SEOUL, May 17 (Korea Bizwire) – Demand is high for overseas luxury goods, particularly among younger consumers in their 20s and 30s, despite South Korea’s unrelenting economic slump. According to Lotte Department Store, sales of overseas fashion items, largely comprising of high-end brands, jumped by more than 30 percent in 2016 compared to 2015 for [...]
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) – The Korea Institute of Finance suggested Sunday that drastically reducing household debt could shrink consumption, raising a dilemma for those crafting South Korean economic policy to combat the struggle to cope with soaring debt and waning domestic consumption. According to researcher Park Choon-sung in his report on household debt [...]
SEOUL, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) — There’s a new coinage emerging amongst South Korean consumers that literally translates into “f— it expense.” The origin of sibal (the four-letter word) biyong (expense or cost) goes back to November 28 of last year, when a local Twitter user (satuki_yami) defined the term as an expense that could [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – Amid a prolonged economic downturn, practicality, or cost-effectiveness, has become the key element of consideration when purchasing a new product. In other words, more people are choosing budget-friendly products with the best performance. Daiso, a discount store franchise similar to American dollar stores, is among the companies benefiting from [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s economy grew at a slower pace in the fourth quarter than three months earlier on decreased demand and construction investments, central bank data showed Wednesday. In the October-December period, the country’s gross domestic product rose 0.4 percent from the previous quarter, decelerating from a 0.6 percent on-quarter [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – South Koreans, both poor and rich, are tightening their belts with no economic recovery in sight and the prices of goods ascending, data showed Wednesday. The spending-to-income ratio of local households hit a record low despite stagnant wage levels. Department stores and duty-free shops, two routine shopping spots for [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) – The recent Global Premiumization Survey by marketing research firm Nielsen revealed that when it comes to products that Koreans are willing to pay more for to obtain premium versions of, “clothing and shoes” (30 percent) were the most popular. “Cosmetics” (28 percent), “personal electronics” such as smartphones and tablets [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 19 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s consumer spending sank to a “seriously” low level in the third quarter of the year, government data showed Monday, as most households tightened their purse strings amid slowing economic growth. Slumping household consumption is widely feared to come as a further drag on Asia’s fourth-largest economy struggling [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 30 (Korea Bizwire) – A local credit card company, BC Card, is predicting that those in their 40s to 50s who share personal interests with Deokhu (mania) or the younger generation will stand out as big players in terms of consumption next year. On November 29, BC Card announced its report of predicted consumption [...]
SEJONG, Nov. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Third-quarter household spending shows a persistent slump in consumption, including in basic foodstuffs, the state statistics office said Tuesday. Expenditures for foodstuffs and non-alcoholic beverages by households of two persons or more fell 3.2 percent in the July-September period compared to the same months last year, according to Statistics [...]