What: Lotte Department Store became the first department store to exhibit at the Korea Social Value Festa, where it presented its REJOICE social contribution campaign and its RE:EARTH eco-friendly campaign through an interactive booth.

Why it is important: By turning ESG into products, experiences and loyalty-linked actions, department stores are making social value part of the customer relationship rather than a side commitment.

Lotte Department Store took part in the third Korea Social Value Festa, held at COEX in Seoul's Gangnam district on 21–22 September, and was the first department store to do so. Hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the event is the country's largest gathering on solving social problems and sustainable development, and it brings together government, business and academia.

Under the slogan "Better Me, Better Earth, Better Society," Lotte combined its two flagship campaigns in a participatory booth, the Lotte Department Store Hall. REJOICE, running since 2017, supports people's self-esteem, dreams and personal challenges. Its exhibition zone screened testimonies from counsellors and beneficiaries and handed visitors one-day psychological prescription kits.

A second space, tied to the RE:EARTH eco-friendly campaign running since 2021, sold five upcycled items made from materials such as waste banners, including tote bags, card holders, pouches and cooler bags. All proceeds go to a project creating carbon-neutral "school forests." The first 2,000 visitors to pass an environmental quiz could make their own upcycled key rings.

Other interactive features included a message wall that displayed visitors' notes on screen and "Reimpact Planet," an Earth model whose LED lights changed according to participation data.

IADS Notes: Lotte Department Store's presence at the Festa builds on an ESG agenda already visible in its operations. It runs a nationwide cold-storage bag collection rewarded with L.POINT points, upcycles or donates the bags it collects, and has paid 350 billion won early to its partners (ChosunBiz, October 2025). Other department stores are also using their visibility to rally customers and employees around sustainability, as El Corte Inglés did by joining WWF's Earth Hour (Digital Leon, March 2026). Circularity programmes aimed at customers are increasingly tied to engagement and loyalty. Selfridges rewards customers who return hard-to-recycle beauty packaging (Fashion Network, January 2026), and El Corte Inglés collected more than 630 tonnes of textiles through in-store programmes with Moda re- (Control Publicidad, August 2026). Beyond collection, M&S and its partners are investing in industrial-scale textile sorting and recycling through The Circuit (WWD, September 2026). Upcycled merchandise such as Lotte's tote bags made from waste banners is therefore the customer-facing end of a much larger circular value chain.

Lotte Department Store showcases its social value campaigns at Korea Social Value Festa