Shinsegae Department Store Launches Partnership Card Adding 'Department Store Benefits' to Childbirth and Childcare Support

Department Store Core Customers Targeting Women in Their 30s

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Shinsegae is launching a partnership card for women customers who are raising children.

On the 10th, Shinsegae Department Store announced that it will introduce the ‘Kookmin Happiness Samsung Card V2,’ a partnership card offering shopping benefits at department stores, online malls, large discount stores, outlets, and more, in collaboration with Samsung Card.

The Kookmin Happiness Card is a card that allows integrated use of government-supported vouchers for pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare. Previously, the government vouchers were operated separately as the ‘Kookmin Happiness Card’ and the ‘Child Happiness Card,’ but the Kookmin Happiness Samsung Card V2 integrates childbirth and childcare fee support into one.

In particular, it adds partnership services such as benefits for using Shinsegae Department Store and major Shinsegae affiliates. Customers who issue the partnership card can enjoy up to a 7% discount at department stores, Shinsegae Simon Premium Outlets, E-Mart, and more. Six 5% discount coupons and two free parking tickets usable at the department store are provided monthly. These coupons can be used in conjunction with the 7% discount benefits.

The reason Shinsegae launched a partnership card for women raising children is that female customers, especially those in their 30s, account for a large proportion of total department store sales. Female customers accounted for 73% of total sales at Shinsegae Department Store last year. Among them, women in their 30s made up 21%, a significant proportion. This year, women in their 30s also represent 22% of total sales, making them a core customer group for the department store.

So far, Shinsegae Department Store has received favorable reviews for introducing customized partnership card benefits for customers interested in specific genres or lifestyles. The ‘Shinsegae Men’s Life Samsung Card,’ launched in March 2018, is a card specialized for male customers. It includes benefits across industries mainly used by men, such as department store discounts, fuel, golf, taxis, and convenience stores. It attracted more than 1,000 male customers within a month of launch. Among cardholders, the male ratio was 68%, about 2.8 times higher than other partnership cardholders. Usage data showed concentrated purchases in men’s luxury, men’s fashion, and golf genres, with the average spending per customer in these genres 1.8 times higher than other partnership cards.

In March this year, the ‘Shinsegae THE S VIP Samsung Card’ was introduced targeting potential VIP customers. Based on Shinsegae Department Store data, it analyzes VIP customer consumption patterns and offers benefits comparable to VIPs. The card features discounts in genres preferred by VIP customers, such as health, academy, and electronics & information technology (IT). More than 20% of cardholders are department store VIPs, and VIP card applications are higher compared to other partnership cards. Notably, spending by customers with this card is twice that of other partnership cards.

Lee Sung-hwan, Executive Director of Sales Strategy at Shinsegae Department Store, said, “Following men and VIPs, we have launched a partnership card for women customers preparing for childbirth and childcare. We will lead the industry through customized services based on analyzing customer consumption patterns.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.