The Korea Times

Homeplus to attract customers by offering lowest prices via AI

Homeplus' popular Dang Dang Chicken is displayed at its store in Seoul, Aug. 9. Courtesy of HomeplusBy Kim Jae-heunHomeplus, one of Korea's three major discount supermarket chains, is looking to attract customers by offering the lowest prices for its grocery items in the local market by utilizing a big data algorithm system, the company said on Wednesday.It will select the 50 daily best-selling items and fresh foods every week to compare their prices with rival retailers' stores before selling them for cheaper. Products include bananas, cherry tomatoes, rice, potatoes, carrots, milk, detergents, toothpaste, frying pans and various snacks. The retail firm has already been promoting its Price Stabilization Project under the direction of its CEO Lee Je-hoon since the beginning of this year.In the first 200 days of Homeplus' sales marketing policy ― from Jan. 13 to July 31 ― its online revenues and volume of orders increased year-on-year by 20 percent and 22 percent, respectively. Starting in February, the large discount store also offered the lowest prices on its in-house private brand

Aug 24, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Homeplus to attract customers by offering lowest prices via AI

Companies

POSCO International campaigns in Uzbekistan for Busan's expo bid

Korean Ambassador to Uzbekistan Kim Hee-sang, third from left, and POSCO International Textile's President of Corporation of the Central Asia Region Cho Seung-hyun, fourth from left, pose for a photo prior to the performance of “Chunhyangjeon” at the State Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, Aug. 21. Courtesy of POSCO InternationalBy Kim Jae-heunPOSCO International, the trading arm of POSCO Group, has promoted Busan's bid to host the World Expo 2030 to Uzbekistan, sponsoring an operatic performance of the classic Korean romance tale “Chunhyangjeon” in Tashkent on Aug. 21, the company said, Monday. The event was planned to mark the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Korea and Uzbekistan the day before. It was sponsored by POSCO International, Busan Metropolitan City and Busan Cultural Foundation. Korea's Sol'opera troupe performed the show.About 1,200 people came to watch the performance at the State Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre in Tashkent on the day, along with government officials from Uzbek's Ministr

Aug 22, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

POSCO International campaigns in Uzbekistan for Busan's expo bid

Companies

Lotte chief sets eyes on Vietnam after pulling out of China

People walk by Lotte Department Store's very first branch in Beijing, China, in this 2018 file photo. Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunLotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin plans to go to Vietnam next week, the first country he will visit since being granted a special pardon by the government on Aug. 15, according to Lotte officials, Monday. This trip shows how serious Korea's fifth-largest business group is about doing business in the Southeast Asian nation, now that it is near the completion of its withdrawal from China.Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin / Courtesy of Lotte GroupVietnam is considered the third-most important market for Lotte Group after Korea and Japan. The company currently operates 270 Lotteria restaurants and 15 Lotte Mart stores there. Lotteria is a burger chain operated by Lotte GRS and Lotte Mart is a large hypermarket store owned by Lotte Shopping. Lotte Group's other affiliates are also jointly building large-scale shopping complexes and residential apartments in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City now. In Ho Chi Minh, Lotte Group plans to build a large complex called Ec

Aug 22, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Lotte chief sets eyes on Vietnam after pulling out of China

Companies

Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 named best EV of 2022 by Car and Driver

Hyundai Motor's electric vehicle, the Ioniq 5 / Courtesy of Hyundai MotorBy Kim Jae-heunHyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 has been selected as the 2022 Electric Vehicle of the Year by the U.S. auto magazine, Car and Driver, the automaker said Friday. Like its slogan, “The new horizon of EV,” the Ioniq 5 is breaking new ground for electric cars (EVs) and is now recognized as a leading eco-friendly vehicle.Car and Driver conducted a three-week rigorous evaluation of 20 electric cars including: the Ioniq 5, Audi's e-tron GT, BMW's i4 and iX, Chevrolet's Bolt EV, Ford's Mustang Mach-E GT and Mercedes-Benz's EQS. Here, Hyundai Motor's car was picked as the best, beating its 19 competitors. Editors of the U.S. auto magazine mainly looked at the value of the vehicles, their driving performance, new technologies adopted in the cars and the driving experience, during the evaluation. “The Ioniq 5 has demonstrated an excellent commercial quality in terms of driving performance, mileage and charging speed,” the editor-in-chief of Car and Driver, Tony Quiroga, said. “It will b

Aug 19, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 named best EV of 2022 by Car and Driver

Companies

Saengong offers new standard in household specialty stores

Saengong CEO Kim Ji-seon holds a hand soap product at his office in Seoul, on Aug. 8. Courtesy of SaengongBy Kim Jae-heunSaengong is a local household specialty firm that started in 2014. The company only sells 60 items, these include: kitchen utensils, cleaning supplies and hygiene products and yet, it is already one of the most flourishing young brands in the market. Its sales have been rising every year from 7 billion won ($5.3 million) in 2018 to 15 billion won in 2019 and 30 billion won in 2021. This year, the company aims to achieve 50 billion in revenue.Saengong CEO Kim Ji-seon said his early career at an online marketing firm helped him learn about the price structure of the household item market and observed that many existing products were too pricey. “The local household goods market was already saturated at the time. But I knew if I can make products focusing on basic purpose, there is a good chance of making the business successful,” Kim said during an interview with The Korea Times on Aug. 8. “Price, design and raw materials used to make the products w

Aug 18, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Saengong offers new standard in household specialty stores

