Customization gains popularity in home appliance market

Samsung, LG set to debut their products at CES next week to boost sales globally

An employee assembles Bespoke fridge panels at a plant in Gwangju. (Samsung Electronics)

A recent trend in the home appliance market in South Korea has been owning a unique product with tailored colors and configurations.

First introduced by Samsung Electronics in 2019, the Bespoke series allows consumers to pick the colors, materials and functionality of refrigerators, microwave ovens, induction cooktops, dishwashers and air purifiers.

Samsung tried with the refrigerator first, luring younger consumers with a variety of color options for fridge panels, which turned out to be a successful selling point.

It offers as many as 27 options for the door panels, providing consumers with greater choices for their home interiors.

Due to the merit of customizing, the Bespoke fridge series quickly grew to account for 67 percent of Samsung’s total fridge sales as of last year. So, the company expanded the Bespoke brand to a wider range of products.

Owing to the growing popularity, the total number of shipments of Bespoke products surpassed 1 million units just 20 months after their debut in May 2019, according to Samsung on Wednesday. Refrigerators made up over 75 percent of the total.

Samsung has introduced the Bespoke refrigerators in Europe, China and Central Asia, and it is now planning to launch the series in the North American market in March after debuting the product at CES next week.

For the US market, Samsung will release three types of door panels and eight different colors that will appeal to American consumers.

A four-door model Bespoke 4D Flex will feature a beverage center to meet American needs for a water dispenser.

“The Bespoke lineup aims to help consumers easily reflect their tastes and lifestyles in home appliances,” said Lee Kang-hyup, executive vice president of consumer electronics at Samsung. “The company will come with more Bespoke products that can be tailored to greater consumer needs.” 

LG Objet Collection (LG Electronics)

LG Electronics will also unveil its customizable Objet Collection to global audiences for the first time at CES. 

LG joined the tailorable appliance market by launching 11 new products, including a convertible refrigerator, dishwasher, light wave oven, water purifier, washing machine and clothes care machine under the new brand last October.

LG has partnered with US-based Pantone Color Institute to offer consumers as many as 13 colors.

In addition to the colors, the company will offer various materials, including Fenix, stainless, glass and metal. This gives consumers a total of 145 different options of fridge products.

The company is also preparing to release Objet products globally starting this year. 

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)

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