Because of the sharp decrease in guests due to the prolonged pandemic, hotels have launched packages targeting office workers who telecommute. (Screen shot from Glad Hotel website)

By Lee Kyoung Mi and Yoon Sojung 

The five-star Swiss Grand Hotel in Seoul launched on Sept. 10 its "Biz in Seoul" package with a check-in time of 8 a.m. and that for check out at 7 p.m. This is among niche products targeting the increasing number of office workers who work remotely due to COVID-19.

A guest can use a guestroom as an office during work hours and use the hotel's facilities. The rate starts at KRW 88,000 per day, or half the regular price of a one-night stay ranging from KRW 160,000-200,000 since the stay is not overnight.

Other luxurious hotels in the capital such as Park Hyatt Seoul, Novotel Ambassador and Millennium Hilton offer similar packages. Their niche marketing seeks to fill the hotel's rising number of empty guestrooms because of a sharp decline in demand, mostly from international businesspeople and tourists, due to the pandemic.

Department stores have turned away from traditional business practices because of dropping sales due to the pandemic, and even offer errand services for customers. (Hanwha Galleria)

Apart from hotels, other sectors are devising strategies to survive in the pandemic era.

Department stores have traditionally relied on customers to visit their stores to purchase goods. Because the noncontact lifestyle is turning into the new normal amid COVID-19, such businesses are focusing on self-rescue plans to cope with reduced buyer traffic.

Last month, Galleria Department Store introduced its service "Butler Kim Black." When a customer makes a purchase through the service on a smartphone app, a staff member buys the ordered items on behalf of the customer and delivers them to the latter's home.

The app also allows the ordering of food for delivery from restaurants within the department store. Customers can also ask a store employee to run errands such as buying medicine from a pharmacy or picking up laundry from a dry cleaner.

SK Telecom, one of Korea's three leading telecom companies, has a drive-thru service for people who sign contracts to use the company's mobile phones.

Meanwhile, Ssangyong Motor is the first Korean carmaker to host a launching event for a new model on a TV home shopping channel.

Thus every industry is trying to survive through innovative strategies to cope with the pandemic.

An online auction format is changing the way Koreans trade cattle, digitizing the process rather than using face-to-face transactions. (YouTube channel of Geochang-gun County branch of Livestock Agricultural Cooperative Federation)

The cattle auction market is also undergoing a major change from its traditional business practice of face-to-face transactions due to COVID-19. In April, the branch of the Livestock Agricultural Cooperative Federation (LACF) in Geochang-gun County, Gyeongsangnam-do Province, launched an online auction that removes the need for cattle buyers to visit the market.

Instead, they can compare cattle online and traders can check the status of the auction, bidding prices and successful bids in real time. This system has received a favorable response for preventing COVID-19 and boosting convenience at the same time.

This system was also adopted last month by a livestock market run by the Gumi-Chilgok-gun County branch of LACF. Livestreaming of an online tender was also introduced in April at a market for Korean-bred racehorses.

Small and medium businesses are also trying to survive through innovative marketing. For example, PC cafes, which were ordered to close due to stricter social distancing, offer delivery of snacks that they used to sell inside the cafes. Others provide home installation service that has staff deliver and install high-quality computers to allow users to play online games at home.

Comic book rental stores are also employing this delivery service. After receiving an order via phone or Instagram, a store delivers books to the customer.

km137426@korea.kr