November Peak Season Begins... 'Record-Breaking' Korea Sale Festa Up to 80% Off

'Korea Sale Festa', Number of Participating Companies Doubles Compared to Last Year
Largest Scale Supply Offensive and Record-Breaking Discount Event Held

The country's largest shopping festival, '2020 Korea Sale Festa (KSF),' opened on the 1st, with related banners hanging on Myeongdong Street in Jung-gu, Seoul. Held on the largest scale ever, this 2020 Korea Sale Festa is supported by 17 metropolitan cities and provinces nationwide, with 1,633 companies participating. It will be held simultaneously online and offline for two weeks until the 15th of next month. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] The country's largest shopping festival, the '2020 Korea Sale Festa,' is being held until the 15th. Since its inception in 2016, the 'Korea Sale Festa' has provided consumers with opportunities to purchase products at discounted prices and offered participating companies a chance to boost sales. This year, 1,506 companies are participating, more than double last year's 704. Notably, consumer goods manufacturers in sectors such as automobiles, clothing, electronics, and cosmetics are participating at three times last year's scale.

Retailers are attracting customers through various marketing strategies. Eight retail companies under the Lotte Group are investing inventory worth 2 trillion won. Lotte Department Store has prepared an 'Outlet Mega Sale' event featuring about 300 brands across 20 outlet stores nationwide. Lotte Mart is offering up to 50% discounts on kitchen interior products and more. Lotte Hi-Mart is providing refunds of up to 200,000 won when purchasing event products.

There are also events to support small and medium-sized partner companies and farmers and fishermen. Major affiliates such as Lotte Department Store and Lotte Home Shopping are purchasing 25 billion won worth of inventory products from excellent small and medium-sized partners in fashion apparel, accessories, and living sectors to sell both online and offline. Lotte On, Lotte Group's integrated online shopping mall, is running the 'Power of Gangwon Province! Popular Food Festival,' offering discounts on over 30 agricultural products from Gangwon, including dried pollack and napa cabbage.

Shinsegae Group is conducting the 'Korea SSG Day' shopping event with participation from 17 affiliates. Shinsegae Department Store is hosting 'Korea Fashion Market Season 2' in collaboration with small and medium-sized fashion companies struggling to expand their sales channels. About 40 popular brands, including Galaxy and Andar, are offering discounts of up to 80%. Emart is also releasing inventory worth 200 billion won, double last year's amount, for this event.

Hyundai Department Store is holding discount events such as the 'Premium Outerwear Exhibition' and 'Special Price 77 Selections for Electronics, Furniture, Bedding, and Tableware.' To help fashion companies struggling to clear inventory, it is selling off-season products from about 50 brands at discounts of up to 60%. The sales commission for participating brands will also be reduced by approximately 5 percentage points compared to before.

Convenience store chains are also joining in. CU, GS25, Seven Eleven, and Ministop are holding prize giveaway events. Participation is possible via QR codes on the Korea Sale Festa website or each convenience store's promotional channels. About 18,000 consumers who answer daily quizzes from each convenience store or achieve high scores in mobile snack games will receive convenience store gift certificates and product exchange vouchers.

E-commerce companies are also hosting various events. eBay Korea is running the largest annual shopping event, 'Big Smile Day,' on its online malls Gmarket, Auction, and G9 until the 12th. Approximately 9 million items are eligible for discounts during this period. The 'Smile Delivery Hall,' a dedicated section for Smile Delivery that allows consolidated shipping of various items ordered in one day, offers daily necessities at discounts of up to 40%. In particular, the scale of benefits exclusive to the paid membership service 'Smile Club' has been expanded, providing Smile Club members with 20% discount coupons worth up to 400,000 won. During the event, new Smile Club members who pay the annual fee of 30,000 won will receive a full refund to their linked account, effectively making it a 'free membership' event.

11st is also holding its annual signature event, the '11th Day Festival,' until the 11th. The number of participating sellers is a record high of 10,000, and the total discount benefits amount to 50 billion won. Popular products and representative brands are participating based on sales big data.

Domestic automakers are also participating in the event. Five domestic automakers are offering discounts of up to 10% on certain models throughout this month. Hyundai Motor Company is selling 13,000 passenger cars and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) at discounts ranging from 2% to 10%. Kia Motors (000270) is also providing discounts of up to 10%, with the highest discount rate being 10% on the Stonic. Kumho Tire plans to offer various benefits to consumers purchasing premium tires for passenger cars and SUVs.

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