Published : Oct. 4, 2016 - 16:57
Korea’s largest sales shopping event “Korea Sale Festa” is off to a “good start” with major participants in the automobile and retail industries seeing increased sales, organizers and participants said Tuesday.
The event will continue to expand online, with some 85 online shopping sites offering up to a 70 percent discount from Tuesday, the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industries said.
The 11-day event began last Thursday in efforts to revive the sluggish domestic consumption. It was scheduled to coincide with China’s 7-day-long National Day holiday, during which some 248,000 Chinese tourists are expected to visit the country, according to the Korea Tourism Organization.
Korea’s leading automobile maker Hyundai Motor initially put on sale 5,000 units of vehicles for a 5 to 10 percent discount for the Korea Sale Festa, but they have been sold out as of Monday, the company said.
An additional 5,000 units of seven models of Hyundai Motor automobiles, including Ionic hybrid and i40, will be offered until Sunday.
Meanwhile, the number of participants doubled from last year with 250 companies and 60,000 stores participating.
The Trade Ministry said department stores and duty free shops nationwide posted approximately a 10 percent increase in sales during the first four days.
Sales at Lotte Department Store, for instance, hiked 12.8 percent compared to last year’s Korea Black Friday, the company said, adding that Chinese consumers so far spent 40 percent more on-year.
By Kim Bo-gyung (
lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)