Shinsegae(004170)The department store's premium travel platform "Via Shinsegae (VIA SHINSEGAE)," introduced last year, has grown rapidly just one year after its launch. It drew customers by rolling out a string of ultra-high-end products, including trips to the Galapagos, Arctic icebreaker expeditions, and tours linked to classical performances. As the department store, which had focused on luxury goods and fashion, expands its business into travel, it is accelerating efforts to target premium customers.
According to the industry on the 2nd, Via Shinsegae's sales this year increased about 1,400% from a year earlier. Cumulative booked customers since launch through on the 22nd of last month totaled 5,296. The offline consultation space "Travel Concierge," operated at the Gangnam store and the Busan Centum City store, maintains reservation rates of 70% and 80%, respectively. On weekends, reservations fill up and waitlists form.
Earlier, Shinsegae Department Store unveiled the premium travel platform Via Shinsegae in Aug. last year. Instead of building products around destinations like typical package tours, it analyzes customers' preferences and interests to set a travel theme, then designs the place, route, activities, and meals as a single itinerary. It focuses on offering the entire travel process as one experience by combining pre- and post-trip lectures or cultural programs with tailored services.
In fact, Via Shinsegae is drawing attention with rare offerings. Although prices can reach tens of millions of won for experiences such as an Arctic icebreaker expedition with a world-class explorer, a Peru Galapagos tour, a gourmet voyage in southern France, and a European classical tour linked to a performance by pianist Cho Seong-jin, it is targeting premium travel demand by introducing experience-centric products that are hard to find at ordinary travel agencies.
Demand for high-priced products is clear. Via Shinsegae's average spending per customer is about 10 million won. Based on booking amounts, the most popular product is the 36 million won range "South America, rewriting the standard of travel," with a cumulative booking amount of 3.3 billion won. It is followed by the 16 million won range "Switzerland, the aesthetics of rest and moments of strolling completed in the Alps" (cumulative 1.9 billion won), and the 10 million won range "Switzerland & Italy, from Matterhorn in the Alps to the Dolomites" (cumulative 1.5 billion won).
In Feb. this year, a 17 million won range ultra-high-end Switzerland luxury travel product collaborated with CJ OnStyle recorded about three times the number of orders compared with the average for standard Switzerland travel products. A tour linked to a performance by Lim Yunchan, introduced in Apr., also sold out 30 minutes after recruitment opened, showing continued success for ultra-high-end products.
Another strength of Via Shinsegae is that spending on travel products counts toward Shinsegae Department Store VIP status. In addition to tailored services with a dedicated concierge from itinerary design to booking and local support, another feature is that it is not a department store VIP-only platform; anyone can use it.
Over the past year, customers using Via Shinsegae in their 40s to 60s accounted for about 77% of the total. By age group, those in their 40s were the largest at 33.5%, followed by those in their 50s (25.2%), 60s (17.9%), and 30s (16.1%). The company said that in addition to existing VIP customers, there is also an increase in younger customers in their 20s and 30s preparing for honeymoons or commemorative trips.