LOTTE Department Store operates a mutual growth fund and program to support short-term liquid funds for our partners. LOTTE Department Store established a mutual growth fund, with a total of 100 billion won, specifically for our regular business partners. The fund provides loans of up to 400 million won per company. Additionally, we formed a partnership with Industrial Bank of Korea and Woori Bank to create a 115 billion won mutual growth fund that offers prime rates on loans for our partners. Furthermore, we provide advanced payments for holidays to enhance the cash flow of our partners.

Since 2014, LOTTE Department Store has been operating stores dedicated to Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for the first time in the industry to help them secure stable sales channels. In order to promote their brand and products to a large number of customers, we operate four stores (Myeongdong Main / Jamsil / Busan Main / Yeongdeungpo) and fully cover the interior design cost and labor costs of salespersons. We also apply a special margin to achieve shared growth.
We also utilize our overseas stores and group companies to support their overseas expansion. LOTTE Department Store allows partner companies to participate in purchase counseling seminars with outstanding buyers and exporter development academy through the Overseas Market Pioneering Committee and LOTTE Korea Brand Expo.

In a bid to strategically foster small and medium-sized partners, LOTTE Department Store has adopted the Shared Growth Margin System that applies preferential margins to the selected companies. Furthermore, we work with various institutions to provide customized consulting services to bolster the competitiveness of partner companies. We are taking the lead to achieve mutual growth and protect partner companies through not only various connections (ESG Management Support Consulting with the Shared Growth Committee, Big Data Consulting with LOTTE Members, and Food Safety Consulting by LOTTE Central Research Institute) but also Shared Performance System and Technology Data Deposit System. LOTTE Department Store runs a Companion Workshop program to foster communication between executives and employees of partner companies as well as buyers of the LOTTE Department Store. In addition, we are contributing to bolstering the competitiveness of our partners by operating the Shared Growth Academy, which provides lectures on the latest trends and job training for executives and employees of partner companies.

LOTTE Department Store hosts Shared Growth Coffee Cart Event for the employees at outstanding partner companies. We send a surprise coffee truck to outstanding partner companies to offer free drinks and encourage the employees to highlight the true meaning of shared growth. We also show our appreciation to partner companies by offering appreciation gifts and partially covering their meal expenses to strengthen our relationships further.