Sales Recovery of 'Sosanggongin' Slows Down in Gyeonggi and Incheon Regions

Source: Ministry of SMEs and Startups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daeseop] The Ministry of SMEs and Startups recently announced on the 3rd that the sales recovery of small business owners in the Gyeonggi and Incheon areas, affected by confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), has slowed down.

According to the weekly sales survey of small business owners conducted by the Ministry, the sales decline rate in the Gyeonggi and Incheon areas rose by 1.6 percentage points from 43.3% on May 25 to 44.9% on June 1 this year. In Gyeonggi Province, confirmed cases recently occurred at the Coupang Bucheon logistics center and among a pastors' meeting in Anyang and Gunpo. In Incheon, confirmed cases were reported related to a pioneering church meeting.

‘Jeju’ (38.9%→40.0%) and ‘Gangwon’ (35.0%→35.9%) also showed a slowdown in sales recovery during the same period. On the other hand, regions such as ‘Daegu·Gyeongbuk’ (18.8 percentage points, 62.1%→43.3%), ‘Busan·Ulsan·Gyeongnam’ (11.6 percentage points, 43.6%→32.0%), ‘Gwangju·Honam’ (8.4 percentage points, 47.4%→39.0%), and ‘Daejeon·Chungcheong’ (7.9 percentage points, 43.5%→35.6%) showed a relief in the sales decline rate compared to the previous week.

By industry, ‘Clothing·Footwear·Cosmetics’ improved by 16.5 percentage points (48.3%→31.8%), ‘Education Services’ by 14.1 percentage points (62.5%→48.4%), and ‘Processed Foods and General Retail’ by 8.0 percentage points (42.9%→34.9%) compared to the previous week. Conversely, the ‘Tourism·Leisure·Accommodation’ sector saw a slight increase in the sales decline rate by 1.9 percentage points (63.9%→65.8%).

The Ministry has been surveying sales changes weekly since February 3 this year, targeting about 300 small business sites and around 220 traditional markets. As of June 1, the sales decline rate of small business owners decreased by 6.6 percentage points (45.3%→38.7%) compared to May 25. This marks the most significant improvement since the survey began on February 3.

Meanwhile, regarding small business owners' self-efforts to overcome COVID-19, responses were ‘Strengthening marketing such as sales and events’ (44.4%), ‘Expanding delivery sales’ (11.6%), and ‘Expanding online sales’ (8.6%) in order. After COVID-19 stabilizes, requests to the government were ‘Support for publicity and marketing expenses’ (30.2%), ‘Expansion of small business exclusive gift certificates’ (25.0%), ‘Expansion of joint events such as local festivals’ (17.9%), and ‘Support for online sales’ (9.0%).

Jo Jaeyeon, head of the Small Business Policy Division at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said, “Sales of small business owners, which had declined due to the outbreak of COVID-19, have gained momentum, continuing an upward trend for eight consecutive weeks since the rebound in April.” He added, “The Gyeonggi and Incheon areas, affected by confirmed cases, seem to be relatively slowing down.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.