Blue Elephant Sees Surge in Sales from Chinese Customers After Visa-Free Entry Policy

Interior View of Blue Elephant Space Seongsu

K-eyewear brand Blue Elephant announced that, following the implementation of the visa-free entry policy for Chinese nationals on September 29 last year, sales from Chinese customers surged by approximately 1,500%. This figure is based on internal purchase data.

According to Blue Elephant, after the visa-free entry policy took effect, the number of Chinese tourists visiting their stores in Korea increased rapidly, and the proportion of those visits resulting in actual purchases also grew significantly. Compared to before the policy was implemented, both the number of purchases and the average transaction value by Chinese customers rose, leading to a substantial increase in overall sales from Chinese customers.

In particular, there was a notable increase in multiple-item purchases rather than single-item transactions, which had a positive impact on sales growth. As shopping-oriented visits by Chinese tourists became more common, a trend of consumption recovery has emerged, especially centered around offline stores.

A Blue Elephant representative stated, "Since the implementation of the visa-free entry policy, both the frequency of visits by Chinese customers and the purchase conversion rate have increased noticeably. We are directly experiencing the recovery of consumption by Chinese tourists at our stores."

This trend aligns with the recent government stance of considering regulatory easing with an eye toward restoring tourism and exchanges with China. Experts also believe that if visa and other China-related regulations are gradually relaxed, the increase in Chinese tourists visiting Korea will have a positive impact across consumption-related industries such as retail and fashion.

Blue Elephant announced that it plans to continue expanding its touchpoints with global customers by enhancing the shopping experience and upgrading its services for foreign tourists visiting Korea.