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Tag: Korea

  • Sales growth disappoints South Korean department store operators

    Sales growth disappoints South Korean department store operators

    A South Korean government-led retail sale festival designed to boost spending amid the coronavirus outbreak ended yesterday, with major department stores posting an increase in revenue on high demand for luxury goods.

    But discount store chains and traditional markets did not see sales rise as much as expected, due mainly to the compulsory closure of outlets and lack of promotion strategy.

    South Korea kicked off the 17-day sales festival, called the “Korea Donghaeng Sale” campaign, on June 26 in an effort to boost faltering domestic demand amid the coronavirus outbreak. “Donghaeng” means ‘going along together’ in Korean.

    Major department stores, the sector hit hard by the virus outbreak, posted an increase in sales as people bought luxury items as part of “revenge spending” amid the Covid-19 pandemic, according to industry watchers.

    Lotte Department Store saw sales rise 4 percent year on year between June 26 and July 9.

    Number two player Shinsegae Department Store, and smaller rival Hyundai Department Store, posted increases of 11.3 percent and 6.3 percent, respectively.

    But discount-store chains posted a similar level of sales or a marginal decline despite big discount events targeting the sales festival.

    The operators of discount-store chains are obligated to close outlets on the second and fourth Sunday of every month under regulations designed to help smaller neighborhood shops. That meant they had to shut down outlets yesterday, the last day of the sales fest.

    Traditional markets posted a letup in their sales declines last week, but merchants said they did not directly feel the impact of the sales festival.

  • Staycation theme for luggage label Lojel’s new K11 Musea pop up

    Staycation theme for luggage label Lojel’s new K11 Musea pop up

    Boutique luggage brand Lojel has launched an immersive pop-up store in Hong Kong’s K11 Musea, opening today, focusing on the concept of staycations.

    Dubbed “The Art of Staycation”, the event is a first for the brand, featuring the opportunity for visitors to customize a limited-edition Voja suitcase as well as an augmented reality experience exploring the future of how travel could evolve in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The pop up is intended to provide a travel solution for a staycation in Hong Kong, selling hand-carried luggage as well as backpacks and travel accessories.

    Visitors will be able to create their case from any pair of colors using the in-store tablet before seeing it assembled in person. A personalized tag will be laser-engraved for each customer and stored in a leather tag holder.

    Customers’ final purchases at the pop-up will be delivered to their doorsteps at no charge.

    The Art of the Staycation pop-up will be open through to December 31.

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  • JW Anderson opens new outlet in Korea

    JW Anderson opens new outlet in Korea

    British fashion label JW Anderson has opened its second store in Seoul, South Korea. Located in Galleria Luxury Hall East, the store resembles the brand’s flagship in London’s Soho shopping district. Its facade features a floor-to-ceiling glass wall with the brand’s logo in neon.

    Customers can find a full selection of apparel for women, including the brand’s latest collection, at this store. The JW Anderson Korea store also offers handbags, footwear, and accessories

    The brand opened its first flagship store in Soho, London in March.

    Founded in 2008 by Northern Irish designer Janathan Anderson, JW Anderson’s design offers a “modern interpretation of masculinity and femininity by creating thought-provoking silhouettes through a conscious cross-pollination between menswear and womenswear elements”.

  • JD Worldwide to introduce more Korean brands in China

    JD Worldwide to introduce more Korean brands in China

    JD Worldwide has teamed with LG and Korea International Trade Association (KITA) to introduce more Korean brands to Chinese customers.

    “The epidemic has encouraged more Chinese consumers to shop online. With this trend, we will put more effort into helping South Korean brands export to China through e-commerce platforms,” said Park Min Young, chief KITA Beijing representative.

    Under the partnership, LG will be responsible for supply-chain management to provide South Korean products to JD while KITA will support SMEs entering Chinese market.

    “Since the epidemic, we have been working closely with organizations and enterprises from all over the world to introduce more international brands on JD,” said Frank Yu, head of marketing and operations at JD Worldwide

    “We believe this partnership will not only help brands find a new sales channel during this challenging time, but also bring more high-quality, authentic Korean products to over 380 million JD customers.”

    In May, more than 250 Korean brands joined a recruitment conference for the launch on JD Worldwide.

