During the holiday seasons every year, streets are filled with holiday decorations from Christmas trees to sparkling ornaments. People enjoy the holiday atmosphere, strolling the decorated streets with their loved ones. In times like these, simply passing through the street that you walk on every day becomes a holiday activity. Stores, cafés, and even the local dentist are filled with Christmas carols, Christmas trees, and colorful decorations. Department stores, in particular, take this holiday spirit to the next level.  
  An LED media wall façade surrounding the whole department store building lights up every night to present a magical Christmas media art, a whole snowy Christmas town pops up inside the department store building, and Christmas markets and streets fill the corridors of the department store. They do not stop at simple Christmas trees and snowmen; they build the whole Christmas experience compressed inside the department store.
  These decorations do not come at a small price, but every year department stores continue to competitively expand and upgrade their Christmas decorations. The reason for this is that the Christmas atmosphere not only brings joy but also profits. Behind the vibrant holiday decorations, there are department stores’ well-thought-out survival strategies for marketing and branding. 
  The unique and themed Christmas decorations of each department store create a distinctive brand identity inside consumers’ minds. This can contribute to increased brand recognition, ensuring that the store stays at the top-of-mind for consumers during their holiday shopping. The positive feeling of warmth and joy is embedded in the brand’s image, creating loyal customers. In the era of social media, decorations act not only as decorations but self-generating marketing advertisements. The social media post of a customer attracts others, and customers become voluntary ambassadors of the brand without realizing it. The social media buzz is no longer a side effect of marketing, but the main strategy. Increased foot traffic and the dwelling time of customers attracted by the decorations also lead to an increase in sales. In fact, the sales of the Lotte Department Main Store in 2022 soared up to 30% compared to the year before while the store displayed holiday decorations. There is a reason why department stores plan for the Christmas season all year long. Their survival depends on it.