South Korea’s discount store sales fall at fastest pace in 4 mths

Sales at South Korea’s top department stores snapped three months of rises in December and marked their biggest annual fall in four months due to warmer weather compared with the previous year, government figures showed on Wednesday.

Combined sales at department stores run by Hyundai Department Store, Lotte Shopping and Shinsegae Co fell 5.7 percent on-year, finalised data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed on Tuesday.

This compared with a rise of 1.0 percent in November and was worse than a 3.8 percent decline estimated by the finance ministry. December’s drop was the biggest since a 6.5 percent fall in August last year.

Warmer weather resulted in poor apparel sales as customers bought less winter clothes, the trade ministry said. High-end watches, jewellery and household electronics sales capped the decline.

The average temperature in Seoul was 1.6 degrees Celsius (34.88°F) in December, compared to an average negative 2.9 degrees a year prior. The same data showed annual sales at South Korea’s major discount stores fell 5.1 percent in December in their third straight month of declines and the biggest fall since August.

It was worse than a 2.1 percent fall estimated previously.

Discount store sales also suffered from warm weather as well as softened demand for food products, the trade ministry said. On a whole for 2015, sales at department stores and discount stores fell 1.2 percent and 2.1 percent, respectively, mainly due to an outbreak of a deadly virus in the middle of the year and surging online shopping, according to the ministry.

The trade ministry data came a day after fourth-quarter GDP slowed by more than half from the third quarter of 2015, as growth from private consumption was offset by poor construction investment.