Why Are Excavators Sold on Home Shopping?

With the advent of excavator sales through TV home shopping, changes are occurring in the sales channels of excavators, which had previously relied solely on dealership sales. As demand arises mainly from customers planning farms and country houses after retirement, excavators?once considered exclusive to construction sites?have now appeared on home shopping channels to expand customer contact points.

HD Hyundai Infracore will sell the 1.7-ton class Develon mini excavator through Hyundai Home Shopping Plus Shop (data broadcasting) on the 31st.

HD Hyundai Infracore will sell the new 1.7-ton 'Dibellon' mini excavator (DX17Z-7) through Hyundai Home Shopping at 8:40 a.m. on the 31st. Dibellon is a construction equipment brand newly unveiled by HD Hyundai Infracore in January this year. The product sold on TV home shopping is the smallest model in the Dibellon lineup. The excavator broadcast package includes ▲ the excavator body ▲ three types of buckets (large, medium, small) ▲ a quick coupler (link for attaching and detaching various work tools). Basic tools and filters (oil filter, fuel filter) are also provided. Selling excavators on TV home shopping is a first in the domestic construction machinery market.

Excavators are high-priced, costing on average between 60 million to 100 million KRW, and even the smaller 'mini' models are priced around 30 million KRW. The demand base has been limited, so over 90% of sales have relied on specialized dealerships. However, with the recent increase in the retired population, the demand for excavators has expanded from construction industry workers to general customers, creating an atmosphere where sales through TV home shopping can be attempted. In particular, mini-sized excavators are highly useful for farms, orchards, and country houses.

According to national technical qualification statistics as of the end of last year, the most acquired certificate by men in their 50s was the forklift operator license (14,362 people), followed by the excavator operator license (8,754 people). People preparing for retirement or returning to farming are learning how to operate excavators. Naturally, demand for excavators has increased. After completing about two days of theoretical and practical training, local governments immediately issue a small construction machinery operator license. Due to their high utility in agricultural activities such as drainage maintenance and field reclamation, local governments in places like Yeonggwang in Jeonnam, Jeongeup in Jeonbuk, Asan in Chungnam, Ongjin County in Incheon, and Changnyeong in Gyeongnam are independently conducting certification training and support projects.

The domestic mini excavator market grew by 52.7% compared to 2019, reaching about 4,400 units last year. In line with this market growth trend, HD Hyundai Infracore has set its mini excavator sales target for this year at 1,000 units, a 54% increase from 651 units sold last year.

HD Hyundai Infracore judged that home shopping, which has experience selling high-priced products ranging from 80 million KRW camping cars to apartment pre-sale rights worth hundreds of millions, would also help raise the Dibellon brand awareness and expand customer contact points. The highest-priced product ever sold on home shopping was an apartment pre-sale right. Since the 2000s, major home shopping companies have handled apartment pre-sale rights, which sometimes became popular products depending on location and brand. Gold coins worth over 100 million KRW and camping cars priced at 80 million KRW have also been successfully sold.

Meanwhile, HD Hyundai Infracore is recently attempting to diversify excavator sales channels. In May, it became the first in the industry to sell excavators using gas station spaces. Through four nationwide directly operated gas stations of HD Hyundai Oilbank, mini excavators (3.5-ton, 3-ton, 1.7-ton) are displayed and sold in a new way. This also allows customers to purchase products easily in everyday places without visiting specific dealerships. The number of gas stations selling mini excavators is planned to expand to 17 locations in the future.