Supermarket Federation Achieves Over 3.13 Billion Won in Sales at May Donghaeng Festival

Participation from 10 Member Cooperatives and 233 Member Companies

The Korea Supermarket Cooperative Federation (Supermarket Federation) announced on June 5 that it achieved sales of 3.13 billion won during the May Donghaeng Festival.

World Mart, a member company of the Jeonnam East Cooperative, participated in the May Donghaeng Festival. Photo by Korea Federation of SMEs

The Korea Donghaeng Festival is a nationwide consumer event hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups. The festival was organized to alleviate the financial burden on consumers, who are facing concerns over rising loan interest rates and grocery prices due to the prolonged period of high interest rates, inflation, and exchange rates. It also aims to boost sales for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and small business owners suffering from sluggish consumer sentiment and weak sales.

The Supermarket Federation encouraged participation in the event, resulting in 233 member companies from 10 member cooperatives joining. The participating cooperatives included: Goyang Cooperative, Gwangju Metropolitan Cooperative, Busan East Cooperative, Seoul Gwanak Cooperative, Gyeonggi Siheung Cooperative, Incheon Metropolitan Cooperative, Jeonnam East Cooperative, Jeonnam West Cooperative, and Jeonbuk Jeongeup Cooperative, among 10 in total.

The participating cooperatives offered around 20 types of food and daily necessities?such as ramen, ssamjang, seasonings, gochujang, soy sauce, and corn oil?at discounts of 15 to 20 percent on average. Based on sales at the SME joint wholesale logistics centers, total sales reached 3.13 billion won. During the May Donghaeng Sale period, sales increased by 37 percent compared to the previous year.

Song Yukyung, president of the Supermarket Federation, stated, "The consumer sentiment index has declined, and monthly retail sales have fallen for three consecutive months since February, making the sharp drop in sales felt on the ground a serious issue." She added, "Two stores from the Jeonnam East Cooperative and 31 stores from the Seoul Gwanak Cooperative participated in the Donghaeng Festival at their own expense, which demonstrates the effectiveness of the event in boosting retail sales. For the September Donghaeng Festival, we will discuss with the Ministry of SMEs and Startups about increasing the budget so that more cooperatives and stores can participate."