Ohou is scrapping its purchase-performance-based tier system and shifting the timing of benefits to the start of purchases. Ohou will introduce a new membership program in September and end new grants under its existing purchase-performance-based VIP tier scheme, it said on Wednesday. The termination takes effect from Aug. 30.

The overhaul aims to broaden the range and scope of customers who receive benefits. The company is running a membership test for existing customers that offers points and shipping-fee coupons. It plans a formal launch in September reflecting user experience and data gathered in the process. The direction of the overhaul is to redesign how benefits are provided to match when customers need them most, the company said.

Under the existing VIP tier, customers who made at least 6 purchases and spent at least 500,000 won in actual payments over the past 3 months earned points worth a certain percentage of subsequent purchase amounts. Ohou said many products on its platform are items customers use for a long time once chosen, and usage patterns show customers tend to buy multiple items at once when they are newly furnishing a home rather than making steady monthly purchases.

As a result, under a system that assigns tiers by accumulating purchase performance, it was not uncommon for customers who spent large amounts during that period to be promoted to a higher tier only after they had already bought most of what they needed. An Ohou official said, "We judged that providing benefits at the stage of starting purchases, rather than becoming VIP after buying all products, would be of more practical help to customers."

The membership being prepared is designed so customers who are about to move or set up a newlywed home can use coupons and points benefits from their first purchase. Benefits for existing VIP customers will be maintained until November.

An Ohou official said, "Ending the VIP tier system for purchasing customers is a process to launch a membership service that can give better benefits to more customers." The official added, "We are planning the membership program to provide better benefits to customers ahead of life events such as moving and interior work," and said, "We are focusing on providing benefits at times customers actually need them and can feel."