Coway Expands 'Directly Operated Experience Stores' Nationwide

Coway Nearly Doubles Number of Directly Operated Experience Stores This Year
Set Up for 'Birex' Products That Require Experience to Understand Effectiveness

Koway is expanding its directly operated experience and sales stores nationwide. Recently, Koway opened a directly operated store in Jeonju, establishing an experience store in the Jeonbuk region. Next year, it plans to open a new experience store in Gangwon-do, the last remaining region where it has not yet entered, thereby building a nationwide offline sales network. The company will also continue its strategy of adding stores in key regional cities as well as the metropolitan area.

On the 10th, Koway announced that it opened nine brand experience and sales stores this year, bringing the total number of directly operated stores nationwide to 19. Koway, which has a ‘Codi’ organization responsible for sales and inspections, had not previously seen a strong need for offline stores. The first experience-type offline store where customers could directly try products and purchase on-site was established in Gangnam at the end of 2021, when mattress products were introduced. Since then, Koway opened two stores in 2022 and seven stores in 2023, operating 10 stores before adding nine more this year.

Especially this year, the focus was on expanding from the existing metropolitan area to regions such as Busan, Daejeon, Ulsan, Masan, and Jeonju. There are also plans to open a store in Gangwon-do next year, where there is currently no store. Koway intends to continue increasing the number of directly operated stores so that customers can experience its brand products anywhere nationwide.

Virex products are displayed at Coway's brand experience store "Busan Gwangbok Direct Store," which opened last month. Photo by Coway

The reason Koway is focusing on nationwide expansion of offline experience stores is due to its sleep and healing care brand ‘Berex (BEREX),’ which is considered a new growth engine. This is because the product characteristics require customers to sit or lie down to truly understand the effects. The recently opened experience stores are centered around Koway’s main water purifier products such as the Icon ice water purifier, along with new products like the Berex Smart Mattress S8+ and Berex Pebble Chair. Specialized consulting staff are also assigned within the stores to make it convenient for customers to experience and purchase products.

The focus on investment in experience stores is because Berex is driving Koway’s domestic sales growth this year. Koway’s consolidated sales for the third quarter of this year reached 1.1003 trillion KRW, a 9.2% increase compared to the same period last year. Domestic business sales accounted for 660.8 billion KRW, growing 9.9% year-on-year. This growth is attributed to expanded summer sales of the Icon ice water purifier and the steady popularity of Berex mattresses and massage chairs, resulting in a net increase of 102,000 domestic rental accounts. This figure is more than double that of the previous year.

A Koway representative said, “Brand experience stores are special spaces where customers can visit anytime to relax comfortably and enjoy Koway’s brand and innovative products. We have enhanced convenience so that customers can freely and easily explore innovative products all at once, from water purifiers and air purifiers to mattresses and massage chairs.” The representative added, “We plan to continuously expand directly operated stores to get closer to customers’ daily lives.”