Foreigners boost dept. store sales

By Kim Ji-soo

Myeong-dong is one of the main centers for shopping in Seoul attracting both foreign and Korean shoppers. The biggest gainers there so far are the nation’s leading department stores which are experiencing an increase in sales, thanks to demand from tourists, first quarter data show.

Lotte Department Store in Myeongdong said that 1 out of 10 of its customers this year were foreign tourists. In terms of sales figures, the department store recorded 12.5 percent of total sales to them in April alone.

Its cumulative sales to tourists in the first four months stood at 10.1 percent of the total, the store said, a steep climb from 2011 when foreigners accounted for 5.4 percent of sales, and 8.3 percent in 2012.

“The biggest purchase by Chinese and Japanese tourists is luxury goods. But if we break it down further, the next biggest item that Chinese tourists purchase are colorful women’s fashion goods while for the Japanese, it’s Korean food, in particular dried laver,” a Lotte Department Store PR official said.

The store expects its May figures to be higher because of the Labor Day holidays and the “golden week” which saw a high influx of Japanese visitors.

“Even though how the global economy fares is a major determinant in our sales, we do expect the portion of sales to foreign visitors to rise throughout the year,” the official said.

Other major shopping outlets in the vicinity are faring just as well.

Shinsegae Department Store said its tourist purchases accounted for 3.6 percent of overall sales in the first quarter of this year. The majority of its foreign customers are Chinese tourists accounting for 75 percent, followed by Japanese at 15 percent and other countries at 10 percent.

“For us, the Chinese tourists tend to purchase watches and jewelry. Then, affected by the Korean wave, they also seek products by such Korean fashion names as O’2nd and Teenie Weenie and cosmetics company Sulwhasoo,” according to Seo Yu-ri, a Shinsegae Department Store PR official.

Seo said that Japanese visitors prefer dried laver and other traditional Korean food products.

The figures are calculated based on sales recorded by foreign credit cards of China Union Pay and Japan Credit Bureau.

Chinese visitors outpaced the number of Japanese in the first four months, accounting for 28 percent of foreign visitors to Korea, according to the Incheon Airport Immigration Office.