"Contactless Gifts Increased" Hyundai Department Store, Chuseok Gift Set Sales Up 23%

Models are introducing Hyundai Department Store's Chuseok gift sets, including the 'Hanwoo Sodam Set' (Photo by Hyundai Department Store).

[Asia Economy Reporter Yuri Kim] Sales of holiday gift sets at Hyundai Department Store are increasing this Chuseok holiday, following last year's Chuseok and this year's Lunar New Year. It is analyzed that a holiday consumption trend is emerging where people, refraining from returning to their hometowns due to social distancing, are putting more sincerity into gifts for their parents or acquaintances in their hometowns than usual.

Hyundai Department Store announced on the 12th that the mid-term tally of Chuseok gift set sales over about a month (August 13 to September 11) at 16 stores nationwide including the Apgujeong Main Store and online malls (The Hyundai.com, Hyundai H Mall, Hyundai Food Hall To Home) showed a 23.1% increase compared to last year.

A Hyundai Department Store official explained, "As social distancing is expected to reduce homecoming, it is analyzed that customers' psychology to express their feelings through gifts instead is strongly expressed," adding, "Customer phone inquiries increased by more than 20% compared to last year's Chuseok and this year's Lunar New Year, when holiday gift set sales increased by more than 10%." He also added, "Pre-order sales of Chuseok gift sets conducted from August 13 to the 2nd of this month also increased by 46% compared to last year."

Sales of representative premium gift sets such as Korean beef (Hanwoo) and dried yellow corvina (gulbi) increased by 28.5% and 24.2% respectively compared to last year. Popular products include the 'Hyundai Hanwoo Sodam Juk (竹) Set,' 'Hyundai Special Hanwoo Song (松) Set,' 'Yeonggwang Chamgulbi Juk (竹) Set,' and 'Yeonggwang Chamgulbi Yeon (蓮) Set.'

Among Hanwoo gift sets, sales of ultra-premium gift sets priced over 1 million KRW increased by 80.5% compared to last year. Reflecting the trend of substituting the regret of not being able to visit hometowns or acquaintances directly during holidays with premium gifts, Hyundai Department Store increased the quantity of Hanwoo sets priced over 1 million KRW by 50% compared to last year and expanded the number of product types from the existing three to five.

Fruit gift sets, which include not only apples and pears but also various fruits such as Shine Muscat and Apple Mango for easy consumption at home, gained popularity, increasing sales by 59.8% compared to last year. Due to trends like staying home and home drinking, sales of wine and imported premium grocery gift sets also grew by 50.4% and 39.4%, respectively. Sales of Hyundai Department Store's premium traditional food brand 'Myeongin Myeongchon,' which consists of soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and other products made by local artisans, increased by 50.8% compared to last year.

Non-face-to-face purchases through online channels also increased significantly. Online sales during this Chuseok gift set sales period at Hyundai Department Store increased by 105.6% compared to last year, more than doubling. Regarding this, Hyundai Department Store stated, "This reflects the phenomenon of increasing customers preferring non-face-to-face purchases due to the prolonged social distancing," and added, "The VR holiday event, introduced for the first time this year, attracted over 10,000 customers during the two days of its opening on the 10th and 11th, gaining popularity."

Hyundai Department Store will conduct the main sales of Chuseok gift sets at food halls in all 16 stores nationwide, including the Apgujeong Main Store, until the 20th.

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