South Korea's retail sales grew 2% in May

Offline retailers saw a 13.5% rise in sales.

Korea’s overall retail sales climbed 2% YoY in May, according to data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Over the same period, brick-and-mortar sales fell 6.1% as visits to major offline retailers dropped. All store types, except for convenient stores, posted decline in sales. In particular, super supermarket (SSM) operators saw the sharpest drop in sales at 12.4%, with both food and non-food products contracting 12% and 15.8% respectively.

Sales at department store chains fell 7.4%, with clothing such as women’s casual (32.4%), women’s suits (20.3%), and men’s clothing (15.8%) showing noticeable declines.

Hypermarket chains experienced a 9.7% slip in sales. Home appliances/culture inched up 1.3% due to the refund programme for purchases of high energy-efficiency products. However, food products (9.1%) and most other products suffered in sales.

Meanwhile, sales at the convenience store chains edged up 0.8%. Daily necessities posted a growth of 9.7% on the back of stronger demand for sanitary products. Sales of cigarettes also grew 6.1%.

Meanwhile, web-based retailers jumped 13.5%, continuing on an upward trend in online purchases resulting from COVID-19.Food products (38.8%) and household goods (22.7%) showed the biggest growth. Home appliances also rose 18.8% as a result of the refund programme for the purchases of high energy-efficiency products.

By product, home appliances/culture (16%), kids/sports (1.5%), food (0.8%), household goods (12.7%) and global brands (19.1%) improved, whilst fashion/accessories (11.8%) shrank.