The Meeting of Virtual and Real Worlds... Retailers Partner with Games for a Win-Win with Loyal Customers

The retail industry is strengthening its collaborative marketing efforts by leveraging game intellectual property (IP). This strategy targets younger customers who are willing to spend based on their preferences and favorite content.

Lotte World Aquarium is presenting the spring season festival "Cookie Run in Lotte World Aquarium: Ocean Adventure Exhibition," featuring Devsisters' representative intellectual property (IP) "Cookie Run," until June 7th. Visitors are taking commemorative photos in front of the main tank. Provided by Lotte World
Cookie Run in Lotte World Aquarium_Ocean Adventure Exhibition' Success_Main Tank Photo Time.

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According to industry sources on April 18, GS25, the convenience store chain operated by GS Retail, has introduced lunch boxes, bread, ramen, and other products featuring popular mobile game IPs such as Blue Archive, MapleStory, Arknights, and Myeongjo since 2024. This is a strategy to attract the highly loyal gaming fandom as new customers to convenience stores. As the main consumer base for both convenience stores and games overlaps, the company explained that it is generating greater-than-expected synergy.

In fact, data analyzed by GS25 shows that cumulative sales of game IP collaboration products over the past two years have surpassed 20 million units. Since April 16, the company has been sequentially releasing collaboration products for Arknights: Endfield, including lunch boxes, hamburgers, chocolates, and snacks. Arknights: Endfield is a real-time 3D strategy role-playing game (RPG), and more than 35 million people participated in the global pre-registration ahead of its official launch.

Hyundai Department Store is also strengthening its IP content to capture the demand of customers in their teens and twenties, who are accustomed to online consumption and show a strong tendency for fandom-based spending. Notably, the department store is holding a series of pop-up stores in collaboration with the global immersive gaming and creation platform Roblox at four locations: The Hyundai Seoul, The Hyundai Daegu, Chungcheong Branch, and Ulsan Branch. The first event will be held at The Hyundai Daegu from April 22 to May 10. This pop-up will feature a variety of unique experience contents with an educational theme. On the 8th floor, special lectures on coding and digital citizenship will also be held at the Culture Center. In the basement level 2 merchandise shop, various character goods such as Roblox apparel, stationery, and keyrings will be available for purchase.

Following The Hyundai Daegu, pop-up stores will be held at Chungcheong Branch and Ulsan Branch in July and September, respectively, and at The Hyundai Seoul in December. In addition, Hyundai Department Store plans to expand collaborations with global game companies such as Blizzard and Riot Games. For popular IP content, the company is also considering making them regular merchandise in offline stores and in its premium curation specialty mall, The Hyundai Hi.

At The Hyundai Seoul, which has the highest share of Millennial and Gen Z customers among all Hyundai Department Store locations, more than 40% of the approximately 600 pop-up stores held last year were focused on game, entertainment, and animation IP content. Notably, six out of every ten visitors in their teens and twenties who attended these IP pop-up stores were new customers who had never used Hyundai Department Store before.

Hyundai Department Store Pangyo Branch Roblox Pop-up Store. Courtesy of Hyundai Department Store

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Lotte World Adventure, the theme park, has also been operating the "Maple Island Zone" at its outdoor Magic Island since April 3, incorporating Nexon's flagship online game IP, MapleStory. Covering approximately 1,984 square meters (about 600 pyeong), the area is themed around three MapleStory worlds: Henesys, Arcana, and Ludibrium. Three new attractions have been introduced: the Stone Express roller coaster, the healing-type Arcana Ride, and the drop-type Eos Tower. Until June 14, the park is also holding the spring season festival "MapleStory in Lotte World" in collaboration with MapleStory.

Additionally, Lotte World Aquarium is presenting the spring season festival "Cookie Run in Lotte World Aquarium: Ocean Adventure" with Devsisters' flagship IP Cookie Run until June 7. A total of nine Cookie Run-themed zones have been created with the traditional Korean fairy tale "Dragon Palace" as the concept. Since the festival started on March 27, the aquarium has seen a 27% increase in visitors over the past three weeks compared to the same period last year, and the number of international guests has also risen by approximately 13%.

An industry official commented, "Retailers can attract new, highly loyal customers through collaborations with popular games that have strong fandoms, while game companies can provide users with unique experiences by bringing virtual worlds to offline spaces. In this sense, both parties can achieve a win-win."

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