Sold Out Two Months' Supply Immediately After Launch... The 30s Male and Female Developers Behind the 'Sterilizing Bidet'

Kang Deokhyun and Yoon Sujeong, Kohler Novita Researchers
Equipped with 'Bacteria Removal' Function Every 24 Hours
Understanding Consumer Needs with High Hygiene Interest

"The sterilizing bidet is a product that emphasizes sterilization right from its name. Once every 24 hours, it automatically uses electrolyzed water (sterilizing water made by electrolysis) to remove 99% of harmful bacteria from the waterway, nozzle, and ceramic, reducing concerns about bacterial infections."

The key figures behind the development of the sterilizing bidet at Kohler Novita Co., Ltd., which achieved a 'sold-out legend' in live shopping, were in their 30s. The sterilizing bidet sold out two months' worth of stock in just 35 minutes during the launch live shopping event a year ago (February last year), and in the last quarter, it recorded a 566% increase in sales compared to the first quarter. The enhanced hygiene and cleaning functions effectively solved the problem of toilet cleaning.

Kang Deok-hyun, a researcher with 11 years at the company (37 years old), was responsible for the hardware development of the sterilizing bidet. He said, "Since this product cleans the human body with water, I thought hygiene was very important," adding, "With the increased consumer interest in sterilization and hygiene due to COVID-19, the sterilizing bidet naturally gained attention." After reviewing the consumer perception survey conducted by the company, he confirmed the market potential for the sterilizing bidet product. According to a survey by Novita and Korea Research on bidet products, consumers prioritized hygiene and cleanliness over ease of use and product price. In particular, they considered 'difficulty in cleaning' as the biggest pain point.

Researcher Kang said, "Although clean water was guaranteed through the water purification filter and direct water supply method, we confirmed that the needs for cleaning and hygiene management were not satisfied," and added, "We improved samples and repeatedly tested durability and safety until a perfect product was developed."

Yoon Su-jeong (31), who worked in close coordination, is the youngest researcher in the company. Majoring in electronic engineering, she said, "I wanted to develop products used in daily life myself, and I fulfilled that hope when I joined the company." Researcher Yoon was responsible for software development that controls various operations such as freely moving the nozzle according to the button pressed by the user and controlling the temperature of warm water and drying.

She said, "The sterilizing bidet was the first product I participated in software development alone," highlighting the feature of "enabling automatic sterilization every day at the time the user wants."

Researcher Yoon said she learned a lot from her seniors while participating in the development of the premium healthcare bidet line. She is currently reviewing new technologies to be applied to bidet products in the advanced development group.

Kohler Novita’s predecessor was Hanil Electronics, a former subsidiary of Samsung Electronics. Established in 1984, it gained fame in the small home appliance market through a technology partnership with Japan’s Zojirushi for electric rice cookers (commonly called ‘Elephant Rice Cooker’), and started producing bidets from 1996. The company changed its name to Novita and was acquired by the U.S. premium bathroom brand Kohler in 2011.