Department Stores ``Summer Sale War``

Department Stores are fiercely competing with one another with summer sales. Seeing that the consumer sentiment has revived, the department store circle, which has been struggling with various factors, such as long- lasting dwindling economy and the order to stop the shuttle bus operation, is battling to draw in more customers.

Department stores are having a kind of a covert war to decide the period of the sale, giveaway items, and sale items etc. The `big three` , Lotte, Hyundai, and Shinsegye, tacitly determined ten days for the sale period. They already had two ten-day sales last January and March. However, Lotte suddenly announced at the end of last month that they are extending the summer sale period to 17 days. It is a strategy to recover the depressed sale of last year’s Christmas shopping season all at once.

Other department stores that were reluctantly following Lotte began to launch counterattack. Hyundai, which had originally scheduled to start the sale from 6th, suddenly began the regular sale from the 1st, last Sunday. It was a tactic to decoy customers waiting for the sale. Before the stoppage law of shuttle bus operation becomes effective, Hyundai requested Seoul City to allow them to continue the operation of the shuttle bus based on the exceptional article. It is to secure more customers even during the evaluation period by the city.

Just then, Lotte decided to give the 100-percent-winning lottery-gift-certifications from 6th, the first day of the sale. The certifications consist of fifteen 1 million won value certifications for customers who spend more than 1 million won, thirty 0.5 million won value certifications for those who spend more than 0.5 million won, and fifty 0.3 million won certification for more than 0.3 million won. For those who buy goods with value more than 150,000 won, the store give free gifts of travel bags and basic household items with 10,000 won value.

Shinsegye also decided to award lottery giveaway certifications. For winners, the store gives gift certifications, air-conditioners, and 29 inch flat TV sets. 100 luxury hotel package certifications will also be waiting for winners.

Hyundai is having a `thank-you` event during which they present basic household items, travel bags, and ceramic-ware sets from Kwangju Pottery to those who buy goods of more than 200,000 won value.

During the preparation period for the events, the information-security competition among them was like a secret military intelligent operation. The determined gift items that have been decided at the sale-boost conferences were kept in strict secret even within the company to prevent from leaking the information to other competitors. The popular gift items given by a store are immediately imitated by other stores. There also has been a wide-spread strategy in which the stores leaking false information to cut down the sale of other department stores.

Sin Yeon-Su ysshin@donga.com