An extensive two-year renovation of SOGO Causeway Bay was completed last year, which added the SOGO Club, an area for art exhibitions, the largest LED TV screen in Hong Kong, and a dedicated “shoe town” space to the Japanese-style department store. SOGO Club won a major prize at the Asia Pacific Property Awards 2016-17. 

Members learned more about the renovations as well as the behind-the-scenes operations at the store during an exclusive visit on 11 June. 

Three Deputy Store Managers from SOGO HK – Calvin Hui, Anlo Hou and Michelle Tang – gave a guided tour to the Chamber group and discussed Hong Kong’s retail market. The delegation also met with the various floor managers on each floor and heard their business strategies.

The members said that they enjoyed seeing the different types of technology that the staff use in the store, and learned some new ideas about ways to improve customer service.

In the Causeway Bay store, each floor generally displays around 50 to 60 different brands. SOGO also cooperates with brands to offer a range of pre-launch, exclusive and  limited-edition products. These include Sanrio – the Japanese company behind the hugely successful Hello Kitty brand – which has been cooperating with SOGO for over 30 years. 

A recent success story for the company has been the introduction of the SOGO Rewards loyalty scheme, which has attracted nearly 600,000 members since it was launched in 2016. Around 37% of all SOGO Club members spend $10,000 per year, with the highest spending members reaching more than $10 million annually.