Retail in 2024: The big picture
Retail in South Korea saw continued solid current value growth in 2024. Although retail offline maintained low growth, the main growth driver was retail e-commerce.
Competition for fast delivery in South Korea
As retail e-commerce is rapidly shifting consumer behaviour, traditional offline retailers are struggling to maintain their competitive edge. These retailers are increasingly relying on innovative strategies to adapt to the evolving retail landscape, particularly focusing on fast delivery services.
Convenience stores are evolving into lifestyle platforms
Once considered just outlets for buying goods, convenience stores in South Korea are undergoing a remarkable transformation into multifunctional lifestyle hubs. Such retailers have been shifting their focus to cater to modern consumer needs, particularly targeting the MZ generation, and providing trendy products, unique store designs, and immersive cultural experiences.
What next for retail?
Overall retail in South Korea is set to see a positive current value CAGR in the forecast period. Although retail e-commerce is expected to see slowing growth compared with the review period, it is expected to remain the main channel driving growth, and is expected to account for more than half of overall retail sales by the end of the forecast period.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Retail industry in South Korea with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
Key trends are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside the most current research data available. Understand and assess competitive threats and plan corporate strategy with our qualitative analysis, insight and confident growth projections.
Data and analysis in this report provides further detailed coverage dedicated to the following key categories, where applicable:
- Convenience Stores
- Discounters
- Hypermarkets
- Supermarkets
- Traditional Grocery Retailers
- Apparel and Footwear Specialist Retailers
- Electronics and Appliance Specialist Retailers
- Health and Beauty Specialist Retailers
- Home and Garden Specialist Retailers
- Department Stores
- Variety Stores
- Warehouse Clubs
- Direct Selling
- Homeshopping
- Vending
If you're in the Retail industry in South Korea, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
The Retail in South Korea report includes:
- Analysis of key retail trends
- Detailed segmentation of offline and online retail sales
- Historic channel sizes (retail value sales, outlet counts, and selling space)
- Company and brand market shares (retail value sales and outlet counts)
- Five year forecasts of market trends and market growth
- Robust and transparent research methodology, conducted in-country
This report answers:
- What is the market size of Retail in South Korea?
- Which are the leading retailers in Retail in South Korea?
- How are products distributed in Retail in South Korea?
- How is the rise of e-commerce and the expansion of modern grocery retail impacting traditional retail?
- How significant are discounters and private label in South Korea?
- To what extent are sales shifting towards digital channels?
- What is the long-term outlook for bricks-and-mortar?
- How is macroeconomic and political uncertainty affecting the retail industry?
- What types of retailers are seeing the fastest growth in digital sales?
- What is the future of retail?
Retail in South Korea
Retail in 2024: The big picture
Competition for fast delivery in South Korea
Convenience stores are evolving into lifestyle platforms
What next for retail?
