Lotte Department Store expands tourist membership program to attract foreign shoppers

Lotte Department Store announced Monday it is launching the Lotte Tourist Membership x Check-in Seoul program for foreign customers.

The program is an expanded revamp of the existing foreigner-focused Lotte Tourist Membership service, now partnering with Check-in Seoul, a prepaid card issued by Lotte Card exclusively for foreign visitors. The new offering adds Check-in Seoul's special benefits and prepaid card functions to the existing membership perks.

Cardholders receive a base 5 percent discount at Lotte Department Store, plus an additional 10 percent reward from Check-in Seoul on purchases of 100,000 won ($75) or more. On top of existing affiliate benefits — including a 10 percent discount at Lotte Duty-Free and 7 percent at Lotte Mart — the program now covers more than 70 new partner merchants across beauty, food and beverage, and cultural sectors, including Off Beauty, Newnew, a hanbok rental shop and D'Museum.

Cards can be issued, topped up and refunded at six self-service kiosks installed throughout the main branch, including on the basement first floor, the first floor and the ninth floor. Lotte Department Store plans to add more kiosks depending on usage.

The revamp comes as foreign customer sales at the store have surpassed 1 trillion won ($747 million). Lotte Department Store launched the Lotte Tourist Membership at its main branch in December last year and has since expanded card issuance to its Jamsil and Busan main branches. The program now issues an average of about 1,000 cards per day, with cumulative issuance exceeding 250,000. More than 90 percent of cardholders have used the membership card at a Lotte affiliate or as a transit card.

A significant portion of foreign customers who signed up at the main branch through August made two or more purchases at the department store. The membership base is also growing more diverse, with cardholders now hailing from China, Taiwan, Singapore, the United States and beyond.

The main branch has also partnered with Korean Air to offer exclusive discount vouchers to foreign customers traveling on European and Southeast Asian routes through the end of the year. The store plans to open a dedicated foreign customer concierge lounge on the first floor in late November, providing tourism information and shopping services.

"We will continue to identify services that foreign customers need and make our main branch a shopping destination they want to return to," said Kang Woo-jin, head of Lotte Department Store's main branch.