The food court of The Hyundai Seoul, a large department store in Yeouido, is crowded with visitors who want to have lunch on the 4th. It is estimated that more than 1 million people gathered in this department store on the opening day (February 26) and during the three days of the March 1 holiday. Reporter Kim Youngwoo [email protected] “/>
The food court of The Hyundai Seoul, a large department store in Yeouido, is crowded with visitors who want to have lunch on the 4th. It is estimated that more than 1 million people gathered in this department store on the opening day (February 26) and during the three days of the March 1 holiday. Reporter Kim Youngwoo [email protected]
The Hyundai Department Store Group, which opened in Yeouido at the end of last month, wrote a record with the opening. On the first Sunday (February 28), sales of 10.2 billion won were taken. Since the founding of the Hyundai Department Store Group, it is the record for a single store per day. Even the Gangnam branch of Shinsegae Department Store, which is the No. 1 in the industry in terms of sales, is a performance that was occasionally made during the peak Christmas season. Experts in the distribution industry said, “This is a number that I haven’t thought of in a year since the outbreak of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in January of last year.”
Signs showing that consumer sentiment, which collapsed after the Corona 19 outbreak, is reviving are appearing everywhere. The three-day sales of three department stores, including Lotte Shinsegae Hyundai, except The Hyundai Seoul, during the 3rd and 1st consecutive holiday season, increased by more than 20% compared to the same period in 2019, before Corona 19. In major commercial districts such as Gangnam and Hongdae, there are already lines of’full booking’ where reservations are made in March, and as the school season coincides, the sales of convenience stores in colleges and academies increased by more than 600% compared to the previous year. The same is true of the fashion industry, which faced the worst crisis last year. E-Land Retail, which owns more than 200 fashion brands, increased sales on the 22nd and 28th of last month by 72% compared to the previous year and 29% compared to the previous week.
According to the National Statistical Office on the 4th, the consumer price index last month was 107.0 (2015 = 100), up 1.1% from the same month last year. It is the highest rate of increase since February last year (1.1%), just before Corona 19 took effect in earnest. In addition to the sluggish agricultural crops and the demand for holidays, it is interpreted that the recovery of consumer sentiment had some influence. Seo Yong-gu, a professor of business administration at Sookmyung Women’s University, analyzed, “If there is a collective conviction that Corona 19 has subsided to some extent, consumption can explode in the form of’retaliation consumption’.”
1.5 million people in 5 days of opening’The Hyundai Seoul’… 3 times the sales target
Gangnam-Hongdae Commercial Areas At the end of last month, the floating population increased by 30% from a year ago
Major commercial districts in downtown Seoul are busy again. It has been about a year since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19). At the end of last month, the floating population in Gangnam-daero increased by 35% compared to the same period last year. The area around Hongdae Station also increased by 30%. The restaurants that endured with’taste’ despite the big bad news of’Corona’ are full day after day, and department stores, outlets, hypermarkets, and convenience stores on weekends were crowded with customers.
Some say, “Looking at the consumer sentiment alone, it seems that we have already overcome the corona.”
Department Store Sales Increased Than Before Corona
The Korea Economic Daily in collaboration with the offline floating population data analysis start-up Lo Flat on the 4th of the last year (February 29, 2020-February 27, 2020) in Gangnam and Hongdae commercial districts (based on the commercial district division of the Korea Real Estate Agency) According to the result of analyzing the visitor flow, the number of visitors to Gangnam commercial district on the 27th of last month increased by 35.3% compared to a year ago. In the Gangnam commercial area, where the Shinsegae Department Store Gangnam branch is located, the floating population reached the lowest point at the end of December last year, when the number of confirmed corona19 rapidly increased, and has been increasing rapidly since the end of last month. The floating population of Hongdae’s commercial district at the end of February was estimated to have increased by 29.5% from a year ago.
The department store industry is mentioning the possibility of’retribution consumption’ through the explosive increase in sales during the March 1st holiday. Sales increased more than in 2019, before Corona 19. Hyundai Department Store’s sales from the 26th of last month to the 1st of this month increased 26.1% compared to the same period of 2019. Including The Hyundai Seoul, which opened on the 26th of last month, it increased by 48.3%.
Hypermarkets and convenience stores also consume’Hunpung’
The Hyundai Department Store side is even showing signs of embarrassment at the unexpected report card. It is feared that it will be the target of the quarantine authorities. After pre-opening on the 25th of last month, the number of visitors reached 1.5 million by the 1st of this month, and sales tripled from the target. An official in the fashion industry said, “The sales targeted by Hyundai Department Store was about 13.7 billion won, but I know it was totaled at 37.2 billion won.”
Shinsegae and Lotte Department Store’s sales during the holiday season also increased 24.9% and 26.1%, respectively, compared to two years ago. Lotte, the number one department store industry in Korea, recorded’minus growth’ until last year. Last year’s sales were 2,655 trillion won, down 15.2% from the previous year.
Outlets, hypermarkets, and convenience stores are also seeing consumerism. During the last holiday, a long line of hundreds of meters was lined up at the’Waiting Time 2 Hours’ notice in front of the Gucci store at Shinsegae Outlet in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province. E-Mart’s sales for the two weeks from the 16th of last month to the 1st of this month increased 8-20% in all of vegetables, meat, aquatic products, and processed foods. In particular, sales of large-sized home appliances increased by 41.5%.
According to the convenience store CU, as a result of analyzing the daily sales of convenience stores in the academy and university commercial districts, which had the most severe corona damage, sales of stationery and rice balls increased by 616.5% and 219.9%, respectively.
Some point out that it is difficult to determine the recovery of consumption only by the report card from the last holiday. An official in the distribution industry said, “The seasons change and the semester starts at the end of February and the beginning of March is the period when consumption occurs most,” he said. “It is necessary to watch whether the latest consumption trend continues until the middle of March.”
Increased disposable income “possibility of retaliation”
However, analysis that the situation is different from the past 1998 financial crisis and 2008 financial crisis is gaining strength. It is an analysis that the annual expenditure of overseas travel, which amounts to 50 trillion won, has actually been delayed, resulting in an increase in disposable income. According to the household trend survey in the fourth quarter of last year released by the National Statistical Office, the monthly average income of all households (two or more) was 5.161,000 won, an increase of 1.8% from the same period last year.
The situation of self-employed people who were hit directly by each crisis has also changed from the past. Kyochon, a chicken franchise alone, had 116 new stores opened last year. There was only one store that was closed.
Kang Byeong-oh, an adjunct professor at Chung-Ang University (Doctor of Startup), said, “While alone founders were hit directly by corona protection, many places under the umbrella of large franchises have increased sales as they adapt to new environments such as delivery and shared kitchens. .
Reporter Park Donghui/Kim Bora/Min Jihye [email protected]