Hyundai Department Store Launches Joint VIP Marketing with China’s BFC Mall to Target ‘Young Affluent’ Consumers

[Financial News] Hyundai Department Store is joining forces with BFC Mall, a premium lifestyle mall in Shanghai, China, for joint VIP marketing. The strategy is aimed at attracting young affluent Chinese consumers in their 20s to 40s, who make up BFC Mall’s core customer base.
According to industry sources on the 2nd, Hyundai Department Store recently signed an “MOU for VIP service partnership” with BFC Mall and will begin offering partnership benefits to the two companies’ VIP customers this month. This marks its fifth VIP service collaboration with a global retail channel, following partnerships in Thailand, Japan, Singapore and Macau.
BFC Mall is a lifestyle mall with a total floor area of 96,000 square meters, located within the 430,000-square-meter BFC complex. It has established itself as a popular destination for local customers and tourists by offering various experiential content, including pop-up stores featuring global intellectual properties such as Harry Potter and Pokémon, as well as New Year lantern festivals and night markets.
Under the agreement, the two companies will provide tailored services to each other’s VIP customers. Hyundai Department Store VIP customers visiting BFC Mall can use an exclusive VIP lounge and receive three admission tickets to Fosun Foundation Shanghai, a cultural exhibition space. They can also access one-on-one concierge services, including consultations for local sightseeing tours and priority reservations at major restaurants in BFC Mall.
BFC Mall VIP customers visiting Korea will be able to use the exclusive VIP lounges at The Hyundai Seoul and Hyundai Department Store Trade Center Branch. Benefits will include a “fast-track service” allowing them to enter luxury brand stores without waiting, three passes to the cultural complex Alt.1, special discounts and additional rewards. The companies also plan to add seasonal cultural experiences, such as admission tickets to The Hyundai Seoul’s Christmas market.
Hyundai Department Store is actively seeking Chinese VIP customers because spending by Chinese tourists visiting Korea is rising rapidly. According to BC Card’s data on foreign visitors’ card spending by nationality in the first half of this year, spending by Chinese customers increased 82.1% from the same period a year earlier, the highest growth rate among all nationalities.
Hyundai Department Store plans to continue expanding VIP service partnerships with global retail channels. It currently has joint VIP marketing partnerships with major Asian retail channels, including Thailand’s Siam Piwat Group, Japan’s Hankyu Department Store, Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands and Macau’s Sands China. It is also pursuing partnerships with retail channels in Europe, including France, the United Kingdom and Spain.
Yang Myeong-seong, Executive Director of Sales Strategy at Hyundai Department Store, said, “Interest in Hyundai Department Store’s retail spaces, including The Hyundai Seoul, is extremely high among the young affluent Chinese consumers who make up BFC Mall’s core customer base. We will continue strengthening VIP marketing collaborations that transcend national borders, consistently attract high-spending overseas VIP customers and introduce Hyundai Department Store’s distinctive shopping and cultural experiences to people around the world.”

[email protected] Jang Yu-ha Reporter