SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has taken action against four major K-pop merchandise retailers for unfair business practices, highlighting growing concerns over consumer rights in the booming idol goods market. The FTC announced on August 11 that it would issue corrective orders and impose fines totaling 10.5 million won [...]
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean webcomic readers are garnering attention as extremely loyal customers with significant purchasing power, and they willingly open their wallets not only for webtoons but also for related merchandise. According to the crowdfunding platform Tumblbug, nearly every project associated with a popular webtoon successfully raises a substantial amount [...]
SEOUL, April 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Intellectual property (IP)-related goods that fans can purchase and own are becoming an increasingly important marketing strategy in the South Korean gaming industry. Gaming giant Nexon Co. conducted a strategic investment in local merchandise manufacturer Marppel Corp. to open an official merchandise shopping mall this year. Nexon will utilize [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Customers are lining up at Starbucks stores once again, this time to buy the newly released Halloween goods and merchandise. Starbucks Coffee Korea released 23 items, two cards, three drinks and seven food products on Tuesday in celebration of Halloween. Each Starbucks outlet displayed a sign that listed the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Food businesses are scrambling to come up with limited editions of character merchandise to promote their brands and boost sales. Maeil Dairies Co., a major Korean dairy company, announced Monday that it will release 31 kinds of merchandise made jointly with Born Champs, a casual fashion brand, that includes [...]
SEOUL, June 29 (Korea Bizwire) — The NC Dinos, so far the top team in South Korean baseball, are also leading everyone in overseas sales of merchandise, data showed on Monday. In response to growing international interest, the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) launched an English-language version (http://kbomarket.com/us) of its official merchandise site, the KBO Market, [...]
Seoul, July 14 (Korea Bizwire) – With a pair of idol-endorsed earphones selling for 1,230,000 won, merchandise associated with idol stars is causing controversy, with some claiming that the products are ‘back bone breakers’. ‘Back bone breaker’ is a new term meaning that something is so expensive that in order to buy it, one has [...]