Gyeonggi Province Supports Small and Medium Enterprises' Market Expansion with Lotte Department Store

Gyeonggi Province held a business briefing session on the 13th at the Gyeonggi Economy and Science Promotion Agency's co-working space for 20 companies selected for the 'Public-Private Cooperation (Lotte Department Store) Market Expansion Support Project.'

This project, implemented as part of the 'Large-Medium-Small Business Cooperation Program Support Project,' was designed to link the professional expertise and distribution infrastructure held by large enterprises with small and medium-sized enterprises in the province to improve products and brands and provide practical market expansion opportunities. Gyeonggi Province and the promotion agency recruited participating companies last month and selected 20 promising small and medium-sized enterprises in the beauty, food, fashion accessories, and lifestyle sectors.

At the briefing session, the Gyeonggi Economy and Science Promotion Agency and Lotte Department Store explained the project implementation procedures, subsidy applications and settlement, as well as detailed support contents and future schedules, and answered questions from participating companies.

Selected companies will receive support to improve packaging and design based on consulting from current merchandise planners (MDs) at Lotte Department Store. In addition, they will be provided with opportunities at the Gyeonggi Province Co-Growth Fair held on September 22nd to meet directly with merchandise planners (MDs) from multiple major retail enterprises including Lotte Department Store, showcase their products, and consult on the possibility of store listings.

Subsequently, support will be provided to confirm actual consumer response and market feasibility through pop-up stores at Lotte Department Store branches in Gyeonggi Province and connections to Lotte Department Store online mall listings and planned exhibitions. Outstanding participating companies will also be offered additional opportunities for consulting linked to Lotte Department Store's 'L-LAB' and store listings at 'Dream Plaza,' a specialized distribution support store for small and medium enterprises.

Seo Bong-ja, Director of Fair Economy at Gyeonggi Province, said, "The key of this project is to help small and medium-sized enterprises in the province that possess excellent products but face difficulties entering large retail channels to actually enter the market by utilizing large enterprises' professional personnel and distribution networks. Going forward, we will continue to expand market expansion support that companies can actually feel and sustainable cooperation models between large, medium, and small enterprises."