KRW." Last year, Hyundai Livart's online business sales were 120 billion KRW.

Hyundai Livart sells products such as Livart, Livart Kitchen, and Williams Sonoma through about 30 online commerce platforms, including its own online mall Livart Mall, Hyundai H Mall, Coupang, and Naver Store.

Hyundai Livart attributes the increase in online business sales to the spread of non-face-to-face shopping trends due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. With social distancing, remote work, and the postponement of elementary, middle, and high school openings, consumers have spent more time at home, leading to a significant increase in sales of furniture related to rest and work. In fact, among Hyundai Livart's online sales products in the first quarter, the top 1-2 product categories with the highest sales growth rates were sofas and desks and bookshelves for home offices, which increased by 44% and 43%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. The demand for furniture that had been postponed due to COVID-19 was concentrated online at once, also driving sales growth. In the case of Livart Kitchen, which requires on-site measurement and installation work, online sales in January increased by 25% compared to January last year, but surged by 45% in March compared to the same period last year.

Additionally, Hyundai Livart explained that expanding distribution networks and improving shopping convenience also contributed to the growth of online business sales. They newly launched the mobile shopping app "Hyundai Livart," optimized for smartphones and other devices, actively diversified sales channels, and opened Korea's first Williams Sonoma online store last year and started selling on Naver Store. They also began selling major Livart products on Coupang and Gmarket. In particular, to target the mobile furniture market, they have been selling major products on mobile-only commerce platforms such as "Today’s House" and "Zipdoc" since last year. In the case of Today’s House, Hyundai Livart product sales in March showed explosive growth, increasing about 13 times compared to March last year. A Hyundai Livart official said, "The number of purchasing customers coming through new online distribution channels such as Coupang has increased more than threefold compared to the same period last year," adding, "The customer base, which mainly consisted of people in their 30s and 40s, is now diversifying from people in their 20s to those in their 60s."

Hyundai Livart is also expanding its logistics and delivery infrastructure to strengthen its online business. The company plans to operate the logistics center section of the "Livart Smart Work Center," in which it invested a total of 139.5 billion KRW, as early as the second half of this year. This will nearly double the total size of Hyundai Livart's logistics centers and increase the average daily shipment capacity by 2.3 times compared to before. Um Ik-su, head of Hyundai Livart's B2C business division, said, "To target the explosively growing online furniture market, we will boldly invest in strengthening core competencies, such as opening a new integrated online mall with greatly enhanced convenience features like payment and product search, earlier than this year compared to the existing online mall."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.