Retail News CRM

Tag: Korea

  • BMW recalling 154,472 vehicles over fuel pumps

    BMW recalling 154,472 vehicles over fuel pumps

    BMW is recalling 154,472 vehicles registered in the United States and Canada for a fuel pump problem that could cause stalling, according to a filing with U.S. safety regulators and BMW.

    BMW told regulators that no injuries have been reported. Since 2014, the German-based company has conducted safety recall campaigns in China, Japan and South Korea for the same issue, according to a filing posted on Friday by the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

    Of the vehicles recalled in North America, 88 percent are registered in the United States.

    BMW is recalling certain vehicles in the United States and Canada for model years 2007-2012. Among them in the United States are the X5 3.0si, X5 4.8i, X5 M, X5 xDrive30i, X5 xDrive35i, X5 xDrive48i and X5 xDrive50i, 2008-2011 X6 x Drive35i, X6 xDrive50i and X6 M, 2010-2011 X6 ActiveHybrid, according to the filing.

    Also the 535i xDrive Gran Turismo, 535i Gran Turismo, 550i xDrive Gran Turismo and 550i Gran Turismo, 2011-2012 528i, 535i, 535i xDrive, 550i and 550i xDrive and 2012 535i ActiveHybrid, 640i Convertible, 650i Convertible, 650i xDrive Convertible, 650i Coupe and 650i Coupe xDrive vehicles.

    BMW will notify owners and dealers to replace a fuel pump module free of charge beginning in early December. BMW owners can call BMW customer service for details.

  • Kakao food-delivery service planned

    Kakao food-delivery service planned

    Korean internet company Kakao, known for its chat app KakaoTalk, plans to jump into the food-delivery sector.

    The Kakao food-delivery service is planned for launch by January, and it is expected to be incorporated into the app, which has four menu buttons. One of them lists extra services such as sending gifts or making reservations.

    A Kakao spokesperson says the deliveries would mainly be from franchise restaurants.

    In July, Kakao acquired a 20 per cent stake of CNT Tech, a developer of an order-receiving platform for more than 80 franchise restaurant brands in Korea.

    CNT Tech has 90 per cent of market share in the ordering platform sector. Once an order is placed through a franchise’s key number or homepage, the start-up connects orders to stores nearest the customer.

    Already companies are battling for share in the food-delivery market, including Baedal Minjok, Baedaltong and Yogiyo. Baedal Minjok, which has more than 50 per cent market share, is the only start-up that has turned around its business from losses.

    Kakao head of communications Lee Su-jin says its new on-demand service will follow the company’s business perspective that an online-to-offline service should add value both to individual service providers and customers.
    “Through our Kakao Taxi service, the annual income of taxi drivers rose by more than 3 million won [US$2650],” he says.

  • Shinsegae Group to run mall, arcade

    Shinsegae Group to run mall, arcade

    Following a bidding process, Shinsegae Group has become the manager for Coex Mall and the adjacent CALT shopping arcade in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul.

    An official signing has taken place with the Korea International Trade Association (KITA), which owns the two venues.

    The confirmation comes three months after Shinsegae Property, the shopping-mall management arm of the retail giant, was chosen as preferred bidder.

    Shinsegae Group expects the lease profit to be around 66 billion won (US$58.3 million) this year.

    Lees ook:

  • Squeeze in Chinese tourists starts to bite

    Squeeze in Chinese tourists starts to bite

    The Chinese government’s forced reduction of tourists visiting Korea by 20 percent is already dealing a blow to businesses.

    “Even today, tourism offices in several provincial governments are acknowledging they are lowering the numbers of tourists going to Korea,” said an insider working in China’s tourism industry on Tuesday. “In several areas, there were even orders to send visitors to the Philippines instead of Korea.”

    chart

    Relations between China and the Philippines, which were sour for some time due to a territorial dispute in the South China Sea, recently softened after President Rodrigo Duterte visited China last week.

    Seoul’s ties with China have gotten frostier after it decided to deploy a U.S. missile defense shield that Beijing opposes.

    Businesses that rely on Chinese visitors are worrying that the decision will hit them hard. It hasn’t been long since they overcame the aftermath of last year’s Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).

