Lotte Duty Free Myeongdong Store Sales Up 15%
Online Membership Also Increases by 80%
Considering Additional 2nd and 3rd Store Openings
Lotte Duty Free's duty-free showroom 'LDF House,' the first of its kind in the industry located in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul, is showing the expected customer attraction effect as young people and foreign tourists are being drawn to the nearby Lotte Duty Free Myeongdong Main Store.
According to Lotte Duty Free on the 9th, last month's sales at the Myeongdong Main Store increased by 15% compared to the previous month (October), just before the opening of LDF House. During the same period, the number of online members increased by nearly 80%. LDF House is a 297㎡ (90-pyeong) duty-free showroom that Lotte Duty Free launched on October 31 in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul, as the industry's first. It was created as a kind of 'promotion center' for Lotte Duty Free. Rather than focusing on sales itself, the plan is to attract foreign tourists and MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) customers through various content and pop-up stores in collaboration with K-pop stars and popular characters, and naturally guide them to the Myeongdong Main Store located within a 5-minute walk, aiming to increase sales.
Foreign tourists are enjoying experiential content at the LDF House, which opened on October 31 in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul. [Photo by Lotte Duty Free]
In fact, LDF House is providing various content to attract young foreign tourists to downtown duty-free shops and online duty-free shops. Starting with Lotte Duty Free’s model NCT DREAM, followed by pop-up stores featuring singer and actor Lee Junho and character Janmang Loopy, interest has been heightened. On the 2nd and 3rd floors of the building, shopping corners are set up where customers can scan QR codes on products to be directly connected to the online duty-free store for immediate purchase. Special Lotte Duty Free coupons and gifts are also being offered to LDF visitors.
A Lotte Duty Free official said, "Since opening, the average daily visitors have been 300, and during the pop-up store periods of popular K-pop stars, nearly 500 visitors come daily. The highest proportion of young foreign tourists come from Southeast Asia and Europe, and the response is especially enthusiastic for the pop-up stores and star photo booths on the first floor, as well as the outdoor hot air balloon on the rooftop."
Lotte Duty Free plans to consider additional openings while monitoring the business environment and customer responses. Besides the Myeongdong store, they will strengthen networking between LDF House and downtown duty-free shops, focusing on locations with a high proportion of foreign tourists and MZ generation customers. A Lotte Duty Free official said, "When the proportion of group tour tourists was much higher, it was common for everyone to stop by the airport duty-free shop before departure as part of the itinerary. However, recently, the proportion of individual travelers choosing personal trips has increased significantly, making downtown duty-free shops account for a larger share of sales than airport duty-free shops. Since LDF House has proven its performance after one month as a promotional center for the Myeongdong Main Store, we will continue to devise new content and events to attract foreign tourists."
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