SOUTH KOREA. Lotte Duty Free yesterday opened an online wines & spirits store, following the government’s decision to allow ecommerce duty free liquor sales from 1 July.
The Korean number one and world number two travel retailer said it had secured the largest array of duty free wines & spirits in the Korean market. This features some 700 wines & spirits skus from over 100 brands, including differentiated products such as the limited-edition Glenfiddich Grand Yozakura 29 Year Old single malt whisky.
Lotte Duty Free operates four online specialty halls for whisk(e)y, wine/Champagne, brandy/Cognac, and other spirits, plus four dedicated whiskey pavilions for Johnnie Walker, Ballantine’s, Royal Salute and Glenfiddich.
To celebrate the opening, Lotte Duty Free has launched a campaign titled ‘Live in the Lotte Duty Free Zone – bigger than the airport’ and unleashed an array of what it called “unprecedented benefits”. These include limited-edition products and up to -30% off popular items such as Ballantine’s and Johnnie Walker.
A giveaway event offering world travel vouchers across five continents is being conducted until 30 September for all customers who purchase at Lotte Duty Free downtown and online stores, regardless of the purchase amount.
Tackling airport competitors head on
The Lotte Duty Free Zone campaign is designed to raise awareness of downtown and online shopping, which the retailer described as “cheaper and more convenient than airport duty free shops”.
Lotte Duty Free added, “From the customer’s point of view, it is possible to deliver products together with other items purchased at downtown or online duty free shops rather than shopping at the airport in time for departure, dramatically improving the convenience of departing passengers.”
Underlining the convenience factor, Lotte Duty Free highlighted its recent introduction of technology that allows domestic and foreign shoppers to register and purchase duty free goods at its downtown stores without using their passports. As reported, the ‘mobile passport service’, a key component of the company’s digital transformation drive, is a first for the sector.
As a result, Korean consumers preparing for overseas travel can purchase wines and spirits online in advance with subsequent identity verification and pick-up at the airport.
Online duty free alcohol sales became possible after the National Tax Service changed its system for mail-order sales, effective 1 July. This was one of several support policies promoted by the organisation and Korea Customs Service to boost consumer convenience and enhance the competitiveness of the country’s duty free industry, which had been severely impacted by the pandemic.
Lotte Duty Free CEO Kim Joo-Nam said, “Thanks to the government’s active support for revitalising the duty free industry, for example by the easing of regulations, Lotte Duty Free has taken the lead in creating an online liquor sales system in line with digital trends. We plan to further strengthen customer service and benefits in the future.”
Creating a dedicated liquor store at Lotte World Tower
In a further plan to boost liquor, sales, Lotte Duty Free will build a dedicated liquor store in around 2,645sq m of space at the World Tower store in the first half of next year.
Normalisation of trading hours
In another boost to the retailer’s prospects, Lotte Duty Free’s Seoul stores in Myeong-dong and Lotte World Tower will return to pre-pandemic trading hours from 7 July (closing at 20.00 instead of 18.30).
The landmark will be celebrated with KRW1.11 million (US$843) of LDF Pay (which can be used as cash) given away to lucky customers at all downtown stores as part of the ‘Lotte Duty Free Ticket’ promotion. Additionally, customers who spend more than US$300 downtown will receive coupons for air tickets to Australia and Japan and Lotte Hotel Jeju lodging vouchers.
Lotte Duty Free also plans various customer-participating mega events in the second half of the year, including fan meetings with Lotte Duty Free models and customer invitation parties.
The Jeju and Busan downtown store hours will also be adjusted once the level of tourism recovery is appropriate, Lotte Duty Free said. ✈
 Head to head for the wines & spirits spendLet battle commence. With Lotte Duty Free now out of Incheon International Airport altogether since midnight on 30 June, the retailer has wasted no time in announcing its intentions to take on its airport competitors in aggressive fashion via the online channel. Lotte Duty Free had traded at Incheon since the main Korean gateway opened in 2001 but now has no presence following its unexpectedly lowball offers on the DF1 and DF2 contracts (both liquor & tobacco and perfumes & cosmetics) tendered earlier this year. Clearly concerned about the profitability of the ten-year concessions, Lotte Duty Free has opted to put all its Korean eggs (the wines & spirits-flavoured ones anyway) into the online/downtown basket. The wording of today’s announcement – and the associated promotional material – leave no doubt about just how robustly the retailer plans to chase the Korean consumers’ duty free liquor spend. Online shopping is “cheaper and more convenient than airport duty free shops”, Lotte Duty Free declares, adding: “From the customer’s point of view, it is possible to deliver products together with other items purchased at downtown or online duty free shops rather than shopping at the airport in time for departure, dramatically improving the convenience of departing passengers.” Bolstered by its Singapore Changi Airport concession; its Australasian business at Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin and Wellington airports; and other offshore stores including Guam and Vietnam, Lotte Duty Free has emerged in relatively short time as a player of considerable stature in the wines & spirits category. It clearly intends to boost that status significantly in the coming years but intriguingly will be doing that in direct and clearly hard-line competition in the Republic of Korea. As a result, for the duty free wines & spirits sector, the so-called ‘Land of the Morning Calm’ is certain to be anything but that. |