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  • NYX shutting down all of its Malaysian stores

    NYX shutting down all of its Malaysian stores

    NYX Cosmetics is to close its retail operations in Malaysia after three years in the market. According to a report by Marketing-Interactive, the US cosmetics firm – a L’Oreal subsidiary – has permanently closed outlets in Suria KLCC, Sunway Pyramid, and Midvalley Megamall as of last month, three years after opening its flagship store at IOI City Mall Putrajaya. That outlet, as well as those in Fahrenheit 88 and Genting, will be shuttered by the end of this month.

    The NYX flagship featured interactive beauty bars and a digital community wall. It also displayed digital images and social media content throughout the store.

    “We sincerely thank you for all the love, energy, passion, and enthusiasm from our fierce beauty junkies community,” read the brand’s Facebook post announcing the departure from the Malaysian market. “There were many incredible moments with lots of glitters, color, and amazing makeup artistry.”

    The store will continue its e-commerce operations in the territory through to the end of September.

    However, the brand will not exit the market completely. It is understood it will still be available in Sephora stores and potentially other multi-brand channels.

  • South Korean retail sales up after Covid-19

    South Korean retail sales up after Covid-19

    South Korean retail sales rose by 2 percent during May, largely due to increased online shopping, according to the new Ministry of Trade figures.

    The year-on-year increase was strongly influenced by purchases of food and sanitary items online due to the effect of social-distancing requirements related to the coronavirus pandemic.

    The ministry polled 26 major retailers in both online and offline categories to collect the data, which showed combined sales of US$9.65 billion last month, an increase of over $9.506 billion during the same period last year.

    Online platforms saw a 13.5-per-cent revenue rise during the period, with online sales of food increasing almost 39 percent, and daily items and furniture going up 22.7 percent. Offline shopping – with the exception of convenience stores – continued to show a decline, with a 6.1-per-cent drop in sales.

    Year-on-year sales figures for last year showed an increase of 4.8 percent over 2018.

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  • Korean beauty giant opens 10th store in Australia

    Korean beauty giant opens 10th store in Australia

    Two years after first entering the Australian market, Innisfree has just opened its 10th store at Westfield Hurstville in southwest Sydney and says it will open two more stores in Westfield centers in Parramatta, NSW, and Burwood, Victoria, by August.

    The global beauty brand, which is owned by Amorepacific Group, the L’Oreal of South Korea, is known for its affordable skincare and makeup and environmental awareness. It claims to have collected and recycled over 15 million empty bottles since 2003 and planted over 79,000 of trees globally.

    Its steady expansion in Australia follows a strong response to its launch two years ago.

    “Australia has been a significant growth market for Innisfree and our customers have really adopted our naturally inspired products and our immersive retail experience,” Brian Jeong, GM of Innisfree Australia, said in a statement about the Westfield Hurstville launch this week.

    Company representatives have previously said the brand is committed to the Australian market for the long-term. Jeong said the brand will continue to review its growth strategy.

    Like many retailers in Australia, Innisfree closed its brick-and-mortar stores for the month of April amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. It has since resumed normal trading hours with new safety measures in place, including a limit on the number of people in stores, floor markings to maintain 1.5-meter social distancing, hand sanitizer at the entrance and throughout stores and increased cleaning.

    “All of our staff are sanitizing and washing their hands before and after each interaction and are regularly trained in stores in hygiene and safety practices,” Jeong said.

    Testers are also available on request and are sanitized before and after use. This is a new measure; until two weeks ago, testers had been taken off the floor.

    While rent has become a divisive issue for many shopping center retailers, Jeong said Innisfree has strong relationships with its retail partners.

    “It’s a long road ahead with many uncertainties; maintaining our relationships with retail partners and ensuring our customers’ optimal experience is our key focus,” he said. Innisfree offers over 650 products across skincare, makeup, body care, hair care, home fragrances, and beauty tools ranging in price from $1 to $98.

    It has over 1750 stores globally in 15 countries with over 20 million customers worldwide and claims that one bottle of its best-selling Green Tea Seed Serum is sold every seven seconds.

    The brand has an office in Melbourne and a partnership with local online beauty leader, Adore Beauty. Sister brands, Amorepacific and Laneige, are also stocked at Mecca and Sephora.

    In February, Amorepacific Group posted annual revenue of 5.6 trillion South Korean won (A$6.8 billion) for FY19, KRW 2.1 trillion (A$2.6 billion) of which was generated internationally.

