By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
Koreans have apparently started to open up their wallets as seen by the strong sales at the retail outlet chain E-mart, the business bellwether here operated by the Shinsegae Group.
Shinsegae said Wednesday that its ``E-mart index'' grew to 98 points over the October to November period last year, up 2.4 points from the previous quarter. It stood at 94.8 in the first quarter and 99 in the second quarter.
The index measures sales of hundreds of goods marketed in a total of 50 E-mart stores across the country. A reading above 100 indicates that sales rose compared with a year ago, while a reading below 100 means sales decreased.
``The index rebounded during the final three months of 2009, which shows that people have begun to buy items briskly compared to early 2009, when the financial crisis jolted the consumer sentiment once and for all,'' a Shinsegae official said.
``In particular, people snapped up durable goods such as televisions, refrigerators and personal computers en masse, which we believe is showcasing the improved consumer sentiment.''
The sub-index on TVs marked up to 160.4 while those for computers and refrigerators stood at 156.7 and 121.5, respectively.
``Typically, people replace their TVs every six to seven years and refrigerators every 10 years. Hence, last quarter was when Koreans were supposed to replace the items,'' the official said.
``Lots of them purchased flat-panel TVs in 2002 in time for the World Cup co-hosted by Korea and Japan. Plus, side-by-side refrigerators debuted in the late 1990s here.''
He said that the launch of LED TV sets also boosted the demand, which helped E-mart chalk up more than 1 trillion won turnover in the home appliance segment for the first time ever.
Furthermore, soaps, hand washers and hand wipes sold well as people paid more attention to hygiene due to influenza A (H1N1), the highly-contagious virus that hit the nation last year.
Along the same line, the sales of health foods were also robust
.
``If the economy continues to fare well down the road, the E-mart index will keep rising. Then, the consumption index is expected to go beyond the benchmark 100 in the not-so-distant future,'' the official said.
``Most encouraging is the strong sales of durable goods during the final quarter of last year, which typically means that a mounting number of people expect the future to be far better.''