Restaurants bear the brunt of stronger social distancing rules

Wellness-focused yougurt products by Binggrae are gaining popularity recently, amid rising demand from health-conscious consumers, according to the company on Sunday. Dairy food company Binggrae has introduced several yogurt brands to the Korean market, contributing to growing the market. Its flagship yogurt product Yoplait topped the local market in sales last year, selling about 360 million units and recording some 140 billion won ($119 million) in sales. Alongside the prominent Yopla

Retail sales in South Korea advanced 4.4 percent in July from a year earlier as online platforms have enjoyed a spike in demand for groceries and home appliances amid the new coronavirus pandemic, data showed Sunday. The combined sales of 26 major offline and online retailers reached 11.46 trillion won ($9.67 billion) last month, up from 10.98 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Online platforms led the growth, with their

Global furnishing company Ikea and Lego Group on Friday introduced a new collaboration project Bygglek, which combines the concept of play and storage. The two companies said they have teamed up to develop a solution to facilitate playing with the lego bricks at home while lessening the burden of cleaning up and organizing. Bygglek is a box-shaped storage closet with the lego studs, allowing children to play, exhibit their work inside, and also store them after playing, Ikea explained. &l

E-commerce giant Coupang is trialing a buy-now, pay-later service. The new service is applied to products directly bought from and sold by Coupang, which are available for its next-day delivery service, Rocket Delivery, according to one official at the company, allowing users to purchase items on credit until the 15th of the following month. Up to 300,000 won ($253) in shopping items can be paid for later through the new service. It is currently being tested with a select few users, while an

In a world first, beauty and cosmetics conglomerate Amorepacific has developed a clinical evaluation method for blue light, the company said Thursday. The study by the firm’s research body, the Anti-Pollution Research Center, discovered that blue light -- high-energy light in the blue band with a wavelength between 380 and 500 nanometers in the visible spectrum -- can cause skin pigmentation at the point of 456 nanometers. After developing a clinical device that emits blue light, resear

Swedish furniture giant introduces first urban farm Ikea Farmare in Korea

Upscale department store chain Galleria recently unveiled Dutch artist Maarten Baas’ new artwork “Confetti Clock” at its Gwanggyo branch. The artwork features a man sweeping colorful confetti off the floor in a clockwise motion, living up to the “party” theme while showing shoppers what time it is. Baas explained that his new work was inspired by the impression he received from the venue, comparing the feel-good image of the department store to a party, Hanwha Gal

E-commerce platform Cafe24 will hold a webinar featuring Facebook officials to share marketing strategies for the social media platform on Sept. 1. During the “Successful E-commerce Strategies on Facebook” event, key speakers Nadia Tan, APAC Marketing Partnership Director, and Philip Hur, APAC Head of Partnerships, will share strategies for online merchants to maximize their sales growth on Facebook, while Cafe24’s experts are presenting best practice cases in marketing strate

JTI Korea is introducing a same-day delivery service for its tobacco-infused vapor device Ploom Tech, via Naver Shopping, the company said Monday. Implementing the new service in Seoul first, the company said all orders made before 9 a.m. on Naver Shopping, an e-commerce platform, will be delivered on the same day. The company is an official retailer of Ploom Tech on Naver Shopping‘s smart store, and all users verified to be over 19 can make purchases on the platform, JTI Korea explain

Shinsegae Food, the food arm of retail giant Shinsegae Group, said Sunday it is injecting 9.8 billion won ($8.23 million) into its US-based food manufacturing facility as it seeks to bolster the ready-made food business in the market. According to the company, it is plowing funds to Chang Tuh Corporation, the operator of a manufacturing plant for ready-made products in the US. Shinsegae Food acquired Chang Tuh Corp. for 12.1 billion won last year from Emart, a hyper mart giant under Shinseg

The instant noodle market recorded all-time high sales of 1.13 trillion won ($952.2 million) in the first half of this year, largely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Thursday. Releasing the data from Nielsen Korea, Nongshim, a South Korean food company, said the industry grew 7.2 percent from the same period last year, with its highest-ever semiannual sales. According to the data, sales of instant noodles in the first half of 2019 amounted to 1.05 trillion won, and annual sales

McDonald’s Korea said Wednesday that it will hire more staff with severe disabilities during the third quarter of this year. A total of 15 new staff members with disabilities have been hired since the third quarter began, and the company plans to hire an additional 15 by September. The fast food chain also said it would continue to provide stability and a positive corporate culture for staff with disabilities. “My colleagues are very considerate when I fall ill despite my will, wh

Demand for ready-made home meals, instant noodles tow sales growth

Hyundai Department Store Group decided Tuesday to acquire SK Bioland, a cosmetics firm under SK Group, expanding its beauty and health care business. According to the group, its affiliate Hyundai HCN, a cable channel provider, held a board meeting to decide on purchasing 29.7 percent of SK Bioland’s share with 120.5 billion won ($101.7 million). “We made the final decision for acquisition, finding that SK Bioland’s major businesses have a high potential for growth and has