At 10 a.m. on the 10th, Lotte Himart Jamsil store in Jamsil-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. Interior finishing materials rarely seen in general home appliance stores were displayed throughout. In the kitchen appliance corner, faucets and sink bowls caught the eye among gas ranges and kimchi refrigerators.
The recently renewed Jamsil store is the largest home appliance store in Korea, with a total area of 3,760 square meters (about 1,138 pyeong). Located in a commercial district consolidated with Lotte World and a department store, it showcases more than 20,000 products from about 700 brands. The lineup ranges widely from private brand (PB) products focused on cost-effectiveness to domestic and foreign premium appliances priced in the tens of millions of won.
The core of this renewal is enhancing hands-on experiences. Lotte Himart focused on experiential content and consulting services to build the competitiveness of its offline stores differentiated from online. It is particularly notable that the company offers integrated interior consulting for customers purchasing appliances. Taking into account major apartment sizes and layouts, it recommends appliances that fit the space and budget, and connects the process through durable goods purchases and installation.
Kim Bo-gyeong, head of product at Lotte Himart, said, "We wanted to provide an experience that appliance purchases can be an opportunity to upgrade home spaces," and noted, "We focused on the fact that new move-ins are decreasing while demand for renovating homes such as apartments and low-rise apartments is steadily increasing."
Specialized interior consulting for built-in (recessed) appliances was also strengthened. In the brand hall, which showcases domestic and foreign premium built-in kitchen appliances in a showroom format, customers can render indoor spaces in 3D and proceed from interior consultations to coordinating installation schedules. Product categories are diverse, including refrigerators, range hoods, ovens and wine cellars.
Hobby-related corners such as mobile, cameras, video and audio were also organized around hands-on experiences rather than simple displays. For cameras, in addition to brand-specific specialty zones for Canon, Nikon and Panasonic and camera accessory shops such as lenses, a cultural space was prepared for camera club members.
The scope of "lifetime care for appliance life," which extends from pre-purchase experiences to post-purchase management, was expanded. A representative example is a rental service that allows customers to try cameras and mobile devices before buying. The idea is to help customers decide to purchase after fully experiencing products that fit their lifestyles.
Kim said, "We first implemented the service at the Dongdaemun store, and we introduced it at the Jamsil store because customer response was good," adding, "Among young customers and foreign tourists, demand for camera rentals is high, and smartphone rentals specialized for zoom functions are also increasing for enjoying concerts."
The subscription service, which had focused on large and small home appliances, was expanded to mattresses. The company plans to extend it to lifestyle items such as beds and bedding. A program is also in operation that allows customers to replace large installed appliances or mobile devices through a trade-in method.
Since last year, Lotte Himart has been accelerating revenue improvement through renewals centered on mid- to large-sized stores. Sales at the 22 stores renewed last year increased 39% from a year earlier. This year, renewals are planned for 37 stores, including in Gumi, Gunsan and Ulsan.
Lotte Himart's annual sales last year were 2.3 trillion won, down 2.4% from the previous year, but operating profit rose 460% to 9.6 billion won. The net loss was 13.9 billion won, a sharp decrease from a year earlier (-314 billion won). The shift to experiential stores and strengthening of PB strategies are analyzed to have driven performance.