SEOUL, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Online credit card spending in South Korea soared more than 22 percent in March, as consumers avoided going out due to the spread of the novel coronavirus, data showed Friday. Online credit card purchases approved by the country’s eight card firms — Shinhan, Samsung, KB Kookmin, Hyundai, BC, Lotte, [...]
SEOUL, April 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s two leading duty free operators have decided to give up their bids to operate stores at Incheon International Airport as the novel coronavirus has devastated business at the transportation hub, industry sources said Wednesday. The move by Hotel Lotte and Hotel Shilla comes as the business environment [...]
SEOUL, April 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Experts are anticipating layoffs at the South Korean unit of Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo, which has been hit hard by last year’s national boycott movement against Japanese products. Chief executive of FRL Korea, an operator of Uniqlo Korea, recently mentioned the term ‘restructuring’ in an email. The email written [...]
SEOUL, April 2 (Korea Bizwire) — With the ongoing coronavirus outbreak weighing heavily on consumption habits, the beauty and fashion industries are introducing same-day delivery services to follow the trend of so-called ‘untact’ services. South Korean budget cosmetics brand Missha Missha said Wednesday it will launch a cosmetics delivery service at six stores in partnership [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s cosmetics industry, directly hit by the coronavirus outbreak, is eyeing hand sanitizers and other hygiene products to make a comeback. Sales of hand sanitizers and tissues released by Aekyung Industrial Co., a South Korean household goods and cosmetics maker,. in January skyrocketed following the coronavirus outbreak during [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) – Recently, the department store industry has begun to make an all-out effort to secure VIP customers who spend more than ordinary customers. Department stores have suffered fallout from the surge in popularity of online shopping malls for years, but sales have come under further pressure with the coronavirus outbreak. [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 9.1 percent in February from a year earlier as more people purchased daily necessities through online platforms amid the spread of the new coronavirus here, data showed Monday. The combined sales of 26 major offline and online retailers reached 10.6 trillion won (US$8.68 [...]
SEOUL, March 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Different industries are experiencing a variety of outcomes with the novel coronavirus outbreak prompting people to avoid face-to-face contact. The e-commerce market is rapidly expanding as “untact consumption,” referring to consumption without face-to-face contact, continues to gain popularity. However, the service sector, where customers and employees have direct physical [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 6.6 percent in January from a year earlier mainly on demand for holiday gifts, data showed Thursday, along with the growing popularity of sanitation products amid the spread of the new coronavirus around the globe. The combined sales of 26 major offline and [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Local brokerage analysts said Monday they expect a steep decline in the retail industry this year due to the rapid spread of coronavirus. The number of novel coronavirus cases in South Korea shot up to 763 on Monday, up from only 30 a week ago. “Until last week, he [...]