'August Nationwide Dining Industry Market Weather Report' Released
Seaside Sales Increase... Seafood Up 8%
Buffet, Hamburger, and Other Cost-Effective Sectors See Higher Average Spending
With the summer vacation season underway, domestic dining industry sales increased last month. In particular, sales growth was prominent in coastal areas such as Gangwon and Jeju, and among dining industry sub-sectors, seafood sales grew by 8% compared to the previous month, benefiting from the vacation demand.
Loan-specialized big data fintech company Finda revealed the "National Dining Industry Commercial District Weather Map" on the 30th, which captures nationwide dining industry commercial district trends through the commercial district analysis platform 'OpenUp.'
Last month, domestic dining industry sales reached 11.6094 trillion KRW, marking a 1.75% increase compared to the same period last year (11.4095 trillion KRW). This is also about 1.47% higher than July (11.4384 trillion KRW), which is attributed to the increase in vacationers during the summer holiday season.
Looking at the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide, sales increased year-on-year in 15 locations except Seoul (-1.09%) and Jeju (-0.38%). The steepest sales growth was in Incheon (5.82%), followed by Gangwon (5.77%), Chungnam (4.53%), Daegu (4.45%), and Jeonbuk (4.38%).
At the city and county level, the highest year-on-year sales growth rate was in Ulleung-gun, Gyeongbuk (53.52%), followed by Yeongyang-gun, Gyeongbuk (26.80%), Namhae-gun, Gyeongnam (17.47%), Yeonggwang-gun, Jeonnam (14.75%), and Sokcho-si, Gangwon (14.09%).
Month-on-month sales growth was centered around coastal areas crowded with summer vacationers. Gangwon (16.64%) recorded the highest growth rate with double-digit increases, followed by Jeju (8.83%), Jeonnam (7.5%), Jeonbuk (6.71%), and Gyeongbuk (5.67%), confirming the 'heatwave demand.'
Finda also disclosed the status of dining industry sub-sectors. Compared to the same period last year, the top sales growth rates by sector included buffet (28.92%), fast food (6.32%), and Japanese cuisine (3.91%). Compared to the previous month, July, buffet (10.72%) showed strong performance, with seafood (8%) ranking second, indicating a vacation season boost.
In particular, sectors such as buffet and fast food saw an increase in average spending per customer due to the 'cost-effectiveness (performance relative to price)' trend driven by high inflation. The average sales per buffet transaction rose 10.03% year-on-year to 74,801 KRW, and fast food transaction sales also increased 8.73% year-on-year to 15,761 KRW. This contrasts with the cafe sector, where average sales per transaction (8,311 KRW) decreased by 0.88% during the same period.
OpenUp is a big data commercial district analysis platform acquired by Finda in July 2022, which processes over 130 million accumulated sales big data using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to provide near-realistic estimated data. It updates monthly on nationwide commercial district sales and new store statuses. The commercial district analysis service is available for free.
Hwang Chang-hee, head of Finda OpenUp service, said, "The domestic dining industry, which had been sluggish, rebounded with the summer vacation season. If the high inflation trend continues, the attractiveness of cost-effective sectors may decline due to rising average spending per customer, so dining industry leaders or prospective entrepreneurs should continuously check trends through data."
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