Due to Colder Weather Than Usual, Retail Industry Advances 'Winter Marketing' Campaigns Earlier

Emart Holds Heating Supplies Event One Week Earlier Than Last Year
Lotte Department Store Offers Various Events for Customers Preparing for Winter

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] As temperatures drop compared to the average year, sales of heating products are increasing. In response, retailers have started their 'winter marketing' campaigns earlier than last year.

On the 11th, Emart launched heating products a week earlier than the previous year. They first introduced the Shinil cover-separable electric blanket priced at 89,000 KRW for single and 94,000 KRW for double sizes. The Boguk Grayyang electric blanket was also offered at 110,000 KRW for single and 119,000 KRW for double. Reflecting the trend of increasing single-person households, a single-person electric blanket was also released. The Kukil single-person electric blanket is sold at 49,900 KRW, making it affordable for single-person households to purchase heating appliances. In fact, more than 1,000 units of the single-person electric blanket have been sold.

Emart is proactively holding heating product promotions because related sales have been increasing since this month. According to Emart's analysis of heating product sales from October 1 to 7, sales of electric mats grew by 169.7% compared to the same period last year. Sales of electric blankets also increased by 80.3% year-on-year. Along with the popularity of heating appliances, winter clothing, which usually sees sales growth from early winter, has already seen a significant increase. During the same period, sweater sales rose by 53.7%, men's jumpers, which are a main item for early winter, increased by 85.8%, and women's jumpers also saw about a 16% increase in sales.

Additionally, due to the sudden cold weather, warm innerwear such as thermal underwear is gaining early popularity. Sales of men's warm innerwear and women's warm innerwear increased by 19.3% and 25.6%, respectively. Especially, children's clothing sales have surged significantly due to large temperature differences. Sales of children's jumpers increased by 400%, and sales of children's warm innerwear also rose by about 13.5%.

The reason for the significant growth in Emart's heating product sales is that temperatures have dropped sharply compared to last year since after Chuseok, prompting customers to prepare for winter in advance. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration's Weather Nuri ground observation data, the average temperature in Seoul from October 1 to 6 was 17 degrees Celsius, which is about 4.1 degrees lower than the average temperature of 21.1 degrees during the same period last year. In particular, the Korea Meteorological Administration predicted that temperatures would drop sharply from October 14, with minimum temperatures falling below 10 degrees Celsius.

Lotte Department Store also prepared various product events for customers rushing to prepare for winter. In line with the kimchi-making season, Lotte Department Store is selling directly purchased kimchi refrigerators at all its stores until December 31. Due to the strong home economy trend and the top-efficiency rebate program, Lotte Department Store started the direct purchase event for kimchi refrigerators two months earlier than last year, beginning in July. Sales of kimchi refrigerators from July to September increased by 35% compared to the previous year, and even after the top-efficiency rebate program ended in September, sales grew by 23%. Additionally, all 1,000 units of the first batch of directly purchased kimchi refrigerators were sold out. Accordingly, Lotte Department Store secured an additional 1,200 units for the second batch of direct purchases for sale.

Representative products include the ‘Winia Dimchae Stand-type Kimchi Refrigerator 551L (CDQ57EVFLS)’ priced at 4.37 million KRW, the ‘Winia Dimchae Stand-type 330L (CDT33DVMAS)’ at 2.37 million KRW, and the ‘Winia Dimchae Lid-type 221L (CDL22EKSXS)’ at 1.65 million KRW. As a promotional event, customers who purchase the stand-type model will receive a kimchi container set as a gift.

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