South Korea's department stores tap into customers' 'sensibility'

Shinsegae launched a lifestyle content section, whilst Hyundai introduced magazine content.

South Korea’s department stores, such as Shinsegae and Hyundai, are going beyond showcasing and discount promotions to tap into the "sensibility" of customers to promote items online, Korea Bizwire reported.

Shinsegae Department Store added a lifestyle content section on its mobile app, which introduces movies, books, and merchandise that represent the current month or season.

On the app’s main screen, expressive titles such as "life-changing rituals found in books" or "movies that talk about how habits generate happiness" show up to introduce various books and movies with life-changing impact.

These sections then recommend various items that represent the characters from the movies or those that the customers can imitate the characters with. These items include at-home spa treatments, film cameras as well as home baking equipment, recipes, and ingredients.

Shinsegae reported an increase in the number of app users following the introduction of these new sections, rising from 10 million real-time app users to 15 million by November and December 2020, after the app had been completely updated.

Meanwhile, Hyundai Department Store introduced magazine-like content on its online food shopping mall. Buyers visit the Garak Agricultural Market and Noryangjin Fish Market at 4:00 AM every day to handpick the best food and recommend it to customers.

For instance, a buyer in charge of fruits and vegetables posted an article on 2 January, introducing tomatoes from Busan. The buyer offered detailed explanations on how these tomatoes are exceptionally sweet, measuring them by the Brix scale early that morning.