Overall retail sales increase 14.4% in October

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy announced on November 29 that Korea's overall retail sales increased 14.4 percent in October.

Both offline and online sales saw growth, up 10.0 percent and 19.7 percent, respectively.

The Ministry releases monthly retail sales figures based on surveys of 26 major retailers. Half of them are physical retailers: three department store chains, three hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, and four "super supermarket"(SSM) operators. The other half are online retailers.

Physical retailers experienced a 10.0 percent growth in sales.

Sales at hypermarket chains inched up 1.4 percent despite decreases in the number of stores (from 396 to 386). The growth is attributable to the increase in food products (up 3.5 percent) resulting from shopping events by retailers.

Those at department store chains climbed up 21.0 percent. Global brands (up 39.4 percent), household goods (up 22.2 percent) and kids/sports (up 19.6 percent) showed noticeable increases due to robust demand for winter clothes and golf equipment.

Convenience stores saw a 9.0 percent rise in sales. The number of stores expanded from 39,557 to 42,026. Smaller product packaging for single-person households attracted higher demand.

Meanwhile, SSMs edged down 1.6 percent in sales due to a decrease in the number of stores (from 1,146 to 1,108). All items saw declines except for agricultural products and fisheries (up 0.8 percent).

Sales at online stores posted a 19.7 percent growth compared to the same period last year.

Food products (up 25.3 percent) and home appliances (up 22.7 percent) saw significant increases due to major shopping events, and services/others (up 46.1 percent) continued its upward trend thanks to e-coupon and travel package sales.

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