Duty-free shops suffer sharp drop in April sales amid virus outbreak

   South Korean duty-free stores saw their sales drop sharply below the 1 trillion-won ($804 million) mark in April, feeling the pinch of the fallout from the new coronavirus, industry data showed Tuesday. Combined sales of local duty-free shops shrank 9.2 percent on-month to 986.7 billion won last month, according to the data from the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. The number halved from January, the data showed. The number of visitors to duty-free outlets came to around 354,00

May 25, 2020

Pulmuone opens LEED-certified food research institute

South Korean food company Pulmuone said Friday it has completed the construction of Pulmuone Institute of Technology, the first research and development center that has received certification from the US-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. According to the company, its new institute received a “Gold” level in LEED, which is one of the widely used green building rating system. Built in the designated biotechnology zone, in Osong, North Chungcheong Province, the R&a

May 22, 2020

Tmon vows to turn profit by 10th anniversary

Tmon, an e-commerce platform in South Korea, promised Friday to turn profit this year as it marks its 10th anniversary. With the goal of going public, the firm’s Chief Executive Officer Lee Jin-won revealed his ambition to lead the e-commerce market. “Tmon is a company that has been labeled the most as ‘the industry’s first,’ in Korea’s e-commerce market. We started as the country’s first social-commerce (provider), and now created the title ‘

May 22, 2020

[Herald Interview] Ocado Solutions in talks with retailers to enter Korea

British grocery e-commerce service provider Ocado Solutions is in talks with major grocery retailers in South Korea to present its advanced automation system, according to its chief executive. Recognizing how Korea has well-developed online consumer habits, it is an exciting market to introduce the Ocado Smart Platform specialized in grocery business, CEO Luke Jensen told The Korea Herald in an exclusive interview. “We are discussing with various players in the (Korean) market, to deter

May 21, 2020

Cafe24 joins Facebook’s new e-commerce initiative

Cafe24, a South Korean e-commerce solutions company, said Wednesday it has joined Facebook’s new initiative, “Shops,” as a partner. Facebook announced the launch of Shops on Tuesday to allow small businesses to set up a single online store for customers to access on both its platform and Instagram. Cafe24, which provides solutions to create online stores and related services, such as marketing, and logistics, will be working with Facebook in the social media’s new ini

May 20, 2020

Tmon collects W29.1m donations to support rare skin disease patient

Tmon, an e-commerce platform here, said Monday it would deliver 29.1 million won ($23,625) raised from donations to a teenager suffering from a rare skin disease. To mark this year’s Children’s Day – on May 5 -- Tmon said it partnered with Miral Welfare Foundation, a local nongovernmental organization, to start a social donation campaign on its platform for a teenage patient named Park Jun-seo. The 15-year-old patient has been suffering from an unidentified skin disease, in w

May 18, 2020

White chicken meat enjoys heyday on wellness boom in Korea

There is no doubt that chicken is one of the most-favored meats around the world, but the favorite parts of the meat may vary across cultures. In South Korea, white chicken breast is often less in demand the softer and juicier dark meat of thighs and wings. But in recent years, chicken breast has been experiencing a heyday here, as more people are looking for a healthier protein choice with less fat. Along with increased attention on wellness, the growing dumbbell economy here has also shed

May 18, 2020

COVID-19 changes home appliances consumption trend

The outbreak of the novel coronavirus has led to a change in the home appliance consumption trends, with increased popularity of electronics helping household chores and less demand for grooming and beauty-related products, according to the retail industry Sunday. According to Homeplus, a South Korean discount chain, the sales of dishwashers and dish dryers jumped by 36 times in March and April compared to a year earlier. On the list of best-selling products by sales, those machines soared

May 17, 2020

Namyang Dairy at center of controversy again for badmouthing rival

  Namyang Dairy Products, one of South Korea’s major dairy companies, is again at the center of controversy for allegedly paying professional trolls to disparage a rival company online. After several similar incidents over the past few years, many people have chosen to boycott the firm. Namyang Dairy Chairman Hong Won-sik and six others, including Namyang employees and representatives of a contracted PR agency, are currently being investigated by police and potentially face charg

May 8, 2020

Chamisul Fresh’s alcohol content lowered to 16.9%

South Korean liquor maker HiteJinro said Friday it will renew its flagship soju product Chamisul Fresh, lowering the alcoholic content by 0.1 percent to 16.9 percent to match with rival soju brands. Chamisul Fresh is the No. 1 soju brand by sales here. According to the company, the renewed Chamisul Fresh is produced by applying different manufacturing techniques and it will also change part of the package design, to add Environmental Product Declaration mark issued by Korea Environmental Ind

