Mobile Service Users Responsible for Household Chores
Nearly Tripled Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
The number of users of mobile services responsible for household chores such as cleaning, laundry, and various errands has increased to 3.5 million. This is nearly a threefold increase following the COVID-19 pandemic. At the center of this market are startups. While cleaning or laundry might seem like tasks anyone can help with, these companies found a business model by solving everyday problems based on innovative technology.
On the 5th, app analysis service WiseApp announced that the number of installs of lifestyle service apps reached 3.5 million as of April. This figure is an estimate based on a survey of Korean smartphone users (Android + iOS) and is the combined number of installs of major lifestyle service apps such as 'Miso', 'Cheongso Yeonguso', 'Daerijubu', 'Setak Teuggongdae', 'Laundrigo', 'Juseyohae', 'Oneul-ui Bunrisugeo', 'Ppaegi', and 'Yeogiro'. In April 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number was just over 1.2 million. This represents a growth rate approaching 200% in three years.
The app with the most installs is 'Miso', which provides cleaning services, with 750,000 installs. Next is the comprehensive errand service 'Juseyohae' with 590,000 installs, followed by the cleaning app 'Cheongso Yeonguso' with 420,000 installs. In the mobile laundry market, 'Setak Teuggongdae' and 'Laundrigo' have 420,000 and 270,000 installs respectively. Compared to three years ago, Setak Teuggongdae has grown 2.7 times, and Laundrigo has doubled.
Since launching its first service in 2019, Laundrigo has seen its laundry order volume increase by more than 85% annually. The convenience of applying via mobile, with contactless collection, washing, and delivery, has resonated in the market. The number of orders surpassed 2 million cumulatively last month, four years after the service began. This year, the growth trend is steep, with over 300,000 orders recorded in the first quarter alone.
Cheongso Yeonguso, a home cleaning service operated by Saenghwal Yeonguso, has also grown by about 20% monthly on average. The key was moving the housekeeper intermediary service to an IT platform, allowing customers and cleaning managers to search, book, and manage through a mobile app. With service area expansion, the number of registered cleaning managers surpassed 100,000 this year.
The growth of this market is led by women and users in their 30s and 40s. Laundrigo's female user ratio is 59.8%, and users in their 30s and 40s make up 68.4%. The waste disposal service app Oneul-ui Bunrisugeo has 67.8% female users and 67.2% users in their 30s and 40s. Cheongso Yeonguso also has 68.1% female users and 59.9% users in their 30s and 40s. An industry insider said, "Women in their 30s and 40s prefer to spend less effort on household chores while gaining more personal time," adding, "The growth of services that help with everyday inconveniences will continue."
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