Lotte Hi-Mart Operates Permanent Discount Store 'Home Appliance Outlet' in Icheon

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[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Lotte Hi-Mart announced on the 29th that it will start operating a permanent home appliance discount store called the 'Home Appliance Outlet Store.'

The Lotte Hi-Mart Home Appliance Outlet Store is a small to medium-sized shop-in-shop store with an area of 886㎡ located inside the Lotte Premium Outlet in Icheon. Lotte Hi-Mart will pilot operate the existing Icheon Lotte Outlet Store, located near the Central Logistics Center in Icheon, as a home appliance outlet store until May. The store will significantly increase the proportion of cost-effective brand products, discontinued items, and display products from nearby stores, showcasing about 6,000 products. It plans to offer these alongside existing premium large home appliances and popular items such as dishwashers. The proportion of ultra-low-priced products will continue to increase.

Lotte Hi-Mart aims to secure a new target customer base through the home appliance outlet store while creating synergy effects with its various existing concept stores. This store was newly planned for customers seeking cost-effectiveness, following last year's launch of the experiential premium home appliance store 'Mega Store' and the shop-in-shop experiential stores located in Lotte Mart. A company representative explained, "Inspired by the recent 'Nth new product' trend, where even used or display products are considered new if they hold value for the customer, we are introducing ultra-low-priced products to customers visiting outlets densely packed with discount stores. By gathering display products from other stores, nearby stores can also secure space to display different products."

Throughout February, large home appliances such as TVs, refrigerators, washing machines, and dryers, as well as kitchen and household appliances like cordless vacuum cleaners and dishwashers, will be offered at prices up to 46% lower than the usual selling price. For example, the Samsung Electronics 800ℓ Bespoke refrigerator, normally priced around 3.8 million KRW, will be sold at about 2.6 million KRW, a 31% discount, and the Winia Dimchae 15kg washing machine, usually priced in the 400,000 KRW range, will be sold in limited quantities at about 200,000 KRW, a 34% discount. When purchasing the combined product 'Home Appliance Care Ship,' which includes home appliances and regular visit maintenance services, it is cheaper than buying them separately. Lotte Hi-Mart's home appliance cleaning expert CS Master regularly visits customers to disassemble and clean products. The after-sales service (A/S) period is also extended up to 5 years beyond the manufacturer's warranty period.

Park Chang-hyun, Head of Product Division at Lotte Hi-Mart, said, "We are striving to introduce new types of product configurations in line with the diversifying customer demands. Visiting the home appliance outlet store, which gathers ultra-low-priced products in one place, allows customers to purchase good products at affordable prices, making it reasonable."

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