South Korea's small stores lag behind big department stores in sales

Small supermarkets and groceries only saw a 0.4% sales growth.

South Korea’s department stores have reported strong sales thanks to the increase in outdoor activities resulting from the lifting of social distancing rules, but smaller stores have seen their sales stagnate, Korea Bizwire reported.

The nation’s retail sales amounted to $307.29b (KRW408.4t) in the January to September period of this year, up 7.4% YoY, according to Statistics Korea and the Korea Small Business Institute.

Of the total, department store sales accounted for $20.2b (KRW27.6t), up 16.4% from a year before, the largest gain among retail channels. Franchise convenience stores also saw their sales reach $17.46b (KRW23.2t) during the same period, up 9.9% YoY.

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In contrast, small supermarkets and grocery stores, which are often run as small businesses by a single owner, saw their sales rise by a mere 0.4% to $26.03b (KRW34.6t).

The strong performance of department stores was attributed to the base effect of last year’s COVID-19 pandemic and the sharp increase in the number of visitors thanks to this year’s lifting of social distancing rules.

In particular, sales of clothes and famous foreign brands, for which consumers have delayed purchases for so long, saw strong growth.