Last Year's Home Decorating Boom... Furniture Sales Surpass 10 Trillion Won

Hanssem·Livart Performance Improvement, Strengthening Online with Subscription Economy and Live Commerce Launch

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Last year, the scale of furniture sales increased to 900 billion KRW per month, and it is expected to have surpassed 10 trillion KRW for the first time.

It is analyzed that the increased interest in home interior due to more time spent at home amid the COVID-19 pandemic led to the rise in demand for furniture products.

According to Statistics Korea and the furniture industry on the 11th, the retail sales of furniture from January to November last year amounted to 9.2476 trillion KRW, a 23.6% increase compared to the same period in 2019. The average monthly sales from January to November last year were 840.7 billion KRW.

In particular, sales in October and November recorded 921.318 billion KRW and 903.883 billion KRW respectively, marking two consecutive months with sales exceeding 900 billion KRW, indicating a strong trend. Therefore, the total furniture sales for last year are estimated to have exceeded 10 trillion KRW.

A furniture industry official stated, "As family members spent more time together at home due to COVID-19, interest in home interior increased, leading to many purchases of furniture to replace inconvenient existing pieces and for interior purposes. Sofas, dining tables, and mattresses were especially popular."

Accordingly, the performance of furniture companies also improved. Hanssem's consolidated sales for the first to third quarters last year reached 1.5153 trillion KRW, up 19.9% from the same period the previous year, and operating profit increased by 86.2% to 63.5 billion KRW. This was due to steady growth in the remodeling sector, B2C (business-to-consumer) furniture, and online sales. A Hanssem official said, "With a significant increase in the Rehouse division's performance, total sales last year are expected to exceed 2 trillion KRW for the first time in three years."

Hyundai Livart also saw sales of 1.0442 trillion KRW during the same period, up 14.4%, and operating profit increased by 48.9% to 33.8 billion KRW. The furniture industry's swift response to not miss the opportunity is also noteworthy.

Hanssem started a 'subscription economy' service through the KakaoTalk Hanssem Mall channel, while Hyundai Livart began selling office furniture in addition to general furniture, kitchen furniture, and baby furniture on Livart Mall. They also launched the live commerce channel 'LivartLIVE' and introduced an online 'Gift Sending' service that allows convenient gifting via the recipient's mobile phone number.

An industry official said, "As remote work becomes routine and remote learning increases, demand for non-face-to-face furniture continues to grow. Since homes are transforming into work-life balance spaces where work and hobbies coexist, we are focusing on strengthening the online market."

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