Lotte Department Store Sees Luxury Sales Rise During Sale Period... "Increase in Wedding Supplies Purchases"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Despite the impact of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), luxury sales at department stores have increased.

Lotte Department Store announced on the 9th that sales from April 3 to April 7, when the spring regular sale began, fell by 15.4% compared to the same sale period last year (March 29 to April 2).

During this period, sales of women's fashion decreased by about 34.6%, men's sportswear by 17.5%, and accessories by 17.3%, but overseas fashion sales increased by 4.7% compared to the same period.

In particular, a detailed look at overseas fashion shows that the 'Overseas Boutique' category, which includes top-tier brands, grew by 5.4% year-on-year, and the 'Overseas Watches & Jewelry' category, which includes top-tier watch and jewelry brands, saw sales increase by as much as 27.4% compared to last year.

Lotte Department Store believes that luxury products, which mainly consist of items priced from hundreds of thousands to millions of Korean won, tend to be purchased offline as customers prefer to see and verify the products in person rather than online.

Additionally, the increase in customers planning to get married this fall and winter visiting offline stores to purchase handbags or watches as wedding gifts is also analyzed as a factor contributing to the sales increase. Furthermore, customers who were planning to marry this spring postponed their weddings to after autumn due to COVID-19, concentrating demand in this period.

Meanwhile, considering the increasing demand for luxury wedding purchases, Lotte Department Store is holding an event for 'Wedding Members' customers until the 19th during the regular sale period. Customers who accumulate more than 50,000 won in wedding mileage during the sale period will receive an additional 50,000 won mileage benefit. Also, customers who purchase from the top 10 popular wedding brands will earn double mileage.

Hyun Jong-hyuk, head of marketing at Lotte Department Store, said, “Although consumer sentiment has been depressed due to COVID-19, overseas fashion sales have continued with many customers, showing growth. Especially, as wedding demand has greatly increased, we have prepared a special Wedding Members event considering these customer needs.”