Hyundai Department Store said on the 19th it will run a "global CX advisor" program in which foreign customers visit stores in person, experience the entire shopping process, and propose improvements. This is the first time a domestic department store has operated an advisory group of foreign customers.
The first advisory group consists of five people from four countries: one each from China and Taiwan, two from Japan, and one from Senegal. They are foreign nationals staying in Korea who are either enrolled at domestic universities or working in Korea. The average age is 29, and all are women.
Forming the advisory group with a focus on women in their 20s and 30s reflects the characteristics of Hyundai Department Store's core foreign customer base. In the first half of this year, those in their 20s and 30s accounted for 70% of foreign customers who purchased products at Hyundai Department Store. Among them, women made up 81%.
The first advisory group will inspect key locations with a high share of foreign customers for about two months until early September, including the Apgujeong main store, the Trade Center store, The Hyundai Seoul, the Hyundai Outlet Dongdaemun store, and the Hyundai Premium Outlet Gimpo store.
They will directly experience various situations foreign tourists might encounter at a department store, such as purchasing products, using events and amenities, and filing lost-and-found reports. They will then compile their findings for each store into a report and share it with Hyundai Department Store's CX planning team. Through in-depth interviews, they also plan to discuss ways to improve the shopping environment and services.
Hyundai Department Store plans to operate a second advisory group after the Chuseok holiday. Based on the results of the first group's activities, it plans to refine how the program is run, such as by diversifying the number of participants and their nationalities.
A Hyundai Department Store official said, "We will actively reflect on-site feedback identified through the foreign advisory group across the shopping environment and overall services," adding, "Based on the results of the first group, we plan to further improve how we run the global CX advisor second group, including diversifying its size and the nationalities of participants."