Electrolux, one of the world’s leading home appliances maker based in Sweden, is challenging local electronics giants by tapping into a new class of consumers.
“We are targeting Korean consumers with strong purchasing power who focus more on convenient, durable home appliances rather than products that are simply trendy,” said Park Kab-jeong, the general manager of Electrolux Korea.
The emerging consumer group tends to open their wallets to purchase products meeting their needs, whether they are foreign or domestic brands, he said.
In a bid to lure conscientious working couples with high incomes who favor convenient products, Electrolux Korea introduced Trilobite, a high-priced robot vacuum.
Despite continued depression in consumption, Park said the company sold 600 units last year and led the market niche for robot vacuums.
“We try to present a third choice of home appliances to local consumers in accordance with their needs,” Park said.
Based on homemakers’ responses to a survey, Electrolux Korea introduced a vacuum cleaner with a very low noise level.
“A survey of 500 homemakers noted what makes vacuum cleaners inconvenient. It showed that the noise problem topped with 31 percent, followed by product weight with 18 percent,” Park said.
Electrolux’s Ultra Silencer generates just 72 decibels of noise, which is four times more silent than the average vacuum cleaner emitting about 80 decibels.
“The main product lines we drive to market will be vacuum and washing machines,” Park said, adding he expected a 50 percent sales increase this year over last year.
“Foreign appliance brands have regarded Korea, the world’s fifth largest appliances market, as one of the most difficult markets to penetrate due to the dominant local brands and nationalistic consumer attitude,” Park said.
Foreign appliances brands like General Electrics and Whirlpool still depend on dealership without direct operations for their home appliance goods.
“Different from other foreign brands, we directly entered the market in 1999 and stepped up our marketing drive, in response to consumer needs from last year in the hope that we can create the third-largest home appliances brand by 2005,” Park said.
To this end, Park added the company widened distribution channels to department stores, discount chains and specialty chain stores.
From The Korean Times