SEJONG, May 4 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s online sales continued their upbeat mode to reach a fresh record high in March amid recovering consumer sentiment, government data showed Thursday. Total online transactions reached 6.33 trillion won (US$5.58 billion) in March, up 21.3 percent from 5.22 trillion won tallied a year earlier, according to the [...]
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) – Profits at top foreign luxury brands in South Korea stagnated last year, with some labels unable to come out of the red, industry data showed Friday. According to the data provided by the e-disclosure site of the regulator Financial Supervisory Service, last year’s operational profits at Ferragamo Korea shed [...]
SEOUL, April 20 (Korea Bizwire) – Online shopping malls are partnering with premium children’s brands as sales in the segment are growing faster than for cheaper labels, industry watchers said Thursday. First-quarter sales of brand name children’s clothing and accessories increased 43 percent on-year at online mall 11st Street, compared with a 34.7 percent rise [...]
SEJONG, March 31 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s industrial output jumped at the fastest pace in nearly four years in February, government data showed Friday. Production in the mining, manufacturing, gas and electricity industries moved up 6.6 percent last month from a year earlier, marking the highest on-year gain since January 2013, when it posted [...]
SEOUL, March 19 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s tourism needs to revamp itself to reduce its dependency on China and grow into an industry that creates more added value, experts said Sunday, amid rising tension with the neighboring country over the deployment of a U.S. anti-missile system. Local tourism is expected to suffer a major [...]
SEOUL, March 6 (Korea Bizwire) – Stocks of major retailers and their affiliates with business ties to China continued to plunge Monday, as Beijing has intensified its measures against South Korea in what appears to be retaliation for the deployment of an advanced U.S. anti-missile battery. Lotte Shopping Co., a key unit of retail giant [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 22 (Korea Bizwire) – Despite much larger sales, franchisees in South Korea earn less money than owners of stand-alone stores due to higher costs, a report said Thursday. The operating margin for one-man franchise stores in the wholesale and retail sectors came to 12.8 percent in 2014, 10.5 percentage points lower than that [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Korea Bizwire) – Customers who spend big at the country’s major department stores jumped this year, industry data showed Wednesday, despite a prolonged economic slump here. The number of wealthy customers at the four stores — Lotte Department Store, Hyundai Department Store, Shinsegae Department Store, and Galleria Department Store — jumped by [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Korea Bizwire) – An anti-corruption law may be showing its desired extra effect of creating more time for family and home cooking if sales record at a leading retailer is any indication. October sales figures from E-mart released on Thursday showed an 11.5 percent increase for the month to 1.14 trillion won [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 7 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s retail and tourism industries are seeking ways to embrace a growing number of independent travelers from China with customized services as Beijing is set to tighten regulations on cheap package tours, industry officials said Monday. Duty-free operators and department stores have stepped up customized marketing targeted at [...]