The "Gaeulyagu" Season Begins... But the Retail Sector Remains Quiet

SSG Advances to Postseason for 2nd Consecutive Year
No Discount Events Planned Yet Unlike Last Year
Lotte Ends Season... Must Wait Until Next Year

Shinsegae Group's professional baseball team, SSG Landers, has received an invitation to the autumn baseball postseason for the second consecutive year. By securing 3rd place in the professional baseball pennant race, they advanced to the semi-playoff (PO) stage. However, the atmosphere within the group is quite different from last year. A Shinsegae official stated, "Last year at this time, we were preparing a large-scale discount event called 'SSG Sale,' but this year, there are no plans yet."

Chung Yong-jin, Vice Chairman of Shinsegae, and Shin Dong-bin, Chairman of Lotte. They are also the owners of the SSG Landers and Lotte Giants baseball teams.
[Photo by Asia Economy DB]

According to industry sources on the 18th, SSG Landers won 5-0 against Doosan Bears in the final game of the 'Shinhan Bank SOL 2023 KBO League' the day before, securing 3rd place in the regular season. With this, SSG Landers advanced to the postseason for the second consecutive year following last season's championship. SSG Landers will compete for a spot in the playoffs against the winner of the wildcard game between 4th place NC and 5th place KIA.

From the Shinsegae Group's perspective, this is an opportunity to focus marketing efforts on baseball during the autumn festivities, but in reality, it is said to be different. Last year, a large-scale discount event was planned to celebrate the team's first-ever championship, but this year, the situation is reportedly different. A Shinsegae official said, "Last year, after winning the regular season, there was a strong expectation within the group for a Korean Series championship," adding, "This year, whether plans will be made depends on the team's performance in the postseason."

Previously, last November, when SSG Landers secured their first-ever wire-to-wire integrated championship, Shinsegae held the SSG Sale with participation from all group affiliates both online and offline. Among them, the flagship company E-Mart offered the largest discount benefits of the year, including 1+1 deals on all popular categories and discounts up to 50%. Starbucks also focused on baseball marketing by holding a scratch card event to celebrate the championship, with the entire group concentrating on baseball marketing.

However, there is little chance that a discount event similar to last year will be held next month, according to insiders both inside and outside the group. To hold such a discount event, a monumental achievement of winning the Korean Series two years in a row is required, but this year, SSG Landers' strength is uncertain. Unlike last year, when they could go straight to the Korean Series and conserve energy, this year they must go through the semi-playoff and playoff stages, which adds weight to this speculation.

Shinsegae is in a somewhat better position than its retail rival Lotte. Lotte Group's professional baseball team, Lotte Giants, remained in 7th place this season and failed to advance to the autumn baseball postseason. This marks six consecutive years of missing the postseason since their last appearance in 2017. Especially this year, Lotte Holdings made a significant investment by injecting 19 billion KRW in capital into Lotte Giants, making the disappointing results even more regrettable.

At the group level, marketing efforts were expected to leverage Lotte Giants' advancement to the autumn baseball postseason. However, after failing to qualify in the postseason competition, such possibilities have evaporated. Affiliates with stores located at Lotte Giants' home stadium, Busan Sajik Baseball Stadium?such as Angel-in-us, Lotteria, and 7-Eleven?will enter temporary closure until next spring.

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