Informal retail
Opening hours for physical retail
Seasonality
Summer Sale
Black Friday/Korea Sale Festa
DISCLAIMER
Convenience Retailers in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Convenience retailers is a mainstream retail channel for offline shoppers
Korea Seven completes the process of integrating Ministop
Convenience retailers’ subscription services gain popularity amidst inflation
Convenience stores set to see a slowdown in retail value growth in 2025
Value for money products will continue to be offered by convenience retailers
Fast-changing trends in convenience retailers through various collaborations
Supermarkets in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Shifting consumer trend towards major supermarket chains
GS The Fresh leads outlet expansion in supermarkets
The growth of quick commerce in supermarkets
The rise of demand for supermarkets amidst increase in single-person households
Competition between grocery retail channels expected
Homeplus Express’s ongoing renewal to cater to single-person households
Hypermarkets in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Hypermarkets have challenges achieving notable revenue growth
The biggest players (E-mart, Lotte Mart, and Homeplus) open no new outlets in 2024
Regulations hinder the growth of hypermarkets
Hypermarkets likely to continue to seek growth through specialised stores
Expansion of private label products anticipated in hypermarkets
More hypermarkets expected to offer quick commerce
Discounters in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Value growth for discounters in 2024, despite falling outlet numbers
Discounters remains a niche channel in South Korea
No Brand’s dominance of discounters
Continued growth expected for discounters, although from a low base
Warehouse clubs likely to hamper growth for discounters
E-Mart set to expand No Brand stand-alone stores
Small Local Grocers in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Difficulties faced by small local grocers in South Korea amidst changing trends
Cities take action to revitalise traditional markets
Declining sales for small local grocers in 2025 and beyond
Continued move to alternative retail channels
Baemin collaboration creates new opportunities for small local grocers
General Merchandise Stores in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Sales of department stores up in 2024, but growth not as high as in previous years
Daiso Korea’s revenue soars in 2024 amidst economic challenges
Department stores transition into multifunctional cultural spaces
Sales of department stores expected to decline as luxury sales slow
Daiso expands its beauty range to capture value-seeking consumers
Department stores likely to continue to use pop-up stores to attract the MZ generation
Apparel and Footwear Specialists in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Fast fashion brands thrive amidst economic challenges
Polarisation in apparel and footwear specialists led by SPA (fast fashion) brands
Growth of the running trend impacts apparel and footwear specialists
Decline for apparel and footwear specialists in 2025, although growth likely to return
Growing market for children’s luxury clothing due to changes in consumer dynamics
Non-apparel specialists set to continue expanding into fashion retail
Appliances and Electronics Specialists in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Continued decline in sales for appliances and electronics specialists in 2024
ETLAND introduces LG Electronics subscription model
Hi-Mart offers cost-effective private label products
Only limited growth moving forward, due to strong competition from retail e-commerce
Lotte Hi-Mart to reinforce synergies between home appliances and furniture
LG Electronics accelerates experience marketing to attract more customers
Home Products Specialists in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Growth for home products specialists in 2024, especially pet shops and superstores
Sales of homewares and home furnishings increasingly move online
E-Mart’s Molly’s Pet Shop opens Starfield Suwon outlet
E-commerce set to continue to transform consumers’ purchasing behaviour
New Ikea outlet set to open in Seoul’s Godeok Biz Valley
Nitori expected to see growth in home products specialists in South Korea
Health and Beauty Specialists in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Growth for health and beauty specialists due to increased tourist traffic in 2024
Olive Young continues to leads health and beauty specialists in Korea
Sephora’s exit from the South Korean market in 2024
Despite growth, challenges expected for health and beauty specialists
Chicor and LOHB’s Plus revamp to attract customers
The decline of road shops in South Korea
Vending in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Vending value sales continue to rise amidst increase in activities outside the home
Offline retailers expand speciality vending machines to attract customers
Competition set to contribute to decline in vending in 2025
The rise of unique vending machines likely to drive a return to growth
Direct Selling in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Decline for direct selling in South Korea in 2024 as spending shifts
Health and beauty products lead direct selling
New Image International expands into South Korea with a health and wellness product
Projected decline for direct selling in South Korea in the early forecast period
Rising health awareness set to drive growth for consumer health direct selling
