SEOUL, July 15 (Korea Bizwire) – The fact that large corporations still abuse their market power to bully smaller enterprises would hardly come as a surprise to most Koreans. Just two months ago, Korea’s leading hypermarket franchises, Homeplus, E-mart and Lotte Mart, were fined 22 billion, 1 billion, and 850 million won, respectively, for ‘unfair [...]
SEOUL, June 10 (Korea Bizwire) – Large retail and distribution companies are rapidly expanding their presence in the manufacturing industry through M&A or Private Brands (PB). The rationale behind this phenomenon is that integrated management from planning and manufacturing to distribution of products saves costs and exerts greater influence in the market. Lotte Department Store launched [...]
SEOUL, April 18 (Korea Bizwire) – The lines between types of retailers are blurring, with open markets and social commerce businesses broadening their horizons to retail brokerage services. The industry is leaving no stone unturned in a push to attract consumers to mobile shopping markets. Large offline discount stores are building logistics centers for [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy smartphone was selected as the most valuable brand in South Korea for the fifth consecutive year, a survey showed Sunday. The Samsung Galaxy phone ranked first in the brand survey by Seoul-based market researcher Brandstock, followed by E-Mart, a discount store chain [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Shopping at large discount stores has become a less preferred chore for Lee Na-young after the troubling experiences of pulling a cart through crowds and standing in long checkout lines with her two babies crying. When Lee ran out of diapers and wet issues during a busy week, she [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean retailers and food manufacturers are expanding their ready-to-eat meal products to cater to the country’s rapidly growing single households who opt to eat in, partly to save time and money, market watchers said Wednesday. Retailers and food makers, in turn, are swiftly moving to increase their market [...]
SEOUL, July 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Thanks to their much-touted health benefits, demand for imported “super grains” is increasing, while Korean crops such as beans are becoming unpopular among Koreans. According to E-mart on July 19, sales of the imported super grains such as quinoa, lentils and chickpeas increased by up to 5 times last year, and they [...]
SEOUL, June 15 (Korea Bizwire) – South Koreans are increasingly turning to online channels for grocery shopping as they eschew their usual visits to grocers amid the continued spread of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), industry data showed Monday. South Korea has reported 150 MERS infections since the first case was confirmed on May 20, [...]
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — As large retailers are suffering from negative growth, private brands (PB), or private labels (PL) are offering a ray of sunshine to retailers, as sales of PB goods have increased 20 to 30 percent in the first quarter compared to the same period last year. PB goods are usually 20 [...]
SEOUL, April 23 (Korea Bizwire) – E-mart, which was the target of negative opinion after spot-checking the lockers of its employees last July, is again courting controversy as its internal policies still allow for the verification of employees’ belongings. On April 22, E-mart’s trade union announced that it would appeal to the National Human Rights [...]