Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in Korea, updated continuously by our newsroom.
South Korea was the world’s top market for online grocery sales for the 12 months preceding June 2016. This was the conclusion from the third annual Future of e-Commerce in FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) study by Kantor WorldPanel, a firm that tracks…
Despite shortlisting several bidders for the McDonald’s Singapore and McDonald’s Malaysia franchise rights, Malaysian subsidiary Golden Arches Restaurants says it is not in a hurry to sell. MD Azmir Jaafar says the deal is being discussed with the shortlisted…
Japanese retail holding company Fast Retailing intends to have 1000 shops for its low-cost GU brand overseas in 10 years, up from about 10 foreign stores now. GU sells clothing often priced at about half that of stablemate Uniqlo. Fast Retailing will expand…
GM Korea Co., the local unit of U.S. automaker General Motors Co., said Tuesday its sales dropped over 12 percent from a year earlier last month as both its domestic sales and exports suffered heavy losses. In September, the company sold 45,113 vehicles…
With a new brand positioning, Korea’s Etude House has been making inroads in the global cosmetics market this year. Previously tagged Princess Fantasy, its new positioning line is Sweet Dream. Its makeover includes more sophisticated visuals in its…
South Korea’s department store sales rose for a third straight month in August thanks to widespread discounting ahead of a major public holiday this month, government data showed on Thursday. Combined sales at department stores run by Hyundai Department…
South Korea kicked off a nationwide shopping event on Thursday with a variety of promotions, cultural and entertainment events to draw more shoppers at home and abroad and revive the sluggish domestic consumption. The massive shopping campaign called “Korea…
Ticket Monster (T-Mon), Korea’s leading social commerce platform, announced Thursday that it will be supplying convenience store franchise CU with Xiaomi products for offline distribution. CU outlets have already been selling Xiaomi portable battery packs…
Galaxy Note 7 smartphones caused headaches and occasional burns to their owners, but only 60 percent of the defective devices sold in South Korea and the U.S. have so far been exchanged with new models, Samsung says. This means that 40 percent of the…
August shopping data from tax refund specialist, Global Blue, indicates a downward trend in tax-free in-store sales of -13% (year-on-year) – the worst decline since the start of the year and a big fall compared with July’s 0% change. While transactions rose…
Seoul police busted four retailers Monday for selling counterfeit products of luxury brands in Myeongdong, one of the busiest tourist and shopping districts in Seoul. The gang launched operations in April, and has since sold 40-million-won ($36,245) worth of…
Perry Ellis has signed a licence agreement with Doctorstick Korea Co to design, manufacture, market and distribute men’s and women’s contemporary sport and casual shoes under the Perry Ellis brand. Currently the US brand has 37 product categories, spans more…
Apple Korea is to open the brand’s first official store in Seoul, but no date has been revealed. A lease has been signed for a property in Garosu-gil Road, an upmarket, tree-lined street, with Apple Korea paying a 1.6 billion won (US$1.44 million) deposit for…
Bangkok is the top-ranked destination city by international overnight visitor arrivals, according to the annual Mastercard Global Destinations Cities Index. Ranking 132 cities, the index projects visitor volume and spend estimates while delivering insights…
CJ Group says it has withdrawn from the bidding process for franchise rights for McDonald’s Korea. The Korean multinational gave no reason for its loss of interest. McDonald’s US is seeking buyers for 20 year franchise rights for its business in China, Hong…
Swedish home furnishing company Ikea is launching kitchen products for the first time in Korea. “We have 700 articles in the cooking and eating area, completely new for the Korean market,” Andre Schmidtgall, country retail manager at Ikea Korea, said Thursday…
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