Companies

Shinsegae to open integrated shopping mall in Gwangju

Artist's rendering of Starfield Mall in Gwangju / Courtesy of ShinsegaeBy Kim Jae-heun Shinsegae will build an integrated shopping mall, Starfield, in Gwangju, the first of its kind in the southwestern part of the country, the company said Wednesday. In addition, the retailer will expand its department store in the city to create Gwangju Shinsegae Art & Culture Park with an aim to turn it into a landmark shopping center.“Starfield Gwangju” will be established on the site of Eodeung Mountain's tourist complex and visitors can enjoy various activities there from shopping, gaming, watching movies and relaxing in the park. The company views the touristic site as the perfect spot to erect its integrated shopping mall due to its plentiful space, where it can construct a variety of activity facilities. Shinsegae said it will open some 300 brand stores in the shopping center and build an urban water park there. For its department store extension, Shinsegae will utilize a parking lot located in front of its Gwangju store in the city's Seo District. The retailer predicts the co

Aug 18, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Shinsegae to open integrated shopping mall in Gwangju

Companies

Nongshim lags behind Ottogi, Samyang in Q2

By Kim Jae-heunNongshim, Korea's largest instant noodle producer, was found to have lagged behind its smaller rivals in the second quarter of the year as it failed to effectively deal with soaring raw material and logistics costs as well as higher wages, according to industry officials, Wednesday. Nongshim's operating profit plunged in the April to June period from a year earlier, while Ottogi and Samyang Food saw their profitability improve, citing aggressive cost-cutting and stronger overseas sales.According to regulatory filings, Ottogi achieved 789.3 billion won ($602.8 million) in sales and a 47.7 billion won operating profit, up 32 percent and 18 percent, respectively year-on-year. Its net profit rose 13 percent to achieve 30.6 billion won in the same period. “Both sales of our milk and oil-related products and convenience food have increased overall. The proportion of selling, general and administrative expenses to our sales growth remained similar to the previous year and our efforts to reduce the cost of raw materials to manufacture products had a positive effect on th

Aug 17, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Nongshim lags behind Ottogi, Samyang in Q2

Companies

Department stores enjoy handsome sales growth in 2nd quarter

By Kim Jae-heunSince the country eased COVID-19 social distancing measures putting limits on private gatherings and multi-use facility operating hours at the end of April, Korea's “big three” local department stores have enjoyed notable sales growth over the past three months, thanks to higher demand for luxury fashion goods and other high-end items. Their outlook for the second half of the year appears to be even brighter as customers are expected to continue “revenge spending,” which means making up for missed overseas travel during the last two years by shopping, according to industry analysts.Lotte Shopping, Shinsegae and Hyundai Department Store have all posted earnings surprises in the second quarter of this year.Lotte Shopping, the operator of Lotte Department Store, marked operating profit of 74.4 billion won ($56.7 million) between April and June, up by 882.2 percent, year-on-year. Its net profit in the first half of this year turned into a surplus for the first time in three years too. Lotte Shopping struggled during the earlier phases of the pandemi

Aug 17, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Department stores enjoy handsome sales growth in 2nd quarter

Companies

Consumers angered by luxury fashion platforms' return policies

Luxury items are displayed on a local online shopping platform / Korea Times fileBy Kim Jae-heunConsumer complaints are growing over luxury shopping platforms' poor return policies, as most of them charge fees to return items and some even refuse to allow returns, according to industry watchers, Sunday.According to the Korea Consumer Agency, 655 complaints were reported about luxury fashion firms last year, up 101.5 percent year-on-year. In 2019, 171 cases were reported, followed by 352 cases in 2020. As for the types of complaints, the most common were related to the poor quality of the luxury goods, at 33 percent. Twenty-eight percent of consumers were dissatisfied with firms refusing to allow returns, followed by 10.8 percent who complained about return fees and 6.1 percent about late deliveries. “I purchased a 280,000-won ($214.40) T-shirt from Balaan recently, but I didn't like it so I decided I wanted a refund. But they asked me to pay 80,000 won in return fees. It makes me think that the company was trying to discourage me from returning the item,” a 32-year-old su

Aug 15, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Consumers angered by luxury fashion platforms' return policies

Companies

Samsung promotes Korea's bid to host World Expo 2030

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee, left, poses with South African Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel in his office in Pretoria, on Aug. 11. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics By Kim Jae-heunSamsung Electronics Vice Chairman Han Jong-hee recently visited southern Africa to check on the company's business there and meet with local government officials to ask for their support for Korea's southern port city of Busan hosting the World Expo 2030, the company said, Sunday.Han met South African Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition Ebrahim Patel and Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor in Pretoria, South Africa's administrative capital, on Aug. 11, local time. On the next day, the vice chairman flew to the Kingdom of Lesotho to meet with King Letsie III in the capital city of Maseru, along with Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Relations Matsepo Molise Romakoae. During the meetin

Aug 14, 2022By Kim Jae-heun

Kim Jae-heun

Read more

Homeplus to attract customers by offering lowest prices via AI

POSCO International campaigns in Uzbekistan for Busan's expo bid

Lotte chief sets eyes on Vietnam after pulling out of China

Hyundai Motor's Ioniq 5 named best EV of 2022 by Car and Driver

Saengong offers new standard in household specialty stores

Shinsegae to open integrated shopping mall in Gwangju

Nongshim lags behind Ottogi, Samyang in Q2

Department stores enjoy handsome sales growth in 2nd quarter

Consumers angered by luxury fashion platforms' return policies

Samsung promotes Korea's bid to host World Expo 2030

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