Lotte Mall writes success story in Hanoi with Koreanization

Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi, a mega commercial complex in Vietnam, has hit a sales milestone of 200 billion won ($145 million) less than one year since its launch, driven by Korean-style pop-up stores for foreign luxury and fast fashion brands, the South Korean retail titan said on Monday.

Lotte Department Store, the operator of the largest shopping mall in Vietnam, has introduced a Korean-style marketing strategy to attract young Vietnamese customers, riding the ongoing Hallyu, or Korean Wave.

It took only five months for the commercial complex to double its cumulative sales from the 100 billion won recorded in January of this year. Further, its cumulative visitors have surpassed 8 million, nearly matching the 8.4 million population of Hanoi.

It became a landmark destination in the Southeast Asian country since its inception in September last year following its trial run two months before.

Lotte Department Store said it has successfully transplanted the DNA of its branch in Jamsil, Lotte World Mall in eastern Seoul, which has established itself as a “pop-up mecca,” into Lotte Mall Westlake Hanoi.

In Vietnam, 60% of the population is under the age of 40. At Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi, customers aged 25 to 35 are driving sales growth.

Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi is the only shopping mall in Vietnam that houses popular fast fashion brands such as Zara, Uniqlo, Massimo Dutti, Pull&Bear and Mango.

It also has popular local food and beverage outlets such as Asian restaurant Sadhu, Pizza 4P’s and specialty coffee brand Ten Thousand.

Lotte is pursuing a “Koreanization” strategy instead of localization for success in Vietnam.

Lotte Mall Westlake Hanoi has introduced the region's first super-large, pop-up shops in an indoor atrium plaza measuring 827 square meters and an outdoor fountain plaza measuring 1,653 square meters.

It has operated about 30 pop-up stores in collaboration with foreign luxury brands such as Chanel, Dior and Coach, as well as toy brick maker Lego. They feature experiential content, such as makeup shows and photo zones.

The cumulative number of pop-up visitors reached one million, with an average of over 30,000 visitors per pop-up store. At the end of last year, the Chanel Beauty pop-up booth in the shopping mall lured 100,000 visitors.

VACATION IN A MALL

Next month, it will host a pop-up store for Samsung’s home appliances, followed by BMW, Chanel and jewelry brand Swarovski.

This summer, Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi will offer special package products in collaboration with the hotel in the complex so that customers can stay longer in the premier complex to shop, see movies and visit the aquarium, as well as play with their kids in indoor play gyms.

It will also introduce experiential learning activities such as craft making and a summer-limited food menu.

In Vietnam, where the temperature approaches 40 degrees in the summer, Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi will maintain its indoor temperature at 24 degrees Celsius, the optimal temperature for shopping and indoor activities.

"We will embody the 'vacation in a mall' concept this summer," said Lee Hee-seung, head of Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi. “We will continue to differentiate ourselves as a shopping mall complex that represents Vietnam beyond Hanoi."

Write to Ji-Yoon Yang at yang@hankyung.com

Yeonhee Kim edited this article.