This undated file photo, provided by SSG.COM, shows the high-tech logistics center of the online shopping unit of retail conglomerate Shinsegae.
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — Despite stronger social distancing measures being rolled out in South Korea resulting from the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, local consumers are showing signs of no panic buying with sales at online shopping malls growing at a marginal rate.
Shinsegae Co.’s integrated online shopping mall SSG.COM said that its sales for the last weekend (Nov. 28-29) marked a slight growth of 5 percent compared to the previous weekend.
This result is in contrast to sales figures reported in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic between February and March, when sales jumped by about 40 percent.
Other online shopping malls also witnessed a surge in order volume in the February-March period, with a variety of items being sold out.
“Panic buying is not taking place today since local consumers can get the items they want at any time,” an industry watcher said.
The growth of online grocery delivery platform Market Kurly’s weekend order volume also remained negligent at about 6 percent compared to a week ago.
However, the large-sized supermarkets called super supermarkets (SSM) saw their sales rise sharply.
GS The Fresh, the SSM arm of GS Retail Co., saw sales at its offline stores rise by 12.3 percent over the last weekend compared to two weeks ago.
In particular, sales of home meal replacement (HMR) products jumped by 22.6 percent, indicating that the demand for meals at home increased along with the return to harsher social distancing rules.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
