On the opening day of the first-ever LINE pop-up store in Singapore on 30th April, fans of the mobile platform have already started queueing before the doors officially opened at 11am. Each of the first 100 customers also received an adorable LINE mini doll.
 

Prices of the merchandise start from $2.50 for the LINE sticker sets. Popular products include the character cushions ($38), the plush dolls ($30-$50) and the postcard set ($55). Both Season 1 and 2 versions of LINE merchandise are available for sale at the pop-up store, and we also heard that Season 3 will be released for sale soon!

The famous Brown and Cony character mascots will be outside the pop-up store every weekend on Saturdays and Sundays for photo taking opportunities. Also, by simply sharing a picture of the LINE pop-up store in their LINE group chat, shoppers will be entitled to participate in a roulette game to win LINE merchandise.

So, what is the big deal about LINE, compared to other mobile messaging apps out there? The following are LINE’s distinctive features, if you have not heard about them:

• Stickers – The LINE Sticker Shop offers more than 10,000 LINE’s original and licensed stickers that feature over 350 unique characters with distinctive personalities.
   
  
• LINE Friends – Say hi to LINE’s original characters: Moon, Cony, Brown, Sally, Jessica, Boss, Edward, James, Leonard.
• Official Accounts – This offers users a chance to befriend and follow their favourite celebrities, public figures and corporate brands, and receiving the latest updates from them.
• Timeline – Users can share their life moments with LINE friends by writing posts with text, stickers, photos and videos to highlight special events.
• PC Version – Users can enjoy LINE across multiple platforms, use voice and video call features to chat with LINE friends from PC to PC, and between PCs and smartphones (iPhone/Android).
• LINE Family Apps – LINE has released 73 LINE Family apps, including LINE camera, LINE PLAY, LINE GAME, LINE Card and LINE Brush.

KAvenyou also sat down for a short interview with Mr. Simeon Cho, the General Manager of LINE Business Development Division at LINE PLUS Corporation, to find out more about LINE’s upcoming plans for the Singapore market.

1) After the successful LINE pop-up store events in various countries, how do you expect the overall turn out for the LINE pop-up store in Singapore to be like?

Mr Cho: If you see the pop-up stores in Malaysia and Indonesia, they were quite successful.So I hope that the pop-up store in Singapore will also be a successful case. Even though it was early in the morning on a weekday, the current response is quite good. So I believe on weekends, I can expect a huge traffic. Actually we have not displayed all the merchandise yet, as some of them are still in the shipping process, such as the Season 3 merchandise. Once we receive the Season 3 merchandise, we will announce the news through the official LINE account.

2) LINE has collaborated with the hit drama, You Who Came From The Stars. Did the immense popularity of this drama affect LINE in any way?

Mr Cho: Actually, we knew that some of the Korean dramas are popular among the Asian countries, that is why we decided to collaborate with the existing Korean dramas. Also, this drama was really a big hit, isn’t it? During the period when this drama started broadcasting,, I actually noticed the significant increase of LINE users in Singapore! So that means that actually this collaboration affected the amount of LINE users in Singapore. But I cannot tell exactly how much of the collaboration with this drama resulted in the increase in LINE users in Singapore. Have you seen the drama? The actors and actresses used LINE as a messenger to exchange stickers in the drama! We are looking for similar opportunities after seeing the successful case of You Who Came From The Stars.

3) I know that in Korea, LINE has released stickers with K-Pop artistes like 2NE1. Will LINE plan to release it in Singapore as well?

Mr Cho: The entertainment companies know that LINE is popular specifically in Southeast Asia, that is why the K-Pop artistes are collaborating with LINE. So we keep releasing the artistes’ stickers too.

4) Following the much awaited LINE x Uniqlo collaboration, will there be more of such collaboration opportunities with renowned brands in the near future?

Mr Cho: We have ongoing discussions with a couple of brands, we cannot disclose it until the deal is confirmed. You can expect such collaborations soon!
 

5) LINE has a lot of family apps and from all of them, which is your favourite one and why?

Mr Cho: Definitely my favourite app is LINE camera! Personally, the reason why I like LINE mostly is because of the LINE characters and stickers. LINE camera adopted many LINE stickers, so I really enjoy using LINE camera the most. Also, compared to other camera apps out there, LINE camera’s features are quite good – I keep using the camera!

6) How does LINE plan to expand and promote itself in Singapore?

Mr Cho: Our main goal in Singapore is to increase the number of loyal users – not only increasing LINE users. I think smartphone users do not just download only one messenger right? Our main goal is to make LINE as the primary messenger, and for LINE users to use LINE everyday! In order to achieve that goal, we are planning many forefront activities, including the LINE pop-up store and the collaboration with UNIQLO. The reason why I opened up the LINE Shopping official account is to increase our loyal user base, so we need to provide more interesting contents to our users. Through our official LINE account, we are giving away coupons and good deals. Also we did some interesting events like the lowest price bidding, so through these kinds of activities, I believe that we can increase the loyal LINE user base in Singapore.
 

Do remember to drop by the LINE pop-up store before it ends on 22nd May! Opening hours are 11am-10pm from Mondays to Thursdays and 10am-10pm from Fridays to Sundays,

Article by: Zhen Zhen @ KAvenyou
Photography by: Shawna @ KAvenyou