Retail in South Korea grows 8.7% in November

Offline sales saw a 4.5% increase, while online sales grew by 12.7%.

Retail sales in South Korea has advanced to 8.7% year-on-year (yoy) for November 2023, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE).

Offline sales for all retail channels have also seen a growth of 4.5%, attributed to the prominence of discount and promotion events, and the popularity of several items.

Meanwhile, online sales have increased by 12.7%, due to global sales events and demand for bulk economy-size purchases. The growth applies to all items, like cosmetics (17.3% growth), food products (22.0% up), and household items and furniture (14.1% increase).

Through item categories, home appliances, food products, and household items had gone up by 10.6%, 10.8%, and 11.4%, respectively. However, foreign designer labels had performed below 1.6%.

On the other hand, brick-and-mortar channels have shrunk in their proportion, with hypermarkets down 0.8 percentage points to 11.4% yoy, department stores down 0.3 percentage points to 17.3%, convenience stores down 0.6 percentage points to 15.3%, and SSM operators down 0.1 percentage points to 2.4%.

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However, the share of online retail sales has grown to 1.9 percentage points for a share of 53.7% in total retail sales.

By offline channel type, sales at hypermarket chains had increased to 1.3%, department store chains had experienced a 6.8% increase, convenience stores had seen a 4.2% increase in sales, and SSM operators had grown to 4.2%. Each types varies on sales of specific items.

However, despite the shift to online purchases, major factors like the Korea Sale Festival and other promotional events have led to brick-and-mortar channels to stay prominent.