Duty-Free Luxury Stock Pours Out Again... Lotte and Shilla Resume Additional Sales

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Duty-free luxury goods inventory will be released once again. Lotte Duty Free will conduct a second round of sales at offline stores such as department stores and outlets, while Shilla Duty Free will start a third round of sales online.

According to the industry on the 8th, Shilla Duty Free will begin the third sale of duty-free inventory products from 2 p.m. on the 9th. As with the first and second rounds, the sale will be conducted through its own travel product brokerage platform, 'Shilla Trip.'

In this third sale, 124 items from four brands including Loewe, Breitling, Frederique Constant, and Swarovski will be sold. Loewe is a Spanish luxury clothing and accessories brand under the LVMH Group. Additionally, this third sale has added watch brands and luxury crystal brands to enhance product diversity.

Representative products include ▲Loewe Hammock Bag ▲Breitling Aviator 8 ▲Frederique Constant Moonphase ▲Swarovski Ginger Bangle, with prices discounted up to 40% compared to regular duty-free prices. Shilla Duty Free plans to continue selling inventory products by continuously adding new brands.

Previously, Shilla Duty Free sold 600 inventory items from 21 brands including Givenchy, Fendi, Prada, Bally, Valentino, and Balenciaga in two rounds on June 25 and July 2. During the first sale, the platform recorded a peak concurrent user count of 500,000 per hour, and more than half of the products sold out within three hours. In the second sale, all products from Balenciaga and Valentino sold out on the first day, proving their high popularity.

If customers sign up for Shilla Internet Duty Free's own simple payment system, 'Shilla Pay,' before the sale start date and use it, they can receive an immediate discount on part of the payment amount on the day. For all inventory products sold this time, Shilla Internet Duty Free issues its own warranty certificate and provides exchange and refund services within seven days after delivery.

On the 25th, when Lotte Shopping started offline sales for the duty-free luxury goods event, citizens hoping to make purchases lined up in front of Lotte Department Store in Nowon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Lotte Duty Free will hold the second offline duty-free luxury goods fair for three days from the 10th to the 12th, the last weekend of the 'Korea Together Sale.' This is the second time since June 26 that Lotte Duty Free's inventory luxury goods are released at department stores and outlets.

The second event will focus on popular accessories such as handbags and shoes, and will strengthen the lineup by adding six more brands to the seven existing brands that participated in the first event, selling products from a total of 13 brands. For the second event, Lotte Department Store directly purchased an additional 5 billion KRW worth of duty-free products, bringing the total product volume to 7 billion KRW.

The event will be held at seven stores: Mia Branch, Pyeongchon Branch, Bundang Branch, Ilsan Branch, Jeonju Branch, Dongnae Branch, and Premium Outlet Icheon Branch. To ensure safety, Lotte Department Store plans to limit entry sequentially according to COVID-19 prevention guidelines, allowing 600 to 700 people per day per store to enter.

In the first event, brands such as Saint Laurent, Chlo?, Ferragamo, Givenchy, and Valentino sold an average of 1 billion KRW worth of overseas luxury goods per store. About 85% of the products stocked per store were sold out, with customers mainly in their 40s showing the highest preference for handbags. This special exhibition held by Lotte Department Store is conducted under the government's temporary policy allowing the sale of duty-free products, and exchanges and returns are only possible during the event period.

Meanwhile, inventory duty-free goods will soon be available at downtown duty-free shops in Seoul. The Seoul Regional Customs Office of the Korea Customs Service allowed on the 7th the sale of inventory duty-free goods in some common areas within duty-free shops such as customer lounges, rest areas, and customer information desks.

Inventory duty-free goods that have undergone import customs clearance could not be sold inside duty-free shops and were sold through their own online malls, department stores, and outlets. Duty-free shops are designated bonded areas where only duty-free goods can be sold, so this is the first time that the sale of products that have undergone import customs clearance is allowed inside duty-free shops.

According to this additional measure, duty-free shops wishing to sell domestic products in idle spaces can do so after inspection by Seoul Customs. Duty-free shops can sell long-term inventory duty-free goods that have been in stock for more than six months after import customs clearance until October 29.