    The first signal came from the stock market: shares of companies that could be hurt posted sharp declines Tuesday as news spread. Cosmetics leader AmorePacific fell 7.12 percent to 345,500 won ($305.06). LG Household and Healthcare lost 8.34 percent to 846,000 won. The impact was evident in tourism shares as well: Hotel Shilla lost 6.94 percent and HanaTour retreated 8.04 percent. All shares failed to recover Monday’s closing prices on Wednesday. Companies running group tours were most vulnerable.

    According to the Korea Tourism Organization, 2.4 million Chinese tourists came on group tours last year, 41 percent of the total number of Chinese tourists to Korea, which was approximately 6 million. As group tours are organized two to three months before departure, the decline is expected to really show by year’s end.

    “If Chinese group tours fall by 20 percent, the annual loss in relevant industries may reach a minimum of 2 trillion won,” said researcher Shen Jia at the LG Economic Research Institute. “If the decline spreads to individual tourists, the economic damage will deepen even further.”

    Duty-free shops are nervous. Last year, the top five duty free operators – Lotte, Shilla, SK Walkerhill, Dongwha and Korea Tourism Organization’s Duty Free Korea – earned 5.4 trillion won in revenues from Chinese tourists, 62 percent of total sales of 8.6 trillion won.

    Through September of this year, Chinese tourists spent 3 trillion won at Lotte Department Stores. As soon as the news of the cutback spread Tuesday, duty-free stores organized emergency meetings with Chinese partners to devise some kind of a backup plan.

    There are currently nine duty-free shops in Seoul, with four more waiting to open next year. Competition in the duty-free industry is fierce, as it is one of the most robust retail markets in Korea. “A sudden drop in Chinese shoppers will cause considerable impact to both current and future duty-free operators,” said a spokesperson for Shilla Duty Free.

    Mid-priced hotels are nervous too. They are popular with group tours. “Half of the guests at business hotels in Myeong-dong or Dongdaemun are Chinese, and most are from group tours,” said Park Jong-mo, manager of the Ramada Hotel and Suites Seoul Namdaemun. “The market supply is rising, with new mid- and low-priced hotels being built in the city center. We’ll be seeing more vacant rooms.”

    Lees ook:

  • Duty-free sales climb 36% in Korea so far in 2016

    Duty-free sales climb 36% in Korea so far in 2016

    Duty-free sales from South Korea’s retailers increased 36.4% year-on-year to W8.9trn ($7.9bn) in the first nine months of 2016, according to local media reports. This is compared with W6.55trn a year ago.

    Sales growth in particular is driven by the rise in foreign tourists, with Chinese travellers comprising nearly 43% of all travellers. Chinese spend per passengers reached a total of $350, while Koreans spent $106, according to The Korea Times.

    According to the publication, despite the increase in sales many retailers in the country are facing deficits, with the exception of Lotte Duty Free and The Shilla Duty Free, which reportedly saw profits totalling W232bn and W38bn in the first half the year, respectively.

    Galleria Duty Free Shop of Hanwha was reported to have suffered a W17bn loss, while Doosan’s Doota Duty Free saw a W16bn loss for the same period.

    Despite this, there is still room for optimism, with potential for annual duty-free sales to top W10trn by the end of the year. Retail real-estate developments such as Hanwha Galleria’s launch of the Galleria Duty Free 63 store in July, and buoyant figures reported by retailers like Shinsegae, add to the country’s potential for a possible positive rebound.

    Photo of KTO

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Singapore, Manila rise in retail rent rankings

    Singapore, Manila rise in retail rent rankings

    The data may be a little dated, but Asian cities are holding their own in the retail rent rankings.

    New York’s Fifth Avenue still tops the list with an average rent of US$3500 per sqft per year. Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay is cemented in second place at $2399 and the Champs Elysee in Paris a distant third at $1372.

    (It should be noted, the list ranks the single most most expensive shopping strip in each country, not overall.)

    Data released by Cushman Wakefield this month – albeit more than a year out of date – shows the Philippines making the biggest gain: retail rental rates in Manila’s Bonifacio Global City High St were a mere US$56.40 per sqft per annum, but that is enough to make Manila 51st on the top 65 list – up eight places.

