The Largest Event to Promote Consumption of Small Business Products, 'Donghaeng Festival', Held on the 28th

Discount Events Held Domestically and Internationally for 32 Days
Opening Special Event Held Overseas for the First Time

The largest domestic event promoting the consumption of products from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners, the Donghaeng Festival September event, will be held both domestically and internationally.

The Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the plan for the Donghaeng Festival September event on the 25th. The September Donghaeng Festival will take place nationwide as well as overseas, both online and offline, from the 28th of this month to the 28th of next month.

Expanding Beyond Domestic Market to Overseas

The Donghaeng Festival, traditionally a domestic consumption promotion festival, has been held only within Korea until now. Marking its fifth year, the festival will for the first time hold a special opening event in Vietnam on the 29th to promote the festival overseas and support the global expansion of SME and small business products.

The Vietnam special event will be held in Hanoi in partnership with Lotte, which has a presence in the local market. It will include an opening ceremony, an export consultation meeting featuring excellent domestic SMEs and small business owners, and a pop-up store for small business products.

At the export consultation meeting and pop-up store, promising Vietnamese export items (such as cosmetics and food products) will be showcased locally, and sales through online platforms (Shopee, Gmarket Global) will support the entry of excellent domestic SME and small business products into the ASEAN market. On the day of the Vietnam Donghaeng Festival opening ceremony, a dedicated store exhibiting and selling cosmetics, health products, and more from 50 domestic small manufacturers will also open.

Online sales will feature discount promotions for products from over 800 excellent SMEs on eight global distribution platforms (Amazon, Taobao, Rakuten, Shopee, etc.), and promotional events will be held in conjunction with the '2024 Jakarta International Premium Consumer Goods Expo (September 5?8)'.

Revitalizing Local Economies, Traditional Markets, and Neighborhood Commercial Areas

The Donghaeng Festival will hold sales promotions for SME and small business products in connection with 46 regional festivals and events nationwide, which are held with themes such as culture, arts, tourism, and food.

Representative events include Jeonbuk’s ‘Muju Firefly Festival (August 31?September 8)’, Gyeongbuk’s ‘Mungyeong Omija Festival (September 13?15)’, Jeonnam’s ‘Yeonggwang Bulgapsan Sangsa Flower Festival (September 13?22)’, ‘Ulsan Whale Festival (September 26?29)’, and ‘Daejeon Bread Festival (September 28?29)’.

In traditional markets, to ease the burden of purchasing Chuseok ancestral ritual table items, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will jointly conduct a refund event for Onnuri gift certificates when purchasing domestic agricultural and livestock products, seafood, and processed seafood products at over 160 markets.

Products from about 500 stores in markets nationwide will be sold online on platforms such as Naver, Post Office Shopping, Hyundai Easywell, and Baemin with discounts of up to 30%. In cooperation with Shinhan Card, customers who spend over 20,000 KRW at more than 7,000 stores in 55 markets can receive a 5,000 KRW credit benefit.

Thirty-four specialized markets will open night markets, offering not only food but also cultural performances and experiential events to local residents and visiting tourists.

Neighborhood commercial areas designated as Neighborhood Commercial Development Centers and Old Downtown Commercial Revitalization Zones, totaling 18 areas, will host sales promotions, experiences, performances, and events.

Following May, in September as well, card discounts will be available at over 8,000 ‘Good Price Stores’ and about 1,300 ‘Century-old Stores’ nationwide, and additionally, purchase lottery events will be held at about 100,000 shops in shopping districts and traditional markets.

Increasing Sales for SMEs and Small Business Owners

To link with the November ‘Korea Sale Festa (Kosepe)’, infrastructure from seven major retailers participating in Kosepe will be utilized to hold special exhibitions of SME and small business products at 12 locations, more than the five held in May.

Major private online shopping malls and about 70 public shopping malls operated by the government and local governments, as well as T Live Commerce, will issue discount coupons, offer time-limited special prices, and hold special discount events. Eight O2O platform companies including Yogiyo, Zigzag, and 11st, along with local government public delivery apps, will support small business stores with discount coupons and advertising.

Policy distribution channels (Public Home Shopping, Home & Shopping) will hold a Donghaeng special sale with participation from about 1,000 companies, and specialized digital commerce institutions for small business owners (Sodam Square, 8 locations) will support sales of products from 470 companies through online exhibitions and live commerce.

On the ‘Win-Win Growth Mall’, where public institutions and employees of large and medium-sized companies can purchase products using welfare points, about 200 major sets and planned products including meat, seafood, and fruit will be sold at discounted prices. At the dedicated sales area inside Incheon Airport Duty-Free Shop, about 40 beauty and food products preferred by foreigners will be selected from 300 participating companies in the Donghaeng Festival and sold to travelers.

To encourage public interest and participation in the September Donghaeng Festival, information about the event and product discounts will be promoted in advance mainly through blogs and cafes, and various events will be held to provide generous prizes to participants.

Minister Oh Young-joo of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups said, “We are preparing the September Donghaeng Festival that consumers expect,” and added, “We hope the public will support the Donghaeng Festival by visiting nearby local commercial areas, traditional markets, and regional festivals during the Chuseok holiday and festival period, enjoying themselves, and purchasing SME and small business products at affordable prices.”