Nu Skin launches Smart Beauty Membership subscription programme
Retail E-Commerce in South Korea
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Continued growth for retail e-commerce in South Korea due to various advantages
The TMON and Wemakeprice crisis and its impact on the retail e-commerce landscape
Shinsegae and Alibaba form a strategic alliance for e-commerce expansion
Retail e-commerce set to see sustained growth in the forecast period
E-commerce delivery war: The rise of instant and fast delivery services
Expansion of luxury goods via e-commerce
The following categories and subcategories are included:
Retail
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- Convenience Stores
- Forecourt Retailers
- Supermarkets
- Hypermarkets
- Discounters
- Warehouse Clubs
- Food/Drink/Tobacco Specialists
- Small Local Grocers
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- Department Stores
- Variety Stores
- Apparel and Footwear Specialists
- Appliances and Electronics Specialists
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- Home Improvement and Gardening Stores
- Homewares and Home Furnishing Stores
- Pet Shops and Superstores
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- Beauty Specialists
- Pharmacies
- Optical Goods Stores
- Health and Personal Care Stores
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- Bags and Luggage Specialists
- Jewellery and Watch Specialists
- Sports Goods Stores
- Traditional Toys and Games Stores
- Other Non-Grocery Retailers
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- Fashion Vending
- Health and Beauty Vending
- Appliances and Electronics Vending
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- Alcoholic Drinks Vending
- Hot Drinks Vending
- Soft Drinks Vending
- Tobacco Products Vending
- Foods Vending
- Home Products Vending
- Other Products Vending
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- Apparel and Footwear Direct Selling
- Personal Accessories Direct Selling
- Eyewear Direct Selling
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- Beauty and Personal Care Direct Selling
- Consumer Health Direct Selling
- Tissue and Hygiene Direct Selling
- Appliances and Electronics Direct Selling
- Drinks and Tobacco Direct Selling
- Foods Direct Selling
- Home Products Direct Selling
- Other Products Direct Selling
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- Apparel and Footwear E-Commerce
- Personal Accessories E-Commerce
- Eyewear E-Commerce
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- Beauty and Personal Care E-Commerce
- Consumer Health E-Commerce
- Tissue and Hygiene E-Commerce
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- Consumer Appliances E-Commerce
- Consumer Electronics E-Commerce
- Toys and Games E-Commerce
- Drinks and Tobacco E-Commerce
- Foods E-Commerce
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- Home Care E-Commerce
- Home and Garden E-Commerce
- Pet Care E-Commerce
- Other Products E-Commerce
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- First-Party (1P) Marketplace E-Commerce
- Third-Party (3P) Marketplace E-Commerce
- Grocery E-Commerce
- General Merchandiser E-Commerce
- Apparel and Footwear Specialist E-Commerce
- Appliances and Electronics Specialist E-Commerce
- Home Products Specialist E-Commerce
- Health and Beauty Specialist E-Commerce
- Leisure and Personal Goods Specialist E-Commerce
- Other E-Commerce Retailers
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Retail
Retail is the sale of new and used goods to consumers from a business for personal or household consumption from retail outlets, kiosks, market stalls, vending, direct selling and e-commerce. Retail is the aggregation of Retail Offline and Retail E-Commerce. Excludes specialist retailers of motor vehicles, motorcycles, vehicle parts. Also excludes fuel sales, foodservice sales, rental transactions, and wholesale sales (e.g. Cash and Carry). Sales value excluding or including VAT/Sales Tax. Retail also excludes the informal retail sector. Informal retailing is retail trade which is not declared to the tax authorities. Informal retailing encompasses (a) sales generated by unregistered and unlicensed retailers, i.e. retailers operating illegally, and (b) any proportion of sales generated by a registered and licensed retailer that is not declared to the tax authorities. Unregistered and unlicensed retailers operate predominantly (although not exclusively) as street hawkers or operate open market stalls, as these channels are harder for the authorities to monitor than permanent outlets. Activities in the illegal market, which is usually understood to refer to trade in illegal, counterfeit or stolen merchandise, are included within our definition of informal retailing. Activities in the “grey market”, which is usually understood to refer to trade in legal merchandise that is sold through unauthorized channels – for example cigarettes bought legally in another country, legally imported, but sold at lower prices than in authorized channels – will be included as informal retailing if no tax is paid on sale by the retailer. However if the retailer pays tax – for example on cigarettes bought legally in another country but sold at a lower price than standard – the sale is included within formal retail.
See all of our definitionsWhy buy this report?
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This report originates from Passport, our Retail research and analysis database.
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