Online Distribution Sales Continue to Rise... Up 11.1% Due to Widespread Food Delivery and Online Grocery Shopping

August Major Retailers' Sales Trends

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Last month, online retailer sales continued to increase by more than 11%, driven by the popularization of online grocery shopping using food delivery and dawn delivery services. However, the growth rate slowed compared to July (20.2%).

According to the 'August Major Retailers' Sales Trends' announced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 29th, both offline (2.5%) and online sectors (11.1%) maintained growth, resulting in a 6.4% increase compared to the same month last year.

Online sales growth continued as online grocery shopping using food delivery and dawn delivery became widespread due to sustained strengthened quarantine management.

While food sales (28.2%) continued to grow, sales of services and other categories such as food delivery and e-coupons (17%) also maintained an upward trend. Sales of cosmetics (20.3%), sports (5.1%), and home appliances/electronics (4.6%) also increased. On the other hand, sales in the children and infant category (-4.6%) declined for the seventh consecutive month, and fashion/apparel (-1.4%) sales also decreased.

In the offline sector, although sales at large supermarkets and SSMs slightly decreased due to continued strengthened quarantine management, strong sales of children’s and sports products, household goods, and overseas famous brands at department stores led to an overall 2.5% increase in sales compared to the same month last year.

At large supermarkets, sales of all categories except food (0.4%) declined due to reduced outings following quarantine guidelines. Miscellaneous goods (-33.2%), apparel (-19.1%), and household/living goods (-16.1%) decreased in that order, resulting in an overall 5.5% drop in sales.

Department stores saw a 13% increase in total sales due to strong sales of household goods (25.6%), children’s and sports products (24.8%), and overseas famous brands (18.6%). However, sales of women’s casual wear (-6.8%) and miscellaneous goods (-2.6%) declined.

Convenience stores experienced a 4.5% increase in total sales, supported by strong sales of processed goods such as beverages (9.1%) due to summer seasonal demand, despite decreases in household goods (-6.1%) and miscellaneous goods (-9.4%).

Due to strengthened quarantine management, the number of store visits decreased, and there was a tendency to purchase in bulk per visit, resulting in a 4.3% decrease in the number of purchases and a 7.2% increase in purchase unit price across all offline retail formats.