Lotte Department Store took first place in the department store category of the 2026 National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) survey, the company said Wednesday. It marks the first time in four years since 2022.
Lotte Department Store judged that its customer-centered retail innovation, pursued under the goal of becoming a "premium lifestyle curator," had paid off. The National Customer Satisfaction Index is a customer satisfaction survey jointly developed by the Korea Productivity Center (KPC) and the University of Michigan, quantifying evaluations that consumers make directly on companies' products or services.
Lotte Department Store has pursued various projects at key stores nationwide to improve customer satisfaction. Its Incheon store began a full renovation in the second half of 2023 and completed construction in May this year, reopening as a premium store targeting annual sales of 1 trillion won. The Nowon store, set for its grand opening next month, has also strengthened its competitiveness by successively unveiling a beauty hall and a fresh-food gastronomy specialty hall this year.
In addition, the Jamsil and main stores have established themselves as hybrid shopping platforms combining shopping, tourism and entertainment, achieving combined annual sales of 5 trillion won for two consecutive years in 2024 and 2025. The Jamsil store held about 700 pop-ups last year, while the main store hosted the Myeongdong Festival and introduced a K-fashion specialty hall for the first time.
The company also strengthened its customer service innovation. To provide customers with the best service experience, Lotte Department Store invited the industry's top service experts over the past two years to support "on-site service coaching," and completely overhauled its "service guide" to reflect the latest customer trends. Since the first half of this year, it has also developed an artificial intelligence (AI) voice of customer (VOC) system to improve customer consultation convenience.
The company is also continuing customer-participation environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities. In particular, its social contribution campaign "RE:EARTH" is winning favorable reviews from customers, Lotte Department Store said. "RE:EARTH Market," an urban and marine cleanup activity that has been running since 2022, has collected more than 30,000 liters of waste to date. It also continues an "upcycling project" that recycles items such as banners discarded after use at department stores to produce goods and donates the sales proceeds. In addition, last year the company launched a "green reward" service that converts clothing or fashion products customers no longer wear into L.Point.
"First place in the department store category of the NCSI is the result of the efforts of executives and staff who have valued customers as their top priority, combined with customers' trust," said Kim Sang-woo, head of the sales division at Lotte Department Store. "We will continue to do our best to become a department store loved by customers by focusing on the essence of the customer experience."
