Hwang Hyun-sik, President of LG Uplus, On-site Management: "Increasing Customer Usage Time is Key to Growth"

On the 20th, a visit to the newly opened 'U+ Untact Store' located in Busan Metropolitan City

President Hwang Hyun-sik (center) and Vice President Jeong Su-heon, Head of the Consumer Division, who visited the U+ Untact Store, are experiencing the self-activation service.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] Hwang Hyun-shik, President of LG Uplus, visited the unmanned store "Uplus (U+) Untact Store" that opened on the 20th in Seomyeon, Busan Metropolitan City.

The U+ Untact Store, which opened on the 9th, is the fifth unmanned store following the Jonggak branch in Seoul, the Communication Alley branch in Daegu, the Chungjang-ro branch in Gwangju, and the Bank branch in Daejeon. This reflects President Hwang Hyun-shik’s directive that a space where customers can extend their service usage time is important to achieve LG Uplus’s vision of becoming a “digital innovation company leading joyful changes in customers’ daily lives.”

President Hwang Hyun-shik, who visited the U+ Untact Store, told the on-site staff, "The first step to creating a company that continuously grows through customer satisfaction is to increase the time customers use our services," emphasizing, "It is not enough to be a company that does its best for customers; we must become a company that continuously creates services tailored to customers and grows."

He continued, "The recent key management issue is to quickly grasp customer consumption trends and respond swiftly. In particular, closely observing and understanding the MZ generation is the formula for success," explaining, "The U+ Untact Store is not a space to secure subscribers but aims to provide innovative non-face-to-face customer experiences by accurately understanding the trends of the 2030 generation."

President Hwang also added that employees need to think deeply about customer satisfaction. He said, "Customer satisfaction is something that results when we always put customers first; it should not be the goal itself," emphasizing, "It is important to sincerely and thoroughly adhere to the basics to win customers’ hearts, and we must strive to capture daily time through services tailored to customers’ demands and expectations."

Especially for innovative non-face-to-face customer experiences, LG Uplus expanded the ‘Fun Zone’ inside the Busan U+ Untact Store where visiting customers can comfortably enjoy themselves. Additionally, the Busan U+ Untact Store was designed with a customer-centric space to allow visitors to stay comfortably. LG Uplus analyzed where customers look first upon entering the store, areas that receive less attention, and inconvenient spaces where customers wander looking for guidance signs through eye-tracking and satisfaction surveys, and reflected these findings in the store design.

Upon visiting the Busan U+ Untact Store, President Hwang immediately checked customer reactions to the Fun Zone. While weekday visitors to general stores in the Busan area are about 20 people, the 5th U+ Untact Store attracted an average of over 60 visitors per day for about two weeks after opening, and 150 visitors on weekends. Half of these were customers subscribed to other telecommunications companies. By increasing entertainment rather than focusing on service subscription spaces, the number of visitors naturally increased.

Since opening the first U+ Untact Store in March last year, the cumulative number of visitors has exceeded 30,000. About 50% of visitors are from the MZ generation, showing popularity mainly among the 2030 generation. LG Uplus plans to continue promoting innovative non-face-to-face customer experiences through unmanned stores in line with changes in consumer trends.

Meanwhile, President Hwang Hyun-shik continues to visit sites about 2 to 3 times a month. This year, he visited customer centers, partner agencies, sales/network sites, and spent time inspecting and listening to employees’ voices.