    Singapore’s Orchard Rd ranked 14th – up two places – at $336.80 and Taipei’s ZhongXiao East Rd 20th, up three places, at $273.20.

    The Ginza in Tokyo,  Japan, ranks a modest eighth at $881.90 in a virtual tie with Myeongdong in Seoul, Korea at $881.80.  The Ginza has fallen from sixth in last year’s survey, while Myeongdong has dropped from eighth.

    Cushman & Wakefield stresses that the global rankings focus on high street locations. This excludes mall rental rates – and in cities like Manila, Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur, malls dominate the premium retail landscape, not high street strips.

    Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City CBD retail rents are more expensive than in Bangkok at $150.50 for 32nd place, and $125.40 for 35th respectively. Bukit Bintang in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ranked 40th (up one place) at $111.

  • iPhone 7 debut in South Korea hurts Samsung

    Apple Inc’s iPhone 7 went on sale in South Korea yesterday, seeking to fill a void left by archrival Samsung Electronics Co on its home turf following a damaging recall fiasco over the Note 7 smartphone.

    The South Korean electronics giant discontinued the Note 7 — one of its key iPhone challengers — on Tuesday last week following reports that replacements for combustible models were also catching fire.

    The decision is set to cost Samsung billions of US dollars in lost profits and there are already signs that Apple is reaping some of the benefits.

    Samsung shares fell nearly 2 percent yesterday as iPhone 7 hit stores across the nation.

    An official at mobile carrier Korea Telecom said the first batch of 50,000 iPhone 7s it put up for preorder a week ago sold out in 15 minutes.

    “I would attribute part of that to the Note 7 effect,” said the official, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media.

    Customer defection is one of Samsung’s biggest concerns, especially as the Note 7 was specifically aimed at taking on the iPhone in the premium handset market.

    In the hope of retaining customer loyalty, Samsung had offered Note 7 users a 70,000 won (US$60) phone bill credit if they swapped their faulty phones for another Samsung handset.

    The half-dozen customers buying the new iPhone at a Korea Telecom store in central Seoul yesterday were all long-time Apple users who had preordered their handsets.

    Office worker Lee Kyung-hee, 34, said she had moved fast when the preorder service opened, fearing a surge of interest from unhappy Note 7 owners.

    “I set an alarm and was very quick,” Lee said.

    In South Korea, retail prices for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus start from 869,000 won and 1.02 million won respectively for the basic 32GB models.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Gong Cha Korea to expand globally

    Gong Cha Korea to expand globally

    Bubble tea brand Gong Cha Korea is planning international expansion.

    Aided by the global passion for Hallyu, or the so-called Korean Wave, Gong Cha plans to open stores in the Middle East and Europe. It will also buy more than 1380 stores in 18 countries, including the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, China, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, and Hong Kong.

    Currently, Gong Cha Korea operates only about 360 stores in its home market, which last year brought in KRW8 billion (US$7 million) profit – representing 11 per cent growth year-on-year.

    As most of Gong Cha’s customers are aged from 10 to their 30s, the company expects entering new foreign markets will be easier through creating synergies with Hallyu.

    The expansion will be facilitated by a share transaction with its parent company Royal Tea Taiwan in which the Korean business will progressively boost its ownership from 35 per cent to 70 per cent by January 2017.

    Royal Tea Taiwan was launched in 2006, and introduced to Korea by franchisee Kim Yeo-jin in 2012. Two years later, Japanese private equity fund Unison Capital bought 70 per cent of the Korean business.

    Lees ook:

  • Surge in Chinese tourist arrivals continues to boost South Korean duty free

    Surge in Chinese tourist arrivals continues to boost South Korean duty free

    Chinese visitor numbers to South Korea in August climbed by +70.2% year-on-year to 873,771, according to the Korea Tourism Organization. The figures are distorted by the 2015 MERS health crisis which ravaged inbound tourism in 2015, prompting a -32.3% year-on-year fall in arrivals last August. A better base comparison is the +15.2% growth in August 2016 over the same month in 2014, when Chinese arrivals reached 757,683.

    Chinese visitors are critical to South Korea’s travel retail sector (the world’s largest), representing 52.5% of total arrivals in the month.

    For the first eight months of 2016 Chinese arrivals rose by +48.8% year-on-year to 5,608,046.

