Shinsegae expands integrated online-offline strategies to boost sales

SSG.com Corp. [Courtesy of SSG.com]

Shinsegae Group is applying its online-offline integration strategies to sales, discovering promising brands based on their online performance on the company’s platform and enhancing sales through its offline sales channels.

One of the group’s arms that is at the forefront is Shinsegae Department Store. According to the group on Sunday, the department store has successfully discovered and fostered homegrown designer fashion brands popular among the younger generation, such as Undermycar, Mudule, Nonnod and Ourpas, in collaboration with the group’s e-commerce arm, SSG.com Corp. These brands all followed a strategy where they were introduced on the SSG.com platform, expanded brand awareness with pop-up stores in the department stores, and then transitioned back online for further sales.

SSG.com applies a “drop sale” strategy to boost sales of those brands jointly discovered with the department stores. A “drop sale” basically refers to a flash sale, making products available only on specific dates to maximize efficiency. SSG.com organizes these “drop sales” on average once or twice a month.

The local street fashion brand, Undermycar, stands as one of the most successful cases under the group’s sales strategy, mobilizing various in-group channels. After its launch in 2020, the brand was exclusively available online and set a record of selling out in just 30 seconds during two drop sales in 2021 and 2022. Undermycar also had three drop sales at the group’s big box store chain, E-Mart. Its varsity jacket, released in October last year to commemorate the group‘s baseball team SSG Landers’ championship, was even sought after for a price of 1 million won ($786) on second-hand trading sites.

Encouraged by this recent success, SSG.com plans to expand the sales boost strategy with another homegrown fashion brand, Awende, selecting it as a strategic brand for the second half of this year. Awende is known for its unique details, including washing and printing, and due to its stance toward small batch production, its products are highly scarce, making them valuable. SSG.com will release a limited edition of Awende T-shirts and headwear, starting at 10 a.m. on Monday.

The e-commerce platform aims to organize various forms of collaboration to attract more customers from the younger generation. Led by its subsidiary fashion platform, W Concept Korea Co., they feature brands that have been successful at W Concept in the W Concept store opened within the SSG.com platform to attract consumers. “To attract consumers in their 20s and 30s, we need to go beyond luxury or department store brands and showcase fashion brands that they have not seen before,” said an official from the e-commerce company.