Calling Son Heung-min and Holding a Concert... "Exclusive to Paid Members Only"

Growing Scale of Membership Marketing

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] E-commerce companies have recently been focusing on acquiring paid members. Starting with Coupang, Naver, SSG.com, 11st, and others have launched or revamped their paid memberships, competing to attract paid members. The reason for this race to increase paid members is to secure future loyal customers. Paid members tend to have higher purchase frequency and increased service usage compared to regular members in order to fully utilize membership benefits. From a company's perspective, paid members are essentially regular customers.

According to Coupang on the 22nd, Coupang Play is preparing an event called the 'Coupang Play Series' in collaboration with Tottenham Hotspur exclusively for Wow Membership subscribers. The Coupang Play Series, launching in July, is an event inviting the popular Premier League (PL) team Tottenham Hotspur to Korea, generating daily buzz alongside the rising popularity of national sports star Son Heung-min.

Coupang invited Tottenham Hotspur, Son Heung-min's team, to Korea for paid Wow Membership subscribers who pay 4,990 KRW per month, and secured Team K League and Sevilla FC as Tottenham's opponents. Notably, Coupang offered Wow Membership subscribers exclusive opportunities to book tickets for direct game attendance. Tickets for two Coupang Play Series matches on the 17th and 19th were sold exclusively to Wow Membership subscribers and quickly sold out all seats. Additionally, only Wow subscribers could watch the live broadcast of the Tottenham matches through Coupang Play. This strategy is interpreted as a way to lock in loyal customers by providing privileges only to paid membership subscribers.

In the industry, similar marketing examples include Hyundai Card's Super Match and Super Concert. The 'Hyundai Card Super Match' held in Korea in 2005, featuring tennis legends Maria Sharapova and Venus Williams, became a hot topic not only among Hyundai Card customers but also the general public. The 'Hyundai Card Super Concert,' featuring world-renowned musicians, provided opportunities for legendary stars to visit Korea.

The e-commerce industry atmosphere suggests that to win the paid membership competition, companies must prepare even more special customer experiences. SSG.com and Gmarket Global's paid membership, 'Smile Club,' recently sold the 'Starbucks 22 Summer e-Frequency,' which was previously only available offline, online exclusively to members.

An industry insider explained, "With the recent proliferation of paid memberships, if the service differences are not clear and paid members do not perceive value relative to the monthly cost, they will not develop into loyal customers and may cancel midway," adding, "Companies are striving to create unique customer experiences that only their memberships can offer."

However, experts analyze that even if competition to secure paid members continues, it remains to be seen whether paid members immediately bring significant profits to companies. A marketing expert said, "Although paid members pay membership fees or monthly dues, most brand memberships provide benefits exceeding the fees collected and often look toward the future."