Consumer Spending Blooms in Spring Sunshine... Department Store Fashion Revives

Spring Regular Sale Sales Surge... Lotte Up 46%, Shinsegae Up 63%
Fashion Sector Recovers from Worst Slump Due to Base Effect and Consumer Sentiment
Hyundai Men's and Women's Fashion Up Over 80%... Lotte 2030 Young Fashion Up 74%
Luxury Goods Also Soar with Revenge Shopping... Hyundai Sales Jump 121.5%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Although the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases continues to rise, it appears that people could not resist the temptation of the warm spring sunshine. At this year’s first department store regular sale, fashion and clothing sales at major department stores surged. While luxury goods sales still remain the mainstay of department stores, sales of women's fashion and young fashion clothing favored by the 20s and 30s age group also increased, indicating that consumer sentiment has recovered independently of the COVID-19 spread.

Spring Regular Sale Shows Clear Consumer Recovery

According to the department store industry on the 7th, Lotte Department Store’s sales during the first three days of the sale from April 2 to 4 increased by 46% compared to last year’s sale period (April 3 to 5). Sales of overseas luxury goods rose by 74%, with steady increases in men’s fashion (50%), children’s items (68%), golf (58%), and women’s fashion accessories (54%). In particular, young fashion sales targeting women in their 20s and 30s surged by a remarkable 74% within the women’s fashion category.

During the same period, Shinsegae Department Store also saw overall sales increase by 62.5% compared to last year. Luxury goods sales rose by 76.4%, while women’s and men’s fashion sales increased by 70.8% and 59.5%, respectively.

Hyundai Department Store, including the newly opened The Hyundai Seoul, saw luxury goods sales jump by 121.5%, with women’s and men’s fashion sales rising by 88.1% and 81.7%, respectively, resulting in an overall sales increase of 71.3%.

A Hyundai Department Store official explained, "Unlike last year when COVID-19 was spreading rapidly, warmer weather this year has led to more outdoor activities, increasing the number of customers purchasing clothing. Especially, demand for women’s fashion, which can be seen as a barometer of department store consumption, has risen, leading us to expect a recovery in consumer sentiment."

Fashion Shakes Off Last Year’s Slump

During last year’s spring regular sale period, the sales of the three major department stores all recorded double-digit declines. From April 3 to 19 last year, Lotte Department Store’s regular sale sales dropped by 15.8% compared to the previous year, Shinsegae Department Store by 11.5%, and Hyundai Department Store by 14%, all showing negative growth.

In particular, due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19, people refrained from going out and worked from home more, resulting in only slight growth in living-related categories including overseas luxury goods and interior products, while the fashion sector experienced the worst slump ever. Lotte Department Store’s women’s category sales fell by 30%, and Shinsegae Department Store’s women’s fashion (-33.8%) and men’s fashion (-21.9%) sales also plummeted.

However, this year the situation has reversed. The industry analyzes that the base effect from last year’s significant sales decline and the full-scale revival of consumer sentiment are driving this change. After more than a year of suppressed consumer sentiment, a surge in 'revenge shopping' is occurring across all product categories, and with overseas travel routes blocked, luxury goods sales have concentrated in department stores.

Compared to 2019, before the COVID-19 crisis, department store sales are also showing an upward trend. During the recent three-day regular sale period, Lotte Department Store’s sales increased by 15% compared to the early spring sale period in 2019 (March 29 to 31, 2019), while Hyundai Department Store and Shinsegae Department Store sales rose by 33.7% and 44.2%, respectively.

A department store official said, "With the extreme fatigue caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, along with expectations from vaccine distribution and the lifting of work-from-home policies, daily life is relatively normalizing. This has led to a revival in fashion clothing purchases among young people in their 20s and 30s, as well as a recovery in men’s clothing sales."