SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Massage chairs, which were once popular as a thank-you gift for the middle-aged, are attracting the hearts of young people in their 20s and 30s. Major online shopping portal Gmarket said Sunday that sales of massage chairs and other massage items rose sharply during the month from August 3 [...]
SEJONG, Sept. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s tobacco imports rose to the highest level ever last year on the back of the popularity of e-cigarettes, government data showed Sunday. South Korea imported US$589.3 million worth of tobacco products in 2018, a record-high amount and the largest on-year growth since 1995, according to Statistics Korea. [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans’ complaints about cross-border transactions have skyrocketed over the past three years due to a sharp rise in overseas travel and direct purchases from foreign countries, a state-run consumer agency said Sunday. The number of complaints about direct overseas purchases and foreign travel services came to 3,933 cases [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — Male cosmetics brands are focusing on communicating with Generation Z men, who will become power buyers in a few years. AmorePacific Corp., the nation’s No. 1 cosmetics company which launched its men’s makeup brand BeREADY on Friday, has been working hard to generate Generation Z fandom from the very [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — An increasing number of South Koreans are purchasing Chuseok holiday gifts online instead of going to a brick and mortar store. When it comes to fresh food, however, consumers still prefer to make purchases in person. Lotte Mart reported that holiday gifts accounted for 8.1 percent of total online [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Korean brands cosmetics showed off their peak popularity at the beauty fair “Sephoria,” which was held by Sephora, the world’s largest cosmetics select shop. AmorePacific Corp. was the only Korean company to participate in this year’s two-day event held at the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall, Los Angeles on [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The cosmetics industry is paying close attention to a surge in interest in makeup for generation Z men. It is noteworthy that AmorePacific Corp., the nation’s No. 1 cosmetics company, on Friday launched its first male makeup brand, BeREADY, 74 years after its foundation. One of the data sources [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — The retail industry, cornered by a low-price offensive from e-commerce businesses, is striking back with a so-called ‘malling’ strategy. ‘Malling’ refers to all leisure activities at the mall, including shopping, dining, and watching movies or experiencing other forms of entertainment. Retail stores are focusing on children. The logic is [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Shopping malls are scrambling to overcome what is seen as one of the worst crises that they have ever faced. Retailers are pulling out all the stops to outlive the crisis, including selling off real estate and repurchasing shares. Lotte Corp. purchased 200,000 shares of Lotte Shopping Co., one [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Korea Bizwire) — Plastic waste is a nagging headache for Asia’s fourth-largest economy. After banning plastic cups and bags, the government is now moving to ban paper boxes and packaging tapes. Starting November, supermarkets will stop providing paper boxes and tape that shoppers can use to carry their groceries home, a move [...]