'Duty-Free Inventory Sale' SI Village, Frozen in 1 Minute (Summary)

Shinsegae International Official Online Mall
SI Village, Access Error

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] The official online mall of Shinsegae International, 'SI Village,' which sells inventory from Shinsegae Duty Free, experienced access disruptions immediately after sales began on the 3rd.

As of 10:14 a.m. on the same day, the SI Village homepage of Shinsegae International displayed a message stating, "Due to a high number of visitors, site access is not smooth," and advised users to "please try reconnecting shortly."

Shinsegae Duty Free had planned to conduct pre-sales of inventory on the SI Village homepage, but an influx of customers beyond expectations caused traffic overload. Access delays began from around 9:30 a.m., before the sales officially started.

The brands on sale include four: 'Balenciaga,' 'Bottega Veneta,' 'Saint Laurent,' and 'Valentino.' Only the quantities confirmed through pre-orders will be officially cleared through customs and sold. Prices are set at approximately 10-50% of the regular department store retail price.

Shinsegae International had expanded the servers related to the homepage in preparation for emergencies, but the number of visitors is believed to have exceeded this capacity.

This duty-free inventory sale is the result of public-private cooperation between the Korea Customs Service and duty-free shops. It has been just over two months since the Korea Customs Service temporarily allowed domestic sales of long-term inventory until October 29, starting from April 29. This is one month earlier than the initially expected July. Assuming 20% of the long-term inventory is sold, it is expected to secure about 160 billion KRW in liquidity resources.