LF Half Club Expands Direct Purchase Ratio... Establishes Dedicated Team

Last Year Announced Expansion of Direct Purchasing
To Be Applied to Overseas Sourcing Products in the Future

Half Club announced on the 14th that it will increase direct purchases of brand products. Half Club is a premium fashion brand shopping mall operated by LF Tricycle, a subsidiary of LF.

Half Club plans to increase the proportion of direct purchase volume to 172% compared to the previous year. This is to reduce the inventory asset management burden on partners by cutting out intermediate distribution stages and to offer reasonable prices to customers. In October last year, Half Club announced that it would double the volume of direct purchases by 2025.

Direct purchase is a method where the shopping mall buys products directly from manufacturers and resells them to consumers. Since the shopping mall holds the pricing authority, it has the advantage of supplying products at lower prices to consumers, but it also carries a significant inventory burden.

Last year, Half Club established a dedicated direct purchase organization and has been increasing direct purchase volumes on a trial basis with numerous brands, including those affiliated with its parent company LF. As a result of the trial operation, brand product sales rates increased and customer satisfaction with direct purchase products rose. Subsequently, Half Club expanded its business scope to major partners such as EnC, CNN Apparel, and Egoist. Recently, it has also been conducting direct purchases with global brands like Adidas and Benetton Golf.

Half Club has its own logistics center, enabling effective inventory asset management. It works together with brands throughout the entire sales process, including product management, price setting, and delivery, striving to maintain brand and product value. It also supports marketing benefits such as exclusive promotions, reward points and coupon giveaways, and free exchanges.

Half Club plans to actively collaborate with brands wishing to engage in regular or irregular direct purchases. In the future, it intends to implement direct purchases for overseas sourced products as well. However, to minimize the impact on existing sellers, it will differentiate product composition and listen to the voices of stakeholders.

Na Jeong-ho, Executive Director of LF Half Club, said, “Increasing the proportion of direct purchases and enhancing management is the result of our efforts to provide the best service to our customers. We will continue to do our best to ensure that customers enjoy the best shopping environment.”