[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the decline in sales of small business owners has significantly decreased.
According to the Ministry of SMEs and Startups on the 27th, the 'Small Business Sales Survey' showed that the Jeju region recorded a decrease rate of 38.9% as of the 25th, down 18.6 percentage points from 57.5% the previous week (18th). Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam showed a recovery trend with a 9.8 percentage point decrease (53.4% → 43.6%), Seoul 9.6 percentage points (52.5% → 42.9%), and Gyeonggi-Incheon 9.3 percentage points (52.6% → 43.3%).
Except for the Daegu-Gyeongbuk region (61.0% → 62.1%), the sales decline rate has eased in most regions nationwide. In particular, the sales decline in traditional markets decreased by 12.0 percentage points (51.6% → 39.6%), showing the greatest improvement since the survey conducted on February 3 of this year.
By industry, the sales decline rate eased by 15.0 percentage points (49.6 → 34.6%) in agriculture, livestock, and fisheries products; 9.8 percentage points (47.7% → 37.9%) in restaurants; and 3.1 percentage points (67.0% → 63.9%) in tourism, leisure, and accommodation. On the other hand, the education service sector saw an increase in the decline rate by 5.1 percentage points (57.4% → 62.5%).
The Ministry of SMEs and Startups has been tracking sales changes through a panel survey of about 300 small business sites and 220 traditional markets weekly since February 3 this year.
In this survey, regarding small business owners' own efforts to overcome COVID-19, responses were in order of 'strengthening marketing such as sales and events' (46.7%), 'expanding delivery sales' (12.5%), and 'expanding online sales' (9.0%).
After COVID-19 stabilization, requests to the government were in order of 'support for publicity and marketing expenses' (32.8%), 'expansion of small business exclusive gift certificates' (23.4%), 'expansion of joint events such as local festivals' (15.5%), and 'support for online sales' (11.7%).
Jo Jaeyeon, head of the Small Business Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, "The clear recovery in sales seems to reflect the effects of recent emergency disaster relief funds and Onnuri and local love gift certificates," adding, "We will continue events such as joint marketing and youth merchant festivals to sustain this sales recovery trend."
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