    The importance of group tourists to the travel retail channel is underlined by the breakdown of Chinese visitor numbers (see table below) with 4,839,309 group travellers arriving in South Korea over the first eight months. Group tourists accounted for 86% of Chinese arrivals. Others (principally free independent travellers) represented just 731,731 arrivals, a 13% share, with business travellers and officials making up the balance.

    Attracting the FIT market is an increasingly important battleground in the fight between retailers to attract big-name luxury brands.

    However, arrivals by ‘others’ fell -7.0% year-on-year in the first eight months, while Chinese group tourist numbers surged +64.1%.

    Japanese arrivals grew -51.7% to 225,456 in August, a 14% share.

    The first eight months of 2016 saw a +23.5% rise in Japanese visitor numbers to 1,451,565, a 12.6% share.

    Korean departures increased by +12.5% in August to 2,064,241; and for the first eight months by +16.8% to 14,780,387.

    Visitor arrivals by gender for August; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Visitor arrivals by gender for August; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Accumulative visitor arrivals by gender for first eight months; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Accumulative visitor arrivals by gender for first eight months; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Visitor arrivals by purpose and nationality for August; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Visitor arrivals by purpose and nationality for August; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Accumulative visitor arrivals by purpose and nationality for first eight months; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Accumulative visitor arrivals by purpose and nationality for first eight months; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Outbound departures of Korean nationals by gender for the first eight months of 2016; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Outbound departures of Korean nationals by gender for the first eight months of 2016; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Outbound departures of Korean nationals by age for the first eight months of 2016; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

    Outbound departures of Korean nationals by age for the first eight months of 2016; Source: Korea Tourism Organization

  • Samsung to compensate suppliers hit by Note 7 crisis

    Samsung to compensate suppliers hit by Note 7 crisis

    Samsung Electronics said Tuesday it would compensate suppliers hit by the decision to scrap its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones because of safety fears with exploding batteries.

    The South Korean electronics giant announced a week ago that it was discontinuing the Note 7 after a chaotic recall that saw replacement phones also catching fire.

    Samsung said the affair would cost the company an estimated $5.3 billion in lost profits over the three quarters beginning July.

    The crisis also hit its numerous suppliers — who produce everything from camera modules to casings — with their losses estimated at up to $1.7 billion.

    “We will offer full compensation for remaining inventories of Note 7 components among our suppliers,” the firm said in a statement.

    “We feel sorry for causing concern among our suppliers due to discontinuation of the Galaxy Note 7…we will complete the compensation quickly to minimise difficulty faced by them,” it said.

    The statement provided no specific figures, but said the payout would be calculated according to the different suppliers’ inventory volumes.

    Given the Samsung Group’s stature within Asia’s fourth-largest economy — it accounts for around 17 percent of GDP — the Note 7 debacle has had a national impact.

    The central Bank of Korea said it had taken the crisis into consideration when it trimmed South Korea’s 2017 growth outlook to 2.8 percent last week from its previous 2.9 percent forecast.

    Lees ook:

  • South Korea prosecutors to indict Lotte chairman, father and brother in corruption probe

    South Korea prosecutors to indict Lotte chairman, father and brother in corruption probe

    South Korean prosecutors will file charges on Wednesday against Lotte Group’s chairman, Shin Dong-bin, father and brother alleging they committed offences such as embezzlement and breach of trust worth hundreds of millions of dollars at the family-owned conglomerate, as reported on Tuesday.

    Closing a wide-ranging probe into corruption that has convulsed Korea’s fifth-largest conglomerate, prosecutors will announce the results of their investigation into the retail-to-chemicals group on Oct. 19, a prosecution source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

    The person, who requested anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media, declined to comment on whether Shin, 61, will be indicted.

    Shin’s father, the 93-year-old Lotte Group founder Shin Kyuk-ho, and his brother Shin Dong-joo, will also be charged with offences such as tax evasion and breach of trust.

    A Lotte Group spokeswoman declined to comment.

    The probe has constricted management at Lotte, a household name in Korea, since it flared into public in June, derailing plans for billion-dollar deals and freezing expansion of a group with assets worth 103 trillion won (US$92 billion). It also served as the backdrop to the apparent suicide of a leading executive at the group.

