Lotte Residence Buying, the e-commerce arm of retail big Lotte, launched its NFT Store platform simply over two years in the past, in Might 2022. The corporate introduced on June 12 that it’ll stop NFT store companies on July 2.
Clients accessed the buying and selling platform by the Lotte Residence Buying cell app. The platform was a part of Lotte’s technique to construct a metaverse platform for the long run.
Use of Fiat Forex and Company Tie-ins
Not like typical NFT buying and selling platforms, NFT Store facilitated transactions utilizing fiat KRW, aiming to make NFTs accessible to non-crypto holders. Lotte Residence Buying additionally launched its personal NFT line that includes the company character Bellygom to draw customers.
Lotte Residence Buying collaborated with Daehong Communications, a crypto startup owned by Lotte Group, for its NFT initiatives. NFTs had been launched on the Polygon (MATIC) blockchain community, and the partnership expanded over time.
Supply: Daehongofficial
The retailer prolonged its NFT attain by integrating NFTs with digital influencer Lucy and the favored horror film “The Witch: Half 2. The Different One.” Plans had been underway to allow secondary NFT gross sales on Opensea, the world’s largest NFT buying and selling platform.
Supply: right here.me.lucy/Instagram
Deal with Core Enterprise Areas
Following the closure of NFT Store, Lotte Residence Buying will utterly withdraw from the NFT sector. The remaining NFT enterprise, together with Bellygom NFT, will transition to Daehong Communications.
Hyundai Division Retailer additionally lately exited the NFT market after launching its NFT pockets companies (H.NFT) in 2022, which supplied reductions and free presents to prospects. Equally, Shinsegae has scaled again its NFT choices amidst the slowdown within the NFT market.
An unnamed trade insider remarked, “Retailers rushed into the NFT enterprise initially, however with the market slowdown, they’re now shutting down their platforms one after one other. They’re redirecting efforts to strengthen their core enterprise competitiveness.”
In conclusion, the choices by Lotte, Hyundai and Shinsegae replicate a strategic shift amongst South Korean retailers away from NFTs in the direction of reinforcing their core enterprise areas. These closures mark a notable retreat from the once-promising NFT sector, underscoring the challenges confronted as market dynamics evolve.
