E-commerce giant Coupang said Wednesday it will install Automotive Around View Monitoring system in all its vehicles to aid its delivery staff. The monitoring system allows the driver to get a 360-degree exterior view on the screen, using four cameras mounted underneath the outside mirrors. According to the company, it will complete installing the system in all vehicles before July. It is the f...

Pulmuone said it will continue to expand its US portfolio and strengthen the Asian noodle business, along with its tofu and kimchi products, to attract customers beyond the 2.5 million Korean population and other Asian ethnicities there. “As the US Asian noodle market was focused on items of low-priced instant noodles, we chose to approach the market with premium fresh noodles to meet consumer n...

McDonald’s Korea said Monday it will provide free burgers and pies to volunteers and those vulnerable in Seoul’s Guro-gu, where a cluster infection of COVID-19 recently emerged from a call center. According to the burger chain, it will deliver 2,000 McChicken sandwiches and 2,000 pie products, including corn and apple pies, via the Community Chest of Korea to Guro. The food will be offered to th...

Shinsegae Department Store said Monday it is introducing three types of shopping carts from Tuesday. According to the retail giant, the three carts each have different features. One is designed for safekeeping bags. Another has a baby seat. The last type caters to small purchases. The cart with a space to store purses is covered with water-proof fabric to prevent shoppers’ designer bags from ge...

Sales of home organization products are also on the rise, as people are spending more time in their homes. According to Lotte Shopping, the sales of house maintenance products, such as adhesives and window screens on its online outlet, surged by 52 percent during the period from March 1 to Thursday, on-year. Electricity-related goods such as sockets and plugs sold 31.8 percent more and candles ...

Starbucks Korea said Monday it will expand its free coffee delivery it started in mid-February for workers at the disease control center hotline 1339 to the end of this month. According to the coffee chain, it has been providing 500 cups of coffee every day since Feb. 17 to three 1339 call centers, two operated by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Yeongdeungpo, Seoul and Gw...

Korean manufacturers, service providers seek direct rapport with consumers for data and brand awareness against spoon-feeding distribution by platform giants

As retail businesses are seeing a boost in their sales online amid the COVID-19 outbreak, high-end department stores and outlets have also hopped on the bandwagon, according to the industry on Wednesday. WeMakePrice, a South Korean e-commerce platform operator, said the combined sales of department stores and outlets it hosts spiked in the period from Feb. 1 to 28 by 316 percent from a year earl...

Starbucks Korea said Monday it will temporarily close 39 stores among the 74 in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province region, hit the hardest by the coronavirus outbreak. According to the coffee chain, 39 stores will be closed from Monday to March 22 to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Nine will extend the closures since-February. Only 35 drive-thru stores in the region will operate normally and t...

The coronavirus spread has impacted online transactions since January, with the sales of masks surging while purchases of cosmetics dropped, data by Statistics Korea showed. Weather also played a part, with the warmer temperatures discouraging people from buying clothing. The shorter delivery days due to the Lunar New Year holiday also affecting the growth in online transactions. Upon the COVID...

Health Ministry delays law to stop celebrities from promoting alcohol

McDonald’s Korea said Tuesday it donated 4,200 burger sets to firefighters in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, as the region struggles in handling COVID-19. According to the company, it delivered 4,200 coupons that can trade for 1955 Burger set menu to Daegu Fire Department and Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters on Monday. With the number of patients increasing in the region that is hit har...

With the COVID-19 virus spreading across the country, department stores and malls are temporarily shutting down branches that confirmed patients are found to have visited. On Friday, Shinsegae Department Store closed its Gangnam branch in Seoul, when one of the employees of its partner company was confirmed to be infected by the new coronavirus. According to the department store, the employee h...

With the coronavirus outbreak prompting many to wear face masks, demand for smudge-proof makeup has soared, according to Lalavla on Friday. According to the health and beauty chain operated by GS Retail, sales of lip-stain products, face powder and makeup fixers rose 91 percent, 89 percent and 74 percent, respectively, in the period from Feb. 1 to Wednesday compared with the same period the prev...

The license bidding for duty-free stores at Incheon International Airport fell through due to a lack of tenders, the airport operator said Thursday. The biddings to run a section for perfume and cosmetics and another for apparel in the airport's first passenger terminal failed, according to Incheon International Airport Corp. (IIAC). Located west of Seoul, the Incheon airport is South Korea's m...