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| LF Mall in Gwangju's Sangmu district / Courtesy of LF |
By Kim Jae-heun
Local fashion firms are pursuing "online for offline" (O4O) strategies appealing to consumers who want to try on clothes before making online purchases.
The O4O strategy aims to combine fashion companies' online and offline businesses to utilize the strengths of the two amid the rising contactless consumer trend.
Fashion firms collect data on customers online and use it to attract them to stores with new technologies and services. This helps them offer a tailored shopping environment to customers and increase their revenue in the end, said analysts and officials.
Global companies have been working on digitizing their offline bases over the last four years. The retail giant Amazon already opened an unmanned Amazon Go convenience store in Seattle in December 2016. Customers there don't need to wait in line and their app will pay the price automatically once they leave the store.
In Korea, LF introduced its O4O store in last October. It turned 20 outlets into O4O special stores recently, where customers can purchase clothes online and get their items at stores after trying them on. Before, apparel purchased online could not be experienced or exchanged at stores.
In addition, LF Mall offers after-sales service for items purchased online at any of its outlets across the country. "It is necessary to combine the strengths of an online store and offline business while compensating for the defects," an LF Mall official said.
Lotte Shopping's online mall Lotte ON also integrated 15,000 stores in the country and brought them online, letting customers shop via mobile. Lotte, one of the largest retailers in Korea, is utilizing its department stores and discount stores to help customers pick up their purchases at the nearest outlet at their desired time after purchasing online.
"It is hard for old consumer trends to return. Even after the end of COVID-19, consumers will continue shopping online and fashion companies will keep developing their O4O strategies as more consumers will shop online after comparing for the cheapest price and checking their wishlist products before buying them in (physical) stores," an industry source said.
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