    While Shin would be charged with embezzlement of about 50 billion won and breach of trust involving about 175 billion won, he would not be arrested.

    Last month the Seoul Central District Court turned down prosecutors’ request for an arrest warrant for Shin after he appeared at a court hearing, saying it didn’t view detaining the executive as necessary.

    Once indicted, appeals processes could mean Shin potentially faces trial in court for many months.

    A spokesman for the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office could not be immediately reached for comment.

     

    Lees ook:

  • Lotte jumps into Shanghai retail

    Lotte jumps into Shanghai retail

    Lotte Department Store has signed on to a joint venture with Citic Group, a state-owned Chinese company, to operate a shopping mall in Shanghai and to build three more in the region between 2017 and 2019, the Korean company announced Monday.

    The joint venture will operate the already-existing Citic Square Mall in the bustling commercial district of Jing’an on West Nanjing Road. The mall is currently run by Citic Group, and Lotte’s participation in the joint venture with the Chinese company will allow the Korean retail giant to step foot into the Shanghai market without having to navigate through China’s byzantine business regulations.

    Lotte will hold approximately 49 percent of the joint venture’s shares and will focus on operations, while Citic Group will help with property development.

    The partnership was first offered by Citic Group, which makes 60 trillion won ($52.6 billion) in annual sales from financial services, energy and property development. “In China, companies in property development have started to launch businesses in retail because they already have the land to build new facilities,” a Lotte Department Store spokesman said.

    Although Citic Group is an influential company in China, it lacks expertise in retail, as it wasn’t the group’s main business in the past. Competition is also tough, as Shanghai is currently home to over 50 department stores and 80 shopping malls.

    Lotte Department Store, on the other hand, already has five branches across China and has experience with merchandising, store design and employee training in the country. Sales at Lotte’s five department stores rose 28 percent last year from the previous year.

    The Korean retail giant said it plans to use the partnership to create more opportunities for Korean brands to enter Shanghai. Consumers in the metropolis have shown particularly high interest in Korean popular culture, making it a good starting point for Korean fashion companies looking to set foot in China.

    “We believe the partnership with Citic Group will strengthen our stance in the Chinese market,” Lotte Department Store CEO Lee Won-jun said. “Our plan is to use this opportunity to help other domestic companies with potential to expand to China as well.”

     

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • ASEAN e-commerce market keeps booming

    ASEAN e-commerce market keeps booming

    The ASEAN region (The Association of Southeast Asian Nations) is emerging as one of the most promising e-commerce markets in the world to replace the saturated Chinese market.

    Following the establishment of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) at the end of 2015, e-commerce is providing huge opportunities for Korean retailers seeking new customers abroad.

    Most member states of ASEAN, including Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines and Vietnam, are experiencing an e-commerce boom.

    The Internet-based retail market has been relatively underdeveloped in Southeast Asia due to low Internet penetration and lack of customers with purchasing power.

    However, with the middle class growing and Internet penetration spreading, the number of online and mobile shoppers in the region is rising fast.

    Still, it is fragmented and Internet users account for only around 40 percent of the total population of Southeast Asia, indicating that the region has much room to grow.

    According to the 2016 report “E-Conomy SEA (Southeast Asia)” released jointly by Singapore’s sovereign fund Temasek and Google, the average annual growth rate of Internet users in the region is forecast to reach approximately 14 percent by 2020, well above 4 percent for China and 1 percent for the United States.

    Online shoppers, accordingly, are also on a sharp rise.

    According to Bain & Company, the number of digital consumers, or those aged over 16 and using e-commerce, reached 150 million in 2015. Of them, around 100 million or 75 percent actually purchased goods online.

    By nation, Indonesia ranked at the top with 51 million digital consumers, followed by Vietnam (31 million), the Philippines (28 million), Thailand (23 million), Malaysia (14 million) and Singapore (3 million).

    “Chinese and global Internet companies should look at Southeast Asian e-commerce as their next potential gold rush,” reported IT-specialized media TechCrunch in June, 2015.

    In particular, ASEAN’s e-commerce has a special feature that sets itself apart from other countries.

    For example, the online retail market in the U.S. and Korea first grew with expansion of PC-based shopping. However, Southeast Asia experienced the e-commerce boom with more consumers accessing Internet via smartphones.

