March Retail Sales Up 5.6% Year-on-Year... Large Discount Stores Slump for 8 Consecutive Quarters
Department Stores and Convenience Stores Continue Nine Months of Growth
Online-Centric Consumer Spending Intensifies
In March of this year, major retail companies saw sales increase by around 5% compared to the same month last year. However, while growth continues to be led by online channels, polarization among offline retail formats has become even more pronounced.
According to the "March 2026 Major Retail Sales Trends" report released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy on the 29th, total sales at retail companies rose by 5.6% year-on-year. Of this, online sales surged by 8.1%, driving overall growth, while offline sales grew by only 1.9%.
By retail format, department stores and convenience stores maintained solid performance, while large discount stores and super supermarkets (SSMs) continued to struggle. Department store sales jumped by 14.7%, marking double-digit growth, and convenience store sales increased by 2.7%, continuing their upward trend. Both formats have now posted growth for nine consecutive months since July of last year.
In contrast, large discount stores declined by 15.2%, returning to negative growth after just one month. Notably, this marks eight consecutive quarters of negative performance since the second quarter of 2024. SSMs also fell by 8.6%, recording three straight quarters of sluggish results.
Online retail showed balanced growth across most product categories. Major items such as cosmetics (15.8%), food (10.6%), home appliances and electronics (11.1%), and children and baby products (10.7%) all posted double-digit increases, fueling the expansion in sales.
Changes in consumption structure were also evident. As of March, online channels held the largest share of sales at 60.6%, followed by department stores (15.4%), convenience stores (13.9%), large discount stores (8.1%), and SSMs (2.0%). The online share has been steadily increasing in recent periods.
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The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy analyzed that demand for spring outings and the new school term, as well as an increase in foreign tourists, boosted consumption at department stores and online. In contrast, large offline retail channels continued to underperform due to a shift in consumer spending toward other formats.
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