More Local Shoppers Pay With Dollar, Yen at Dept. Stores
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
After deciding to pick up a 36,000 won Chanel Glossimer lip gloss at the Shinsegae Department Store during lunch hour on Thursday, Kim Ye-ji was asked an unexpected question at the end of her shopping: Payment in Korean won, U.S. dollars or Japanese yen?
A frequent business traveler to Singapore and Hong Kong, the 27-year-old fashion merchandiser was a little thrown off guard by the Korean emporium's ``globalized'' transaction, uncommon even in neighboring Asian hubs.
But Kim took advantage of the option and walked out after paying $24.30 with leftover U.S. cash she had from a recent trip abroad.
``I'm surprised by the added service. It definitely feels like I paid less for this lip shiner,'' she said, recalling that she paid more than $30 for the same product at a downtown duty free shop last spring.
The situation has changed a lot since then, as the Korean won is continuing to lose its value after plunging more than 25 percent against the U.S. dollar since last year alone.
As the weak won has been drawing a record number of foreign tourists here, some of the country's top department stores decided to make spending a bit easier by accepting payment in foreign currencies.
Shinsegae and Hyundai department stores currently accept the dollar, yen and euro at their key branches in central and southern Seoul, while Lotte Department Store takes overseas currencies on a store-by-store basis.
Company officials said the service was geared at assisting foreigners, but are now finding that more and more Korean shoppers are capitalizing by pulling out their stashes of foreign money.
According to Hyundai Department Store, the amount of foreign currency payments made by Koreans at its two branches in Apgujeong-dong and Samsung-dong totaled three to four million won in February, a three-fold jump compared to six months ago, it said, adding that per-head dollar, yen and euro spending is typically less than 50,000 won.
Lotte's data, however, shows that spending was much bolder.
It said 57 million won in foreign currency has already been spent in the first two months of this year, a 331 percent hike from last year.
``We try to encourage these payments because not only does it help to draw out `sleeping' dollars onto the market, but also because they're advantageous for us since the won's value keeps sliding,''