"Waited for It" Consumer Sentiment with Spring Breeze ... Department Store Regular Sale All-Out Battle

First Regular Sale Starting from the 2nd of Next Month... Recent 'Revenge Spending' Boosts Sales Recovery
Focused Promotions on Fashion and Cosmetics... Preparing Largest Scale Gift Certificates and Discount Events

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Major department stores will begin their first regular sale of the year starting April 2. Riding the recent recovery in consumer sentiment, department store sales have seen a brief increase, raising expectations for a performance rebound. Department stores plan to focus various promotions mainly on women's fashion and cosmetics, which experienced sluggish sales last year due to the impact of COVID-19, so consumers are expected to feel a greater sense of discount during this period.

Skipping New Year Sales to Focus on Spring Sale

According to industry sources on the 30th, major department stores such as Lotte, Hyundai, and Shinsegae will hold a spring bargain sale for 17 days from April 2 to 18. Since the New Year sales were skipped due to COVID-19, this is effectively the first regular sale of the year. Department stores expect this sale period to serve as a turning point that will drive full-fledged consumer sentiment.

During last year’s spring sale period, department store sales uniformly declined. Due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, consumers refrained from going out, and school closures led to a sharp drop in demand for spring new products and new semester items. Although sales of some small home appliances like interior products for home decoration and laptops briefly increased, all department stores experienced double-digit sales declines compared to the previous year’s spring sale. According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s economic trend statistics, department store sales growth rates fell to -35% in February and March last year, and remained around -15% in April, which included the spring sale period.

Department store sales, which had continued to decline until the end of last year, began to surge again in February this year. From February 26 to March 28, Lotte Department Store’s sales increased by 88% compared to the same period last year. During the same period, Hyundai Department Store’s sales rose by 86.1%, and Shinsegae Department Store’s by 79.8%. While this was partly due to the base effect from last year’s poor performance, the retail industry analyzes that consumer sentiment, which had been suppressed for over a year, is now exploding.

Expectations for Fashion Recovery

In particular, sales in the fashion sector are showing a rapid recovery. Over the past month, Lotte Department Store’s overseas fashion sales increased by 120% year-on-year, and men’s sportswear sales rose by 101%. Following these were women’s accessories at 83%, home appliances at 70%, food at 65%, and cosmetics at 55%.

Department stores plan to focus promotions during this sale period on product categories showing rapid sales recovery. A Lotte Department Store official stated, "We are conducting various discount events centered on partner companies that faced difficulties last year, such as women’s fashion and cosmetics, to reduce inventory burdens, and the department store is minimizing margins while preparing the largest-ever gift certificate events."

Hyundai Department Store decided to avoid large events or marketing that could attract crowds to prevent the spread of COVID-19, instead providing discount coupons that customers can use at their convenience to encourage dispersed shopping. Shinsegae Department Store is collaborating with the live commerce platform ‘Grip’ to introduce recommended products and gifts from fashion and sports brands through broadcasts.

An industry insider said, "With the recent start of COVID-19 vaccinations, consumer sentiment is recovering to the extent that the term ‘revenge consumption’ has become popular," adding, "This 17-day sale will be an important gauge of how much it can revive the offline retail industry, which has been stagnant until now."

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