South Korea retail sales climb 5.6% in March

SEOUL: Sales at South Korea’s major retailers rose 5.6% from a year earlier in March, extending gains in consumer spending as online platforms outpaced store-based outlets and department stores benefited from seasonal demand. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Wednesday that online sales increased 8.1% while offline sales rose 1.9%, with the month supported by spring shopping, the back-to-school season and higher tourist traffic in key retail districts.

The March result followed a stronger 7.9% annual increase in February, when holiday demand lifted in-store purchases, but the latest data showed digital channels continuing to take a larger share of spending. Online transactions accounted for 60.6% of total sales at major retailers in March, underscoring the sector’s growing weight in household consumption even as physical stores remained important for apparel, beauty products and impulse purchases.

By store format, department stores posted the strongest gain, with sales climbing 14.7% from a year earlier, while convenience stores rose 2.7%. Hypermarkets fell 15.2% and super supermarkets declined 8.6%, showing a clear split between premium and convenience-led formats on one side and large grocery-focused chains on the other. The ministry’s breakdown indicated that spending remained concentrated in channels tied to tourism, daily top-up shopping and seasonal merchandise rather than broad-based strength across all retailers.

Online retailers recorded gains across a wide range of categories, including cosmetics, food, household goods, home appliances and electronics, children’s products, and books and stationery. Those increases aligned with March’s school-related purchases and demand for spring household and personal items. The stronger online performance also contrasted with the weaker showing by large offline grocery formats, reinforcing the structural shift in South Korea’s retail market toward digital platforms for both discretionary and routine purchases.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said the March figures reflected a combination of seasonal demand and tourism-related spending, factors that supported department stores and other channels exposed to urban shopping traffic. Convenience stores also continued to benefit from steady demand for everyday purchases, while hypermarkets and super supermarkets faced a softer month. Taken together, the data showed that retail growth in March was positive overall but uneven across formats, categories and shopping behaviors.

Spending patterns remain uneven

March’s composition marked a notable change from February, when offline retailers had outperformed online platforms during the Lunar New Year period. In March, the balance shifted back toward e-commerce, with online growth more than four times faster than the increase recorded by offline stores. That pattern left department stores as the standout among physical retailers, while the weakness in hypermarkets and super supermarkets highlighted ongoing pressure on traditional large-format operators in a market increasingly shaped by convenience and digital access.

For March, the government’s retail sales report showed a consumer market still expanding, but doing so through a narrower set of winners. Department stores, convenience stores and online platforms led the advance, while hypermarkets and super supermarkets remained in decline. With online channels accounting for more than three-fifths of major retail sales, the latest figures underscored how consumer spending continues to migrate across formats even when headline growth remains solid. – By Content Syndication Services.