Retail sales among major distributors in September increased by 4.5% compared to the previous year, driven by strong sales of holiday gift sets and traditional offerings during the Chuseok holiday, which occurred earlier this year. Offline retailers outperformed online sales in growth rates.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy's report on major retail sales trends released on October 28, sales from 26 major retailers rose by 4.5% last month compared to the same period last year. Offline retailers saw a 5.1% increase, while online retailers experienced a 4.0% rise.
The overall sales growth rate decreased from 7.7% in August to 4.5% in September, a drop of 3.2 percentage points. Online sales growth also fell from 9.3% to 4.0%, a decline of 5.3 percentage points. In contrast, offline sales growth slightly decreased from 5.4% in August to 5.1% in September.
The increase in September retail sales is attributed to the Chuseok holiday. Last year, the holiday was observed from October 3 to 9, while this year it was celebrated from September 24 to 27. Consequently, sales of holiday gift sets and traditional offerings surged, leading to a 6.3% increase in food sales compared to the same month last year. Sales in the services and other categories, including food delivery and grocery shopping services, also rose by 7.3%.
All types of offline retailers reported sales growth. Department store sales increased by 8.4% year-on-year, marking the highest growth rate among offline formats. Demand for holiday gift sets boosted food sales by 13.0%, while sales of women's casual and men's clothing rose by 15.2% and 8.7%, respectively, due to autumn clothing demand.
Sales at large discount stores grew by 4.0%, continuing a two-month upward trend. Food sales increased by 4.3%, while clothing and electronics/cultural goods sales rose by 11.2% and 5.8%, respectively. Notably, the number of purchases at large discount stores increased by 0.5%, breaking a six-month decline, and the average purchase amount rose by 3.5%.
Sales at super supermarkets (SSM) increased by 5.0%, driven by a 10.0% rise in agricultural, fishery, and livestock product sales due to increased demand for Chuseok offerings. Convenience store sales grew by 2.9%, with processed food sales rising by 5.9% as demand for easy meals increased during the holiday period.
While online retail sales increased by 4.0%, the growth rate slowed compared to the previous month. Food sales benefited from the holiday, rising by 6.7%, and service and other sales, including food delivery and travel/cultural products, increased by 10.6%. Cosmetics sales also rose by 7.2%. However, fashion and clothing sales fell by 5.1%, sports sales decreased by 2.2%, and electronics sales dropped by 0.1%.
Despite the differing growth rates between online and offline sales, online sales still accounted for a significant portion of total sales. In September, online sales represented 59.5% of total sales among major retailers, surpassing offline sales at 40.5%. However, this online share decreased by 0.2 percentage points from August's 59.7%.
In terms of offline sales distribution, convenience stores accounted for 14.9%, department stores 14.4%, large discount stores 9.1%, and SSMs 2.1%.
This survey analyzed sales data from 15 offline retailers, including department stores, large discount stores, convenience stores, and SSMs, as well as 11 online retailers.
The Ministry of Trade's report on major retail sales trends is based on a survey of select major companies and differs in scope and methodology from the retail sales statistics compiled by the National Statistical Office.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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