Woongjin ThinkBig, Annual Maximum Sales Signal... Strong Sales of SmartAll

"Online and Offline Strategy Worked" Q3 Sales 233.2 Billion KRW Up 6.6%

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwak Min-jae] Woongjin ThinkBig recorded strong sales and operating profit in the third quarter of this year, signaling a positive outlook for achieving the highest annual sales since its founding. The resumption of offline activities due to the endemic phase led to the successful application of its core AI smart learning platform, 'Woongjin SmartAll,' in offline settings, which is believed to have driven the strong performance.

According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure on the 9th, Woongjin ThinkBig posted consolidated sales of 233.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 11.8 billion KRW in the third quarter of this year. Both sales and operating profit increased by 6.6% and 12.3%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. However, net profit for the same period fell by 15% to 6.6 billion KRW due to increased costs related to training personnel deployed for enhanced offline face-to-face activities.

The increase in Woongjin ThinkBig's sales and operating profit is attributed to the strong sales of its main digital learning product, SmartAll. In fact, the SmartAll segment recorded sales of 59.7 billion KRW in the third quarter, a 32% increase from the same period last year, and the number of SmartAll members reached 220,000 during the same period. SmartAll is a customized learning platform that consolidates big data on learning to consider each learner's individual learning ability and environment. A Woongjin ThinkBig official explained, "Although the cost of sales and selling and administrative expenses slightly increased compared to the previous quarter, the significant growth in SmartAll sales led to an increase in operating profit," adding, "SmartAll has a lower commission rate compared to traditional print products, which also helps improve profitability."

Active on-site marketing providing AI learning 'SmartAll' and tablets offline is analyzed to have increased new memberships. Since last year, Woongjin ThinkBig has conducted all subject classes offline using SmartAll and introduced 'SmartAll Class,' which supplements weak areas through AI-based personalized learning. In June this year, they also launched the 'SmartAll Class Content Partnership,' which partners with private study rooms, tutoring centers, and academies outside of SmartAll Class. A Woongjin ThinkBig official said, "With the increase in offline marketing targeting parents due to the COVID-19 endemic, new subscriptions to SmartAll increased, and the growth of annual content partnerships secured stable sales, which influenced the strong third-quarter performance."

In the securities industry, there are forecasts that Woongjin ThinkBig will achieve record-high sales this year. Park Jong-sun, a researcher at Eugene Investment & Securities, predicted, "Woongjin ThinkBig's expected performance this year is sales of 970.4 billion KRW and operating profit of 32.1 billion KRW, representing increases of 19.2% and 19.8%, respectively, compared to last year, marking the highest sales ever." Last year, Woongjin ThinkBig's consolidated sales were 813.9 billion KRW, and operating profit was 32.6 billion KRW.

A Woongjin ThinkBig official stated, "We will continuously increase investments in edutech technologies such as AI and metaverse to enhance the value of digital educational content," adding, "In particular, we will target the global market with ARpedia, an AR technology-based reading learning platform, to overcome the crisis in the education industry caused by low birth rates."

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