Lotte opens premium online mall

Lotte Department Store unveiled its high-end online mall site, Lotte Premium Mall, on Wednesday. [LOTTE DEPARTMENT STORE]

Shopping online is normally as much about convenience as it is about bargain hunting, but Lotte Department Store is moving in a different direction with its new Lotte Premium Mall, an online store dedicated to high-end, luxury items.

Launched today, the Lotte Premium Mall is the latest step in Lotte’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its online business. The retailer says the new website stands out as most online malls try to focus on offering cheaper products.

Lotte used to mostly sell affordable products on its online mall, but the new offering will include items from foreign luxury brands, including Bottega Veneta and MSGM. Luxury watch brand Frederique Constant, whose products are priced between 12 million won ($11,000) and 17 million won, will also be featured on the site.

Lotte said it opened the online mall for luxury brands since there isn’t an online shopping platform in Korea that exclusively deals with such products. Lotte believes in the feasibility of the business based on the credibility it has earned through its department stores, wrote Lotte in a statement.

Although the premium market continues to grow, online malls haven’t traditionally been considered suitable platforms for luxury brands because it’s difficult to prove authenticity, as well as issues involving delivery and service.

Lotte’s new online mall will sell in-season products from both domestic and foreign contemporary brands. Products from a total of 234 brands, including Mulberry, Vivienne Westwood, Etro and Moschino are sold on the online mall. Lotte plans to expand the number of brands to 360 within this year.

Lotte offers a fashion curation service based on the trends, colors and materials customer choose on the online mall.

“Through this premium mall, we expect Lotte Department Store to take a step closer to the O2O [Online to Offline, Offline to Online] service and hope to expand the online premium market, which is still uncommon in Korea,” a spokesperson for Lotte said.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]