May 8, 2020

Online shopping jumps nearly 12% on-year in March amid virus pandemic

Online shopping surged nearly 12 percent from a year earlier in March, data showed Wednesday, an apparent outcome of the new coronavirus outbreak that forced people to stay home. The value of online transactions came to about 12.58 trillion won ($10.3 billion) in the month, up 11.8 percent from the same month last year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The increase followed a 24.5 percent on-year spike the previous month. The sharp increase in March was largely attributed to the

May 6, 2020

Flour power: Hipsters warm to retro gimmicks

An unusual brand produced the fashion hit of the winter in Korea last season. White padded jackets with the Gompyo logo splashed across the chest sold out almost instantly when they were released in November. Logos have been a fashion mainstay for decades, but the difference here is that Gompyo is a brand of flour. The jacket, a limited edition item released by Daehan Flour’s 68-year-old household brand Gompyo in collaboration with e-commerce platform 4XR, retailed online at 145,000 wo

May 5, 2020

Retailers roll out Family Month promotions

After COVID-19 dampened consumer sentiment for the first quarter, retailers are pinning their hopes on Family Month and are rolling out various promotions to get consumers to open their wallets in May. May is usually a good month for the retail industry because of three holidays that tend to increase consumer spending on gifts for loved ones and teachers. Tuesday is Children’s Day, Friday is Parents’ Day and Teachers’ Day is May 15. To ease the burden on consumers amid th

May 4, 2020

Coupang launches same-day delivery for fresh groceries

South Korean e-commerce platform Coupang launched a same-day Rocket Fresh service Wednesday. The service will allow customers who order fresh food items before 10 a.m. to receive them by 6 p.m. The Rocket Fresh service has been operating its dawn overnight deliveries since October 2018. Coupang said the same-day service has been offered in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak as demands for online groceries shopping soared over the past months. Coupang said it offers 8,500 fresh food options,

April 29, 2020

South Korea’s online shopping rate ranks world’s second amid COVID-19

South Korea’s online shopping rate was listed as second highest in the world amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a research firm said Monday. According to dunnhumby, a global customer data science company , Korea ranked second after China in the survey studying online consumption patterns, conducted with 7,677 consumers in 19 countries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 19 countries include five in Asia -- South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand; 10 from Europe -- S

April 27, 2020

Home-shopping livestreaming by department stores picks up pace

Department stores are jumping into “live commerce” by livestreaming services -- providing indirect shopping experiences -- to tackle weakened sales amid the COVID-19 outbreak, according to industry sources Friday. Hyundai Department Store said it will run a livestream fashion show dubbed “2020 Digital Live Fashion Show” at 7 p.m. on Saturday. It is the first time a department store will run a fashion show without audience. The online fashion show will be livestreamed

April 25, 2020

Amorepacific announces ‘less plastic’ campaign on Earth Day

Amorepacific Group, a leading cosmetics company here, announced a plan on Wednesday to use less plastic to safeguard health and the environment. Wednesday was Earth Day. The company’s “less plastic” campaign consists of three actions: to reduce the use of plastic packaging for its products, to recycle more of its plastic packaging and to increase the use of upcycled materials to produce its products. “We will continue to stand up front in creating a happier, more beau

April 22, 2020

Samyang Foods to record highest sales in Q1

Samyang Foods, an instant noodle manufacturer here, is expected to see the highest sales in the company’s history in the first quarter of this year, with sales of instant noodles showing notable growth amid the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the industry on Wednesday, Samyang Foods’ total sales in the first quarter is expected to see an increase of 30 percent from a year earlier, with its exports recording over 75 billion won ($60.8 million) in the first quarter. That figure is mo

April 22, 2020

Orion records 82% increase in snack sales in key markets

Orion, a South Korean confectionery company, said Tuesday it recorded sales of 208.3 billion won ($168 million) in March, an increase of 41 percent on-year. The sales of snack products in its biggest markets, South Korea, China and Vietnam, also grew 82 percent on-year for the month, the company added. “Newly released snacks have gained popularity and our snack portfolio, which originally revolved around pie products, is becoming more diverse,” Orion said. In March, South Korea

April 21, 2020

SPC introduces Eggslut to South Korea

Korean food company SPC Group said Tuesday that its affiliate SPC Samlip has acquired the exclusive contract for operations in Korea of Eggslut, a popular egg sandwich franchise in California, as well as the license for Singapore. The company said it will introduce the first Eggslut store in Korea at Coex Mall in Seoul in June. US brand Eggslut is famous for its egg sandwiches made with a warm brioche bun, scrambled eggs and sriracha mayo sauce. “We are pleased to show Korean guests t

April 21, 2020