SEOUL, May 19 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid a decline in the number of customers visiting brick-and-mortar stores due to the rapid growth of the online market, South Korea’s major retailers are expanding rest and entertainment space as part of their survival strategy. Lotte Mart’s Jamsil outlet in Seoul on Sunday opened a futsal court with [...]
SEOUL, April 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 7.1 percent in March from a year earlier on the back of growing demand for foodstuff, daily items and luxury goods amid the worst wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry ministry said Thursday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online [...]
SEOUL, March 29 (Korea Bizwire) — The so-called ‘pick-up services,’ where customers can order an item online and pick it up at an offline store, are gaining popularity. A fashion store run by LF in Seoul’s Gangnam District was visited by some 1,000 customers last month to pick up the items they had ordered online. [...]
SEOUL, March 29 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 4.7 percent in February from a year earlier on the back of growing online consumption amid the worst COVID-19 wave, the industry ministry said Tuesday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers reached 12.19 trillion won (US$9.99 billion) last month, [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean retailers are raising caution with tightening government restrictions aimed at addressing the spread of the Omicron variant. While department stores and shopping malls have been exempted from the quarantine pass policy, they are now banned from allowing customers to eat or drink on the premises. They have [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea rose 11.3 percent on-year in 2021 on the back of strong appetite for consumption and growing online transactions amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the industry ministry said Thursday. The combined sales of local offline retailers climbed 7.5 percent on-year from the previous year, and [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — With inflation picking up, the popularity of private-brand (PB) products developed in-house by large discount stores, convenience store chains and online malls is rising at a rapid pace. PB products, in general, minimize logistics and advertising costs, and are thereby usually cheaper than other products made by big-name companies. [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s major retailers are making a string of investments in secondhand marketplace platforms. Bungaejangter, the operator of the country’s first secondhand transactions app, recently attracted an investment of 82 billion won (US$68.9 million). In the latest investment round, retail giant Shinsegae Group participated as a new investor through [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean retailers are beefing up investment to introduce new technology that can contribute to minimizing delivery time, personnel and energy as a way to complete delivery within the shortest possible time. GS Retail Co. acquired a 1.3 percent stake in Kakao Mobility Corp. for 65 billion won (US$54.5 [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Retailers are going beyond recycling to introduce upcycled products, so as to go beyond reusing old products to turn them into value-added merchandise. Hyundai Department Store Co. used old banners displayed on the outer walls of the store for advertisement and promotion to make upcycled bags, which are available [...]