It's Not Convenience Stores, Restaurants, or Cafes... Optical Shops See 57% Sales Surge from Consumption Coupons

Small Business Sales Up 2% After Consumption Coupons Released
Optical Shop Sales Jump 57% in One Week
Dining Out Sectors Like Noodle Dishes, Pizza, and Sushi Also Rise Over 20%

The "Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupon," distributed by the government to stimulate domestic demand, is already showing tangible results by boosting actual consumption in its first week of implementation. Nationwide, small business owners saw card sales increase by more than 2% compared to the previous week, with double-digit surges particularly in daily life sectors such as fashion and apparel and dining out. This is being interpreted as a signal of economic recovery.

Small business sales rise as consumption coupons are distributed... Optical shops soar by 57%

On the 27th of last month, a banner indicating the usage locations for the Livelihood Recovery Coupons was displayed at a commercial building in Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk. Photo by Yonhap News

According to an analysis by Korea Credit Data (KCD) of card sales data from 382,207 small business locations nationwide during the first week of the Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupon distribution (July 21-27), the average card sales for small businesses increased by 2.2% compared to the previous week.

Sales in the optical shop sector recorded the highest growth, surging by 56.8% compared to the previous week. Sales in the fashion and apparel sector also rose by 28.4%, while noodle specialty restaurants (25.5%), foreign language academies (24.2%), pizza (23.7%), sushi and roll specialty restaurants (22.4%), beauty services (21.2%), and sports and leisure goods (19.9%) also saw significant increases in sales.

Sales in the distribution sector increased by 12%, but sales in the service sector decreased by 3%. A KCD representative explained, "The service sector did not rebound because the heat wave and the end-of-July vacation period overlapped." However, service sector sales increased by 5.1% compared to the same period last year.

By region, Gyeongnam (9.4%), Jeonbuk (7.5%), Gangwon (6.6%), Chungnam (5.8%), Ulsan (5.8%), and Daegu (5.7%) saw the largest week-on-week increases in sales, while Seoul (-4.0%) and Jeju (-0.8%) experienced declines.

"It is judged that there has been a positive effect on small business sales immediately after policy implementation"

On the 24th of last month, a notice about the Livelihood Recovery Support Fund was posted on the menu board of a store in downtown Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Kang Yewon, head of data at KCD, stated, "It is judged that the Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupon policy has had a positive effect on small business sales immediately after its implementation." She added, "As there have been clear changes in sales in daily life sectors such as distribution, dining out, and beauty, we hope the policy will lead to further recovery in local commercial districts."

In fact, within just ten days of implementation, about 45.55 million people?approximately 90% of the population?had applied for the coupon, and the cumulative amount distributed reached 8.2371 trillion won. Experts are paying attention to the fact that this consumption coupon is not merely a form of cash support, but a structurally designed policy that aims for both balanced regional development and domestic demand recovery. They analyze that the key issue will be whether such effects can continue to spread in the future.