Editor’s Note
This article highlights the strategic moves by major Korean retailers to secure exclusive distribution rights for international brands, a key tactic in today’s competitive market.
The retail industry is intensely focused on strengthening its brand and product assortments. The strategy is to highlight differentiation and ultimately boost brand recognition and performance by actively introducing exclusive brands or private brands (PB), moving away from products easily found in any channel.
According to industry sources on the 21st, Hyundai Department Store has signed an exclusive domestic sales rights contract with a global fashion brand and plans to begin store operations. It has signed an exclusive domestic sales rights contract for the global street fashion brand ‘Aape’ with ‘Bape Hong Kong Limited’ and will open its first store at The Hyundai Seoul on the 26th.
Hyundai Home Shopping is introducing PB products such as the camping wear brand ‘Urban Around’ and the athleisure brand ‘Archive 1.61’, while also striving for brand differentiation by recently signing an exclusive license agreement with the French premium knitwear brand ‘Royal Mer’.
GS25 has expanded its PB brand ‘Real Price’ product lineup from about 10 items last year to about 40 items this year. Since mid-month, it has launched two types of ‘Real Price’ 1,000-won snacks (Twist, Choco Cone) and three types of ‘Yours’ 1,500-won nut snacks (Butter Peanut, Salted Peanut, Anchovy & Butter Peanut).
Lotte Duty Free is promoting high-end jewelry brands it operates exclusively, such as Chaumet, Fred, Messika, and Pomellato. The company plans to further enhance competitiveness in the watch and jewelry categories by expanding its premium brand lineup and improving store environments.
Coupang’s PB subsidiary, CPLB, has joined hands with the Gyeongsangbuk-do Economic Promotion Agency to initiate the ‘Gyeongbuk PMF Product Development Project’. This project is aimed at supporting small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises in the Gyeongbuk region in developing PB products and expanding sales channels. CPLB and the Promotion Agency will jointly support the entire process from product planning to production, marketing, and distribution.
HiteJinro has exclusively launched ‘Paulaner Oktoberfest’ in the domestic market, a beer produced only once a year in limited quantities exclusively for the Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany. The product will be available only at 12 golf courses operated by CJ Freshway’s food and beverage service and at the upcoming ’13th German Village Beer Festival’ next month.
‘Alibaba Express’, which transitioned from a foreign-invested enterprise to a Korean corporation, has begun global simultaneous exclusive pre-sales of the limited-edition collaboration block ‘818 Bloom’ between singer G-Dragon and Oxford. Meanwhile, Alibaba Express operates K-Venue, a dedicated section for Korean products, and is working to increase loyalty among Korean consumers.