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  • Facebook Shops opens in South Korea

    Facebook Shops opens in South Korea

    Facebook Shops has launched in South Korea to compete in a booming e-commerce market.

    On a playing field dominated by local businesses, Facebook’s service allows sellers to showcase their products via a highly customizable online storefront, which shoppers can browse using Facebook or Instagram accounts, saving products they wish to purchase. The service will include a feature to make purchases via instant messaging within the near future.

    The firm has partnered with local services Shopify, Bigcommerce, Woocommerce, and Cafe24 as it rolls out the platform.

    Facebook Shops has been live in the US and key locations in Europe since last month, in a move Facebook says it will support small enterprises impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

    Rival platform Google Shopping is also expected to unfold in the territory this year.

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  • Korean telcos developing unmanned stores

    Korean telcos developing unmanned stores

    Major South Korean telcos are looking to launch unstaffed outlets as they try to provide business services without face-to-face contact amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

    According to the sources, SK Telecom Co, the nation’s top mobile carrier, is planning to offer unmanned services at a store in Seoul in October.

    Instead of opening a new store without clerks, the company is likely to implement the system at existing stores and operate it during certain time periods, such as late at night, the sources said.

    At the unmanned store, customers will be able to select pay plans and a device through kiosk machines and use their mobile service. When entering the store, customers will need biometric certification.

    For those who struggle to use the store on their own, the company plans to provide a video chat with sales clerks, according to sources.

    “We are reviewing our plans to set up a new type of retail channel that can meet the social needs in the era of non-face-to-face life,” a SK Telecom official said.

    Other mobile carriers said they are also planning to expand unmanned services using their technologies.

    LG Uplus said it will provide more kiosk machines to its stores in the second half so that customers can handle mobile services, such as changing monthly pay plans, on their own.

    KT Corp said it is currently running kiosks at stores in major cities. It plans to expand stores with “contactless zones,” where customers can experience their services without sales clerks’ help.

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  • Online book sales outstrip offline in Covid-19’s wake

    Online book sales outstrip offline in Covid-19’s wake

    With the coronavirus pandemic prompting the growing popularity of ‘untact consumption’, South Korea’s publishing industry is seeing online book sales outstrip offline sales.

    Kyobo Book Center, the No. 1 online and offline bookstore in South Korea, says that its book sales via mobile and web platforms this year comprised 33.4 percent and 22.9 percent, respectively, of total sales.

    Offline sales, in contrast, remained at 43.7 percent. It is the first time that the bookstore’s online sales jumped ahead of offline sales.

    Experts argue that the coronavirus outbreak has prompted consumers to purchase books through mobile or online platforms instead of visiting offline stores.

    The coronavirus has also influenced book sale trends, in which sales of books related to science jumped by 46 percent while sales of publications on politics and society, economy and management jumped by 39.7 percent and 24.4 percent, respectively, compared to last year.

    Most of the books involved how to deal with the coronavirus, and prospects in the post-pandemic world.

    On the other hand, books on tourism plunged by 54.1 percent in sales, followed by magazines (-20.4 percent), cartoons (-10.6 percent), foreign books (-10.1 percent), poems and essays (-6.7 percent), and cookbooks (-5.3 percent).

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  • McDonald’s sales rise in South Korea

    McDonald’s sales rise in South Korea

    Fast-food chain McDonald’s sales grew 9 percent in South Korea during the first four months of this year, in spite of the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

    The firm’s MD Antoni Martinez made the announcement on McDonald’s Koreas’ Youtube channel, his first public address since his appointment in February.

    “With the Covid-19 pandemic posing serious challenges for the business, contactless platforms such as drive-thru and McDelivery in which McDonald’s made preemptive investments, have received a warm response from the public,” said Martinez.

    He said McDonald’s sales were boosted by the introduction of the Best Burger initiative and the establishment of convenient platforms.

    The Best Burger initiative refers to a change in McDonald’s entire burger preparation process, which was implemented in the territory in March. Korea is the fourth country to introduce the initiative, following New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

    McDonald’s Korea served around 400,000 customers every day last year at around 400 stores nationwide.

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  • South Korean duty-free retailers closing downtown stores

    South Korean duty-free retailers closing downtown stores

    South Korean duty-free retailers are temporarily shuttering metropolitan stores in response to a significant decline in tourist numbers caused by the coronavirus epidemic.

