Did They Predict the Pandemic? Aekyung's Household Goods Sales Soar

Hygiene Product 'Rapsin' Becomes Sales Hero
Enjoys Special Demand from Pre-Corona Launch
Expected to Surpass 400 Billion Won in Sales This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] As the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) brought an unexpected boom to the household goods industry, Aekyung Industrial is showing an upward trend in sales. The 'Lapsin Project,' launched just before the outbreak as if foreseeing COVID-19, has become a sales driver.

According to the related industry on the 7th, Aekyung Industrial is expected to surpass 100 billion KRW in sales for the first time this year in the household goods business, thanks to the success of its hygiene brand Lapsin. This figure represents an increase of more than 11% compared to last year's sales of 359 billion KRW. The household goods division of Aekyung Industrial also exceeded 100 billion KRW in quarterly sales for the first time in the third quarter, delivering results beyond market expectations.

While Aekyung Industrial's core cosmetics business suffered significant setbacks, its household goods division is navigating smoothly as a winner amid COVID-19. The surge in demand for cleaning and personal hygiene products due to the pandemic played a major role. Essential cleaning products such as toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, laundry, and kitchen detergents showed strong performance, and changes in quarantine and hygiene awareness due to COVID-19 led to market expansion, resulting in unprecedented special demand.

An Aekyung Industrial official said, "Cleaning products are essential goods consumed repeatedly due to basic needs like food, clothing, and shelter, with short purchase cycles. The household goods market, which had been declining due to the rise of single-person households, laundry franchises, and home appliances, is now experiencing growth driven by new demand caused by COVID-19."

In particular, the fierce growth of the new business project Lapsin, launched last year, led the overall growth of the division. The Lapsin brand was launched in November last year, coincidentally just before COVID-19 was first reported in China (December last year). In the second half of last year, Aekyung Industrial developed and began producing personal hygiene categories such as droplet-blocking masks, yellow dust masks (KF94), hand wash, and hand sanitizers. An Aekyung Industrial official said, "There is a theory of a five-year cycle for infectious diseases such as Hong Kong bird flu, SARS, and MERS, and the fear of pandemics is present worldwide, so we judged that market demand for personal hygiene management would increase."

The 'premium' image of Aekyung Industrial also played a key role in the results. An industry insider analyzed, "In a situation where reliable products from well-known brands are rare among quarantine and hygiene-related products like masks and hand sanitizers, the brand trust of Aekyung Industrial led to increased sales." The strong sales in the third and fourth quarters this year were driven by the Lapsin Chuseok gift sets prepared for the Chuseok holiday season and increased demand from Black Friday events. Growth was even stronger online. With the increase in online purchases due to COVID-19, sales through digital channels recorded growth of 30-40% year-on-year in the second and third quarters.

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