South Korea

The economy will decelerate this year. This reflects weakness in domestic demand and international trade. Restructuring in the manufacturing sector, notably in some industries facing weak overseas demand, and double-digit increases in the minimum ...

Department stores are having a difficult time competing with e-commerce, as price is usually cheaper online, and consumers can compare many items easily. However, the luxury category is increasing among department store brands, as the younger ...

Convenience stores recorded strong growth over the past five years in South Korea, thanks to the increasing number of single-person households and quickly changing lifestyles. As the market matures, however, the growth rate is slowing in terms of ...

Apparel and footwear specialist retailers have been highly affected by non-store channels including homeshopping and e-commerce, due to price competitiveness and convenience. While the market size of apparel and footwear in homeshopping and ...

Warehouse clubs is highly specialised in bulk packages of products at lower prices and family consumer groups are still attracted to this channel while many other retailing channels are shifting to e-commerce. Thus, warehouse clubs are mainly located...

Most vending machines in South Korea serve simple beverages and snacks, located in subway stations. However, convenience stores and drugstores are rapidly increasing to cover most of the country even in subway stations to replace vending. In ...

South Korean consumers tend to spend their money on luxury and value for money products showing the polarisation of consumption. Thus, luxury brands are becoming popular for bags and shoes, at the same time value for money products for small ...

South Korea’s government has been trying harder to boost local traditional grocery retailing by introducing various regulations that favour traditional grocery retailers. Major hypermarkets and supermarkets have been prevented from opening every ...

Direct selling appears to have stagnated, as consumers can have more options to buy products in many channels. AmorePacific Corp and LG Household & Health Care Ltd, which are the largest beauty and personal care companies in South Korea, used to ...

Food and drink e-commerce is performing well to become one of the main growth drivers to lead the channel. As demographics are changing quickly with increased numbers of single-person households and consumers seeking greater convenience to save time,...

Drugstores/Parapharmacies recorded double-digit value growth in 2019, as more consumers visited such stores given their wider selection of brands and items. While beauty specialist retailers used to dominate the beauty products channels, this ...

Homeshopping players are actively engaging with consumers through online, particularly mobile in South Korea, Homeshopping is losing its identity. TV becomes a channel where retailers are showcasing their items, and consumers place an order mainly ...

After showing fast growth over the past five years in terms of number of outlets, the growth of supermarkets is stagnating. In particular, major players Lotte Super and Homeplus are closing down some of their outlets that record sales losses to ...

Since lifestyles and demographics among South Korean consumers are changing quickly, hypermarkets continue to lose popularity. The number of single-person households is increasing rapidly especially in urban areas and the average age to get married ...

Private label items are increasingly enjoying a great reputation among South Korean consumers with high quality and reasonable prices. No Brand started as a private label brand from Shinsegae Group in 2015 and opened its first own discounter outlets ...

While single-person households are increasing in number and consumers are seeking more devices that will save them time, small appliances are becoming more popular. For example, air fryers continue to grow faster, as they provide an easy and ...

Mobile has become essential in many aspects of daily life in South Korea. As mobile is already taking the majority of the e-commerce industry, e-commerce players are actively developing further to provide mobile- friendly user platforms. In addition,...

E-commerce is becoming more important in the retailing industry recording double-digit growth once again in 2019. Most players in almost all industries are expanding their online businesses to meet increasing demand in the online sphere. Grocery ...

As demographics are changing and the number of single-person households in South Korea is increasing, they are willing to spend more money on simple designs with smaller furnishing styles and sizes. Thus, many local brands are trying to target these ...

As consumer lifestyles and demographics are rapidly changing, this heavily impacts the retailing industry in South Korea. While single-person households are increasing as the average marriage age is delayed and the birth rate records the lowest in ...