Korean retail group Shinsegae is offering free wireless internet service to shoppers in the Myeong-dong area starting Thursday, the company said Wednesday.

The service is intended to appeal to Chinese shoppers, who tend to rely on wireless internet in Korea rather than data roaming services. According to a survey from the Korea Tourism Organization, more than three-fourths of surveyed Chinese tourists said that they wanted free Wi-Fi access near major shopping districts.


The network, whose name is written in Chinese, automatically takes the user to an advertisement for Shinsegae Duty Free before allowing internet access.

Through the ad, Shinsegae hopes to bring in more high-spending Chinese tourists to its duty free outlet and department store. Chinese tourists currently make up 70 percent of revenues at Shinsegae DF‘s Myeong-dong outlet from foreign shoppers.

“In addition to shopping information, we plan to roll out location-based push notifications and other complex services to give Chinese shoppers the Shinsegae-style smart shopping experience,” the company said through a statement.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)