South Korea’s home appliances maker Dongbu Daewoo Electronics Co. has launched the sale of its products at major online shopping malls in Japan in a bid to tap deeper into the country’s home electronic appliances market dominated by local brands.

According to the company on Thursday, its products are now available for purchase at Japan’s major online e-commerce sites including Amazon Japan, Rakuten Global Market and Yodobashi Camera. Amazon Japan is the country’s largest online shopping mall with sales of 1 trillion yen ($9.1 billion) as of last year, followed by Rakuten Global Market, Japan’s indigenous online shopping mall site established two decades ago.

By enhancing its online retail network, Dongbu Daewoo Electronics hopes to expand its presence in the home appliance market in Japan where only a handful of foreign white goods brands have succeeded in winning the hearts of Japanese consumers. Dongbu Daewoo Electronics is one of those few after it has successfully managed to survive the tough competition against local rivals with its unique small-size products in offline market. Its products are already familiar to Japanese consumers as they are displayed and sold at major offline stores like Bic Camera, Kojima, and Kaze.

The Korean company will target Japanese consumers with small appliances such as the Classic retro-style refrigerator, microwave, and 4.6 kilogram fully automatic washing machine at the e-commerce sites.

The latest move to expand its online presence also comes as part of its efforts to grab a larger share in the burgeoning online market in Japan that has been growing at an annual average growth of 10 percent.

Kang Jae-hoon, head of Dongbu Daewoo Electronics’ unit in Japan, said the company plans to solidify its brand position by expanding supply sources that include both online and offline retail channels.

By Kim Dong-eun

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