3rd Anniversary of Shinsegae Acquisition 'Casamia', Achieving Results Through Comprehensive Investment and Business Expansion

Achieved 163.4 Billion KRW in Sales Last Year, Up 38% YoY... Targeting 225 Billion KRW This Year
Accelerating Differentiated Online-Offline Distribution Strategies Including Expansion of Collaborative Stores and Marketing Targeting Millennials

Casamia Apgujeong Main Store.
Photo by Casamia

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Living & lifestyle brand 'Casamia,' which marks its 3rd anniversary since joining the Shinsegae Group this year, achieved a remarkable performance with last year's sales increasing by about 38% compared to the previous year, thanks to aggressive investment and business expansion. Casamia announced that this year it aims to achieve sales of 225 billion KRW, a 40% increase from last year, and to make this year the first year of turning a profit.

Casamia, incorporated into the Shinsegae Group in March 2018, has strengthened its brand competitiveness over the past three years by reorganizing its distribution network and organizational system based on comprehensive investments. In particular, since last year, it has expanded offline stores and further strengthened its online business, focusing on product diversification under a two-track strategy targeting premium and millennial customers.

This strategy played a significant role in exceeding the targeted sales of 160 billion KRW amid the COVID-19 boom. Casamia's sales last year reached 163.4 billion KRW, an increase of about 38% from the previous year, and the deficit caused by aggressive investment was also greatly improved.

Simultaneous Growth Online and Offline, Expected to Achieve This Year's Sales Target

The biggest reason Casamia could enter a rapid growth trajectory is considered to be the success of its distribution and product differentiation strategy encompassing both online and offline channels.

Following the active expansion of offline distribution networks since 2019, Casamia opened about 20 new stores last year, significantly increasing customer touchpoints and offering differentiated store services through collaborations with other industries such as Samsung Electronics and Starbucks.

In addition, Casamia achieved a remarkable 141% increase in sofa category sales compared to the previous year by specializing in sofas, including the 'Campo Sofa,' which has become a representative best-selling product. Furthermore, it launched a separate collection line with enhanced quality and design, releasing numerous differentiated new products that satisfied the increasingly sophisticated tastes of customers and received positive responses.

The lifestyle-specialized online platform 'Guud.com,' launched last year, was also evaluated as a new online distribution channel rarely seen in the existing industry and successfully established itself in the market.

Introducing a new concept of 'Commerce & Community,' targeting the millennial generation with differentiated concepts and marketing, Guud.com achieved a 153% increase in sales compared to the existing company mall within six months of launch and surpassed 320,000 app downloads, greatly contributing to sales growth.

Riding on this steep growth, Casamia has set this year's sales target at 225 billion KRW and plans to make this year the first year of turning a profit, solidifying its position as a leading home furnishing company in Korea.

Already, sales in January and February this year recorded high growth rates of 62% and 54% respectively compared to the same period last year, signaling a positive outlook for turning a profit. Considering the increased demand for home furnishing due to prolonged staying at home and the spread of untact consumption, it is expected that this year's sales target will be achieved without difficulty.

Best-selling sofa, Casamia's 'Campo'.
Photo by Casamia

Strengthening Product Competitiveness Including Luxury Furniture

This year, Casamia will first focus on upgrading its product segment to strengthen its position as a premium brand. Continuing the overall quality enhancement of Casamia furniture and the strengthening of Casamia's unique design originality since acquisition, the strategy is to elevate Casamia to the ranks of luxury furniture brands.

The 'SELECTS' lineup, which carefully selects and presents overseas furniture collections, will also be actively expanded. Since its launch at the end of September last year, Casamia SELECTS has continuously increased its sales share by satisfying the more refined tastes and sensibilities of consumers.

This year, Casamia plans to further enhance its premium product competitiveness by increasing the import and sales of global brand furniture rarely seen in Korea, including the premium modular system from the Spanish furniture brand 'M114,' the renowned ergonomic office chair brand 'Humanscale,' and design chairs created by Germany's leading architects.

Additionally, Casamia plans to fully renew and expand its sleep product category, aiming to develop it into a killer category. It will introduce overseas premium bedroom furniture such as 'Carpe Diem,' which has been rated as Sweden's best bed brand for seven consecutive years, surpassing 'H?stens' and 'Duxiana,' two of the world's top four luxury bed brands, while completely reorganizing its existing mattress lineup and preparing for large-scale new product launches.

Since last year, Casamia has initiated the cultivation of the sleep category by expanding mattress experience zones in stores and providing content related to good sleep through the story tab on Guud.com and its YouTube channel. This year, based on strengthening the sleep product segment, Casamia will further activate related marketing and accelerate its entry into the domestic sleep market, which is currently worth about 3 trillion KRW.

Performance after Casamia's acquisition by Shinsegae.
[Graphic=Casamia]

Competing with Differentiated Brand Value through Cross-Industry Collaboration and Sustainable Management

To differentiate offline stores, Casamia is also focusing on expanding specialized stores. Continuing from last year, it aims to increase collaborations with various brands such as Samsung Electronics, Starbucks, and Wine & More, expanding premium complex stores that encompass the entire lifestyle beyond simple furniture stores. Through this, Casamia plans to provide differentiated value unique to itself that cannot be experienced at other furniture brands.

While strengthening online distribution competitiveness based on Guud.com, Casamia will continue marketing activities to broaden contact points with the millennial generation.

Targeting customers in their 20s and 30s, who have emerged as the core consumer group in the home furnishing market, Casamia plans to further activate Guud.com's community function, where users can obtain and communicate various lifestyle-related information, and continuously increase content featuring stylish products and entertainment elements, solidifying its leading position in the online living market.

Reflecting the lifestyle of the 20s and 30s based on mobile, Casamia will also roll up its sleeves to pioneer new online sales channels by expanding 'live shopping' broadcasts.

Casamia will accelerate sustainable management this year. Over the past three years, Casamia has actively pursued social contribution activities such as creating the 'Casamia Forest' around Banpo Hangang Park to participate in fine dust reduction and simplifying receipts to reduce unnecessary paper use.

This year, Casamia plans to invest generously in environmentally friendly changes by introducing new shopping bags and packaging materials that minimize environmental resource use and expanding products made with eco-friendly materials. Furthermore, as Korea's leading home furnishing company, it will seek innovative measures to establish sustainable management within the industry.

A Casamia official said, "Last year, aggressive investment, product development, and distribution channel innovation strategies combined with the accelerated untact economy led to good results. This year, we will continue to respond quickly to market paradigm changes and maintain solid growth through differentiated online and offline strategies tailored to segmented targets, striving to make this year the first year of turning a profit."

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