Reporting and analysis on retail, e-commerce, and consumer trends in Korea, updated continuously by our newsroom.
E-business last year was particularly strong for apparel retailer Giordano International. Overall, consolidated sales reached HK$5.4 billion, up 5.2 per cent. Group comparable-store sales and comparable-store gross profit rose by 5.2 and 5 per cent…
Non-bank institutions will be allowed to directly engage in currency exchange business starting next month as part of a broader deregulation drive to promote the local financial technology sector, the finance ministry said Tuesday. Under revised regulations…
Tech-savvy Koreans in their 20s and 30s are increasingly turning to blockchain to bypass the privacy and financial restrictions they regularly encounter online. International blockchain pioneers now frequent the country to give presentations at conferences in…
Korea’s financial regulator said Tuesday the government will support “normal transactions” of cryptocurrencies, about three weeks after it banned their trading through anonymous bank accounts. The remarks by Choe Heung-sik, governor of the Financial…
The cost of food and basic necessities in South Korea is continuing to rise, after the government decided to raise the minimum wage in January by the largest annual increase in 17 years. Scores of food and beverage establishments have raised prices due higher…
South Korean beauty brand Mamonde has expanded into the US via the Ulta retail chain. This marks the brand’s first foray outside its home market and the company expects the exclusive retail partnership to be the first step of a broader international foray.…
Daesik Kim, the founder and former CEO of Bithumb—the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange—is returning to the payments industry as the Chief Cryptocurrency Officer of Bezant, a payment protocol and cryptocurrency for the digital entertainment and…
Muji Korea has opened its largest store in Seoul’s Seodaemun district. Called Muji Sinchon, the five-storey store offers new items and services, including Open Muji, Sinchon to Go, a cafe and a books department. On first floor, Sinchon to Go shares…
Korea Investment Management Co. has obtained a 99-year leasehold for €370 million ($454 million) of two buildings in Brussels used as the headquarters of Belgium’s foreign ministry, in the largest property investment by a South Korean investor in the European…
South Korean cosmetics brands, wildly successful at home and across Asia, now have their eye on the European beauty market where their penetration is, for now, only skin-deep. Picking luxury goods powerhouse France as its bridgehead to seduce European…
US fashion brand 3.1 Phillip Lim is opening stores in Seoul via Handsome, the apparel unit of Hyundai Department Store. Handsome says 3.1 Phillip Lim men’s and women’s apparel, bags and accessories have just gone on sale at outlets in the luxury hall of…
British fashion brand Reiss has launched in South Korea, at Shinsegae Department Store in Kangnam. Introduced by Shinsegae International, the brand plans to open 12 stores in both Shinsegae and Lotte department stores across the country by the end of this…
Korea’s labor market is undergoing a major change, dogged by a lack of quality and secure jobs. Coupled with rising living costs and longer life spans, these problems prompt more Koreans across a broader range of age groups in particular the elder to enter…
Korea vowed Friday to increase its number of scientists and engineers and strengthen the quality of math and science education as it unveiled a blueprint that could set the tone for the development of science and technology. The government said it aims to…
South Korean fashion brand Twee has opened a flagship store at 313@Somerset on Orchard Road. The 4030sqft (374sqm) Twee Singapore store offers an exclusive collection of party dresses as well as Superface beauty products. The store promises to bring in more…
Korea’s air passenger traffic reached a new record high last year on growing travel demand, while flight delays declined due to improved schedule management, the Transport Ministry said Sunday. In 2017, the country’s passenger traffic on domestic and…
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