    In 2015, e-commerce in the ASEAN is estimated at $5.5 billion (6.06 trillion won), and the amount is expected to rise to $8.78 billion by 2025, according to E-Conomy.

    The portion of e-commerce to retail sales in the region stood at only 0.8 percent in 2015 but is forecast to jump to 6.4 percent by 2025.

    Global players eye ASEAN

    Against this backdrop, global players are making fast forays into the ASEAN e-commerce market.

    In April, Alibaba, China’s largest e-commerce company, purchased a controlling stake in Southeast Asian online retailer Lazada Group for $1 billion, its largest overseas investment.

    Lazada was started by Germany’s Rocket Internet in 2012 with headquarters in Singapore. It is operating in Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. It is the number one e-commerce player in Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam.

    In June, U.S. retail giant Amazon also decided to invest $600 million to open an e-commerce platform in Indonesia, according to Daniel Tumiwa, chairman of the Ecommerce Association of Indonesia (IDEA).

    Japanese SoftBank and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Sequoia Capital acquired a $100 million stake in Tokopedia, the biggest startup investment in Indonesia. eBay, another U.S. e-commerce giant, currently owns Qoo10, the online shopping mall based in Singapore.

    Korean companies are also expanding their operations in the region to capitalize on the rising popularity of hallyu or the Korean Wave.

    On Sept. 20, CJ Korea Express, South Korea’s largest parcel delivery service company, signed an international delivery service contract with Lazada. Under the deal, CJ would deliver goods made in Korea purchased by customers via Lazada’s website.

    On the same day, KOTRA, Korea’s trade-investment promotion agency, joined hands with Qoo10 to start an online support program and help Korean small firms export their goods to Southeast Asia. Qoo10 has a total of 300 million online members in Singapore, nearly 60 percent of its population.

    SK Planet opened 11th Avenue, its online shopping mall, in Indonesia in 2014 and Malaysia in 2015.

    Korea is now focusing on expanding exports of consumer goods to ASEAN as it has faced limitations to increase external shipments of parts and intermediary products.

    “With more Korean firms entering the ASEAN e-commerce network, including Lazada, exports of Korean consumer goods, such as mobile phones, cosmetics, food and fashion items, are on a sharp rise,” Roh In-ho, KOTRA’s Asia Regional Director based in Singapore, said.

    For sustainable growth, Korean firms need to make more effort to come up with localized strategies that meet demands from local customers.

    “If diversifying marketing strategies, ASEAN e-commerce will offer good opportunities for small Korean exporters,” Roh said. “It is very important to develop designs and products that locals would like.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Korea’s Mangosix arrives in Japan

    Korea’s Mangosix arrives in Japan

    Korean cafe chain Mangosix has opened its first branch in Japan, in Don Quijote Miyakojima store in Nishisato, Hirara, in Okinawa.

    With mango juice as its main product, Mangosix opened its first store in 2011 and now has about 230 outlets in Asia, Europe and the US.

    For the first time, Mangosix will also offer ice brewed coffee at its Japanese store. Milkissimo’s gelato from Hokkaido is used for sweets and coffee toppings. Miyako-jima island is known for its mangoes, which is why the company decided to open its first store there.

    Mangosix Japan president Akira Kito says the company aims to open 30 stores in Japan within the next three years.

    Lees ook:

  • China biggest buyer of Korean beauty products

    China biggest buyer of Korean beauty products

    China was the biggest buyer of Korean beauty products last year, grabbing almost half of the country’s cosmetics exports, according to Korea Health Industry Development Institute data.

    Chinese buyers accounted for 41.1 per cent of South Korea’s cosmetics exports, jumping from 22.1 per cent portion in 2013.

    The value of the exports also skyrocketed, from US$274.34 million in 2013 to $1.04 billion last year.

    However, exports to China could be in jeopardy if Beijing imposes economic sanctions in response to South Korea’s push for an advanced US missile defense system, says the institute. South Korea announced in July that it would take on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system by the end of next year to counter growing threats from North Korea.

    “There is concern over the Chinese government enacting indirect or direct economic sanctions and possible anti-South Korea sentiment in China,” says the institute.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook: