“Get BMW Tesla dealers”…a shopping mall that became a car exhibition center

Input 2021.03.08 06:00

Department stores and shopping malls are transforming into automobile exhibition halls. It is developing a strategy to differentiate it from online shopping malls by providing a space where you can experience expensive products that are difficult to see normally.

According to the distribution industry on the 8th, Tesla Gallery, an automobile exhibition space located in the Yeongdeungpo branch of Lotte Department Store, is receiving favorable responses from consumers. It is attracting visitors by sharing photos and reviews on Instagram and blogs, mainly among car enthusiasts.

Lotte Department Store opened a Tesla Gallery in its Yeongdeungpo store in December last year, and has also exhibited’Model Y’, which has been newly released since last January. Tesla pop-up stores (stores that operate only for a certain period) were also operated at World Tower Mall and Dongbusan.

Initially, Lotte Department Store raised concerns that its location in the southwestern area of ​​Seoul would narrow as it entered Shinsegae Times Square, which has luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Prada, Gucci, and Tiffany, and then to’The Hyundai Seoul’, the largest Hyundai Department Store in Seoul. For this reason, Lotte Department Store reorganized its brands and interiors by December last year. One of them is a famous bakery café, restaurant, and automobile exhibition space opened on the first floor of a department store.

An official at Lotte Department Store said, “The only Lotte Department Store store in Lotte Department Store where all four Tesla models are exhibited is the only store in Yeongdeungpo. In the process of reorganizing the Yeongdeungpo store into a brand that the younger generation will prefer, we have established a showroom (exhibition hall) for automobile brands. “He said.

According to the real estate consulting firm Jones Lang La Salle (JLL), malling, who enjoys shopping, eating, and hobbies in shopping malls, is rapidly becoming a new culture. JLL said, “Twenties tend to enjoy experiences with special topics while outing to shopping malls in the afternoon, and office workers in their thirties prefer a space where they can spend leisure time with their children.” It was said that it should be reorganized into a space that can absorb.

Amidst difficulties for offline retailers due to the coronavirus infection (Corona 19), shopping malls with a variety of experience-based contents are in an atmosphere of saving. This is because MZ generation (millennials born in the 1980s and Z generations born in the 1990s) and family members enjoy shopping, eating out, and hobbies in the malling culture.

Shinsegae Group’s Starfield is at the forefront of this trend. Starfield Hanam, which has become a core facility in the southeastern commercial area of ​​the metropolitan area, visited an average of 50,000 people a day on weekdays and 100,000 people a day on weekends as of 2019, before the corona crisis. After the spread of Corona 19 and external activities of consumers contracted, an average of 35,000 and 70,000 people visited each day on weekdays and weekends, respectively.

Starfield Hanam is reminiscent of a large automobile exhibition hall where premium automobile brands can be seen in one place. Tesla, BMW, Jaguar-Land Rover, Genesis, and Volvo are operating exhibition halls. In particular, Starfield Hanam was the first in Korea to have an exhibition hall in a shopping mall by Mercedes-Benz.

An official in the distribution industry said, “The complex shopping mall is developing a strategy to make it a space where leisure and hobbies can be enjoyed, not just shopping, by entering a lot of contents and brands that can be enjoyed by families. The more diverse contents are provided, the greater the attracting effect. “Because you pay” he explained.

In the case of Starfield, car dealers (dealers) are renting and using stores like other brands. When a car contract is signed, it is reflected as Starfield’s sales, and Starfield receives a rental fee. In the case of premium cars, the price per vehicle varies depending on the vehicle model on display, but the price is as low as 50 million won.

Attracting an automobile brand will also help increase the sales volume of the branch. An official of Shinsegae Group said, “From the standpoint of an automobile brand, entering the shopping mall can welcome not only car enthusiasts but also family-level visitors. The decision-making and purchase contract is faster because the whole family visits and consults together rather than visiting the store alone. He said, “The mutual needs (necessity) of the offline shopping mall and the automobile industry, which want to attract premium brands that do not have many exhibition markets, are met,” he said.

In recent years, automakers are also actively entering new shopping malls. In Starfield Anseong, which opened in October last year, Genesis and BMW set up an exhibition hall. There are also BMW exhibition centers in Starfield City Wirye and Starfield City Myeongji. Among them, Wirye Store is the world’s first BMW Smart Showroom, designed to allow users to experience or design vehicles with virtual reality (VR) technology. Yeouido IFC Mall also operated a pop-up store for top-tier automobile brands such as Maserati in the center of the basement 2nd floor, which is the lowest level.

An official at Lotte Department Store said, “In the case of pop-up stores, when it is for sales purposes, they receive a rental fee compared to sales in the form of a short-term rental,” he said. “However, the scale of sales and the terms of rental agreements are all closed at the exhibition halls of automobile brands such as Tesla.”