Middle-aged men looming as key buyers of luxury brands

By Bahk Eun-ji

Bhan Jong-hyun, a 37-year-old accountant in Seoul, often enjoys shopping with his wife at a department store adjacent to his house. Bhan is not the kind of a typical male consumer who usually sits on a patio chair holding his wife’s purse and shopping bags with a bored face during the whole time at the store.

Looking around several counters selling men’s apparel, Bhan freely tries on a number of clothes, shoes and other accessories.

“What I think is the most convenient part is that I can buy all at once from shirts to hats on the same floor of this department store. Before that, I had to go to the first floor to buy a pair of shoes and then I had to go to the fourth floor in order to get a jacket. This whole floor is only filled with men’s apparel. It’s so convenient,” Bhan said.

This was a Saturday afternoon and Bhan was not the only one who was strolling down the store’s aisle. There were many male customers in their 40s as well as younger ones.

Males, especially in their 30s and 40s, have recently become a major consumers group due to the domestic economic recession.

Shinsegae Department Store was the first comer ― the store remodeled the whole sixth floor of its Gangnam branch last October into a shopping place catering only to male customers.

The “one floor, one stop shopping”has many different brands that are favored by men such as Giorgio Armani and Salvatore Ferragamo all in the same place.

“Middle aged male consumers have the strongest purchasing power and they are getting more interested in taking care of their appearance in tandem with their social status. So this floor is to offer adequate services and a shopping place for them,” said an employee of the branch.

In order to draw such customers, major domestic department stores have ignited competition through so-called “Exclusive Men’s Apparel Shops.”

The size of the store is 4,800 square meters with several high-end counters featuring Gucci, Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana and Yves Saint Laurent. This was the first time the three shops opened counters exclusively for men nationwide.

The sales of the men’s apparel at the Shinsegae Department Store jumped 16.9 percent from a year ago, well above its total sales increase of 6.1 percent during the same period.

Lotte Department Store rebuilt and expanded the fifth floor of its main outlet in Jung-gu, downtown Seoul, exclusively for men, joining the competition.

Lotte’s shops put more emphasis on imported high-end brands at 6 to 20 percent. The store also includes up-and-coming designers’ brand counters.

“There is the Limited Shop, a test store introducing overseas rising designer brands such as Scotch & Soda from Netherlands. Namely, we offer various brands from domestic to imported ones,” said a Lotte manager.

The sales of the department store show how much men’s floors have gained popularity, and explains why Lotte expanded them.

Last year, 27 percent of total sales at Lotte were to male consumers, according to the manager.

Why are these two major domestic department stores trying to attract the attention of men?

Researcher Lee Dong-hoon at the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI) analyzed the recent consumer sentiment in his report, “New Consumption Propensity Changes Marketing Trends.”

Lee pointed out that the recent economic downturn has kept consumers from making purchases in general, but people tend to show different behavior in spending money for daily necessities and luxury goods.

“This is because people become sensitive to prices during tough times and consider carefully how the purchases are appropriate to personal values,” Lee said.

The high-end market for male customers is almost the only growing one despite the recession. Furthermore, male consumers show more “brand loyalty” than female customers. They are apt to purchase brands in shops they are familiar with. Female consumers enjoy shopping itself, but so far, men are reluctant to drop by many shops to buy an item.

“The economic situation obviously changes consumers’ lifestyle, so industries should also find different ways to cater to customers’ preferences in order to survive,” Lee said.