'510,000 to 490,000' Decreased Students and COVID-19 Impact on CSAT... Student Marketing Also 'A Thing of the Past'

Three Major Department Stores Reduce or Eliminate Scale
H&B Stores Also Have 'No Plans This Year'
Large Marts Discount Food and IT Devices
Convenience Stores Offer Emoticons and Gift Certificates Contactlessly
"Customer Attraction Difficult... Marketing Effectiveness Down"

On the 3rd, when the 2021 College Scholastic Ability Test was held, examinees were heading to the exam site at Yeouido Girls' High School in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy reporters Minyoung Cha and Seungjin Lee] Around November last year, the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) admission ticket was considered a 'universal free pass.' Large multiplex cinemas, department stores, hypermarkets, health & beauty (H&B) stores, and various fashion and food & beverage (F&B) brands held massive discount events to attract potential customers. Online communities were flooded with posts titled 'Looking for CSAT admission tickets.' However, this year, marketing enthusiasm has significantly decreased compared to previous years due to the continuous decline in the number of test-takers and the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

According to the distribution industry on the 3rd, Shinsegae Department Store will not hold any CSAT-related events this year. Shinsegae Department Store has been gradually reducing CSAT-related marketing every year and completely stopped all CSAT-related promotions, including 'admission ticket discounts,' after 2017. Hyundai Department Store, which conducted company-wide marketing targeting test-takers last year, limited offline events to only two locations this year: Cheonho and Jungdong branches. Last year, they also held free makeup demonstration events for test-takers, but this is impossible this year due to COVID-19. Instead, their online mall 'The Hyundai.com' plans to hold a 'CSAT Liberation Item Exhibition' until the 6th, offering contactless sales and other promotions.

Among the three major department stores, Lotte Department Store is the only one that slightly increased the volume of discount sales targeting test-takers compared to last year. Lotte Department Store will offer up to 70% discounts to customers presenting their admission tickets at selected stores and brands until the 13th. Customers who purchase fashion items worth more than 100,000 KRW will receive Lotte gift certificates equivalent to 10% of the purchase amount. However, this scale is smaller compared to the peak enthusiasm seen in 2016 and earlier years.

A test-taking student receiving a 5,000 won gift certificate at the Lotte Department Store gift distribution location during the 2021 academic year event for examinees.

CJ Olive Young, the largest H&B store in Korea, has decided not to conduct marketing targeting test-takers this year, unlike last year. Last year, test-takers presenting their admission tickets and purchasing over 10,000 KRW received sample kits, but this year, as they are conducting their 2020 year-end clearance sale, no separate events are planned. GS Retail's 'Lalavla' also will not hold any separate events this year, unlike last year's large-scale online and offline promotions.

Hypermarkets plan to focus on food and electronic device sales. Lotte Mart will offer discounts on eel and Korean beef from today until the 9th, while Emart will hold an event from the 4th to the 6th offering a 50,000 KRW discount on the 'iPhone 12' and 'iPhone 12 mini' for test-takers presenting their admission tickets. Homeplus will offer a 40% discount on Korean beef for one day only (the 3rd) and sell tablets and laptops at discounted prices to test-takers. Electron Land will hold a 'Mobile Special Exhibition' for test-takers until the 27th and give GS25 convenience store gift certificates as gifts upon mobile phone activation.

In the convenience store industry, promotions are expected to be limited to contactless prize giveaways using social networking services (SNS) and applications (apps). GS25 will give Vita 500 to the first 2,021 people who upload their admission ticket or study verification photos on the official Instagram through the app 'The Pop.' Emart24 will hold an event from the 4th to the 10th, giving KakaoTalk emoticons 'Taste of Seoul 2020' or 500 KRW coupons on a first-come, first-served basis to those born in 2002. CU will give mobile gift certificates through a lottery to those who tag a test-taking friend in the CSAT support post on their official Instagram.

The distribution industry is responding that the marketing effect targeting test-takers, once considered a major sales season in November, has significantly decreased compared to previous years. The number of test-takers has been declining every year, and this year, the CSAT schedule was postponed from November to December, weakening related strategies. In fact, the number of applicants for the 2019 CSAT was 570,661, which decreased to 510,241 for the 2020 CSAT, and this year, the 2021 CSAT, the number was 493,433. Based on past attendance rates, the actual number of test-takers this year is estimated to be around 430,000.

A department store industry official explained, "As the number of test-takers decreases, the promotional and customer attraction effects have become insignificant, leading to a trend of gradually reducing related events." They added, "As the generation gets younger, online shopping dominates, which has also reduced the number of customers visiting department stores." A convenience store industry official said, "Ultimately, attracting customers is key, but since it is difficult to actively encourage visits this year, everyone is cautious," adding, "They seem to be focusing on more important events like Christmas in December ahead of the year-end."

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