“Lotte Fitin is turning into one of the must-visit tourist attractions for Chinese tourists, as the news of Peng’s visit goes viral in the mainland of China.” (image: Lotte Fitin)
SEOUL, July 24 (Korea Bizwire) – Lotte Fitin, Korea’s one of the largest department stores located in the fashion town of Seoul, Dongdaemoon, is savoring the “Peng Liyuan effect” as the store’s sales skyrockets after a visit from China’s first lady early this month.
Lotte Fitin announced on July 22 that since the surprise visit from the first lady on July 3, its sales exploded by 130 percent compared to the same period of last year. The sales from foreigners also jumped by leaps and bounds of whopping 250 percent during the same period.
Especially, the four stores she shopped witnessed a 40-percent boost in sales in the two weeks that followed the visit, compared to the two-week period before.
“Lotte Fitin is turning into one of the must-visit tourist attractions for Chinese tourists, as the news of Peng’s visit goes viral in the mainland of China.”
A director in Lotte Fitin, a department store to which China’s first lady Peng recently paid a visit
The most popular one is the Korean traditional craftwork store called “Nabilera,” where the first lady had purchased a hairclip. The sales of the store surged by 150 percent compared to the same period of last year and the pearl hairclip, which Peng bought, is flooding with orders.
Not only the hairclip, other pearl items of the store including earrings, necklaces, broaches and hair bands are relishing tremendous popularity as well, as their sales in a week followed Peng’s visit outran their average sales number of a month.
Yakgwa – Korean traditional cookie made with flour, sesame oil, honey, rice wine and etc. – is also receiving a stream of demand after the first lady took home the cookies. Previously, 50 pieces were sold in a month on average, whereas 200 have been already sold in this month which is yet to be passed.
One businessman bought a large number of the traditional cookies to offer as a gift to his Chinese business partners, after he heard the news of Peng’s visit.
Lotte Fitin looks to exploit the sales momentum as much as possible, and will spur up its strategies to invite more Chinese customers.
Starting from July 25, the department store will open “The First Lady Peng Liyuan Visit Photo Gallery” and showcase 17 photos of Peng shopping in the mall.
Limited quantities (100 pouches) of “The First Lady Peng Liyuan Lucky Charm Pouch” will be sold which is a package good exclusively targeted to Chinese customers, of the four items she purchased at the mall — Korean hot red pepper paste (gochujang), yakgwa, and hairclip — bagged in a pouch that has a Chinese character meaning “good luck” on it.
Furthermore, to commemorate the date of the first lady’s visit (July 3), the third to the ninth of every month will be designated as a “China Week” and various events and promotions will be hosted for Chinese visitors.
A director in the department store said, “Lotte Fitin is turning into one of the must-visit tourist attractions for Chinese tourists, as the news of Peng’s visit goes viral in the mainland of China.”
By J. H. Kim (jhkim@koreabizwire.com)
