Foreign Consumers VIPs at Department Stores
With the South Korean won losing on so many fronts (against the yuan, the dollar, and the yen), it’s small wonder why domestic consumer spending is grinding to a halt.
And here to the rescue are the prodigal Americans and spendthrift Japanese? It appears that foreign tourists and ex-pats are playing an increasingly important role in retailers’ bottom lines, or so someone’s marketing plan seems to hope. As the Ministry of Public Administration and Security reported, 890,000 foreigners, or 2-percent of the population, stayed in Korea longer than 90 days. Though a small group, these expatriates are among the few people who are buying anything in Korea.
Retail analysts and retailers hope to steer more scarce revenue their way by catering to these non-Korean customers, since the currency situation offers them huge savings. Major department stores like Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai, and Galleria are currently re-working their VIP marketing and adding more salepeople who speak Chinese, Japanese, or English.
These changes may be subtle such as when more polite saleswomen approach you in English (good sign), or, it could end up being fairly outlandish with “VIP Foreigner Day” making it the nation’s business that you buy that sweater (nightmare!)
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