    Numerous outlets at prime tourist destination Jeju Island will be closed this month. A Lotte Duty-Free store that has already been operating under reduced hours since February will close pending the resolution of the crisis. Hotel Shilla’s store, which has suspended trading on weekends and holidays throughout the outbreak, will cease trading for a fixed one-month period.

    Jeju Island tourism has faltered significantly in recent months under heavily-reduced international flights, with a 99.2 percent drop in foreign tourist numbers year-on-year during April.

    The South Korean duty-free retailers shuttering stores also include Shinsegae Duty-Free’s locations in Gangnam and Busan will close on Sundays and Mondays from this month on, while airport duty-free stores under all local operators are largely closed for business at this time.

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  • South Korean retail sales rise as Covid-19 crisis eases

    South Korean retail sales rise as Covid-19 crisis eases

    South Korean retail sales rose by 3.9 percent year on year during April.

    The nation’s retail industry in general has benefitted from increasing demand in the e-commerce sector brought on by changes in consumer behavior in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, despite a major hit to offline retailers.

    Figures released by Korea’s Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy showed combined South Korean retail sales by major companies hit US$8.74 billion last month, up from $8.39 billion during the same period last year.

    Offline retailers experienced a 5.5 percent drop in sales during the same month, compared to last year’s results.

    While sales from department stores, large supermarkets, and convenience stores dropped 14.8 percent, 2.6 percent, and 1.9 percent respectively, online retailers selling food and daily necessities saw sales increase by 16.9 percent.

    Total sales of food products increased by 56.4 percent during the month, while clothes sales dropped 8.8 percent.

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  • Starbucks expands Teavana in Korea

    Starbucks expands Teavana in Korea

    Starbucks is expanding Teavana in South Korea. According to the Korea Herald, The number of Starbucks’ premium Reserve-branded coffee houses serving Teavana drinks has expanded from 13 to 52.

    The tea has grown in popularity within the territory since it was introduced in 2016, with Teavana sales growing 20 percent annually. One tea blend is now the chain’s third most frequently ordered beverage among younger customers, perhaps due to a heightened awareness of health consciousness in that demographic.

    During the first three months of this year, sales of green tea-based drinks rose 35 percent compared with the same period last year.

    Starbucks acquired US-based Teavana Holdings in December 2012, a “super-premium tea” product it said brought “exotic blends, great flavors, wellness and innovation” to customers globally. At that time it was a standalone retailer, however, Starbucks closed all of the stores and integrated the brand and its products into selected coffee stores.

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  • Korean coffee chains weigh impact of Blue Bottle debut

    Korean coffee chains weigh impact of Blue Bottle debut

    A year has passed since South Korea’s first Blue Bottle Coffee shop opened in Seoul’s eastern Seongsu neighborhood – a trendy hangout spot where young artists and designers renovated existing buildings into art spaces, fine restaurants and cafes to woo customers.

    What impact has this American coffee franchise had on the coffee industry in South Korea?

    Blue Bottle Coffee now runs five shops, located in Seongsu-dong, Samcheong, Yeoksam, Apgujeong and Hannam.

    Among coffee industry analysts, opinions are mixed. Some believe that the newcomer’s focus on specialty coffee has contributed to the expansion of the high-end coffee market, while others say that the company’s influence has been minimal.

    The coffee industry believes that Blue Bottle contributed to the popularisation of specialty coffees, once popular only among coffee enthusiasts, arguing that the market expanded when Blue Bottle opened for business.

    “Blue Bottle made a significant contribution to starting a new era for the South Korean coffee market, spreading the culture of specialty coffee far and wide,” an industry source said.

    “The company will continue to attract more popular interest in specialty coffee.

    There are others, however, who believe that Blue Bottle’s influence in South Korea has been minimal.

    A limited number of vendors and its operational focus on Seoul has led Blue Bottle to be tied up regionally, and most of the customers are hard-core coffee enthusiasts who have limited influence in the popularisation of specialty coffee, they say.

    In addition, Blue Bottle’s shops don’t provide free wireless internet and other convenience facilities normally found in other coffee shops, breaking with tradition as South Koreans commonly visit coffee shops to meet with others.

    “Blue Bottle gained attention when the first shop opened. Now, it struggles to win the heart of South Korean customers,” another industry source said.

    “They should have entered the South Korean market with a better understanding of South Korean customers.”

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