SEJONG -- Online shopping jumped 12.5 percent from a year earlier in April, data showed Wednesday, as the coronavirus pandemic prompted consumers to buy more goods via e-commerce platforms. The value of online transactions came to 12.26 trillion won ($9.98 billion) in the month, up 1.3 trillion won from the same month last year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. The increase followed a 11.8 percent on-year gain in March. The sharp increase in March was largely attributed to the p

LG Household & Health Care said Tuesday it has gained a business license to sell GlaxoSmithKline’s skin care brand Physiogel in Asia and North America, for 190 billion won ($155 million). Physiogel is a derma cosmetics brand that was launched in Germany, and is sold in a number of countries in Asia, Europe and South America. The company said it plans to strengthen its presence in the global markets with its acquirement of Physiogel, which comes after the company’s takeover o

Lotte Shopping said Tuesday it has introduced a new remote working system for its 3,200 employees working at its headquarters, whereby they can work at home once a week. The retail arm of Lotte Group is the second affiliate to introduce the remote working system, after Lotte Holdings, which initiated the system from May 25. Lotte Department Store, Lotte Supermarket and the e-commerce branch introduced the system from Monday, while Lotte Mart is due to start beginning this month. Lohbs, its h

Amorepacific Group, a leading cosmetics firm here, said Tuesday it has set a new action principle “ABC Spirit” for employees in South Korea and around the world to share. Holding a proclamation ceremony at the Seoul headquarter in Seoul on Monday, the company’s Chairman Suh Kyung-bae announced the “five action plans” connected with the ABC spirit, to its employees in both South Korea and overseas branches. “I will do my best to get through this period of

Following the global popularity of chapaguri -- instant noodle dish that came into the limelight due to Oscar-winning movie “Parasite” -- Nongshim said Monday it is participating in auctions to purchase kelps, a key ingredient, to meet surging demand. Chapaguri is a mixture of Nongshim’s Chapaghetti black bean instant noodle and Neoguri, a soup-based instant noodle. The menu was translated as “ram-don” in English subtitles in the movie. According to No

Amorepacific, a leading cosmetics manufacturer here, launched Enough Project on Monday, a vegan-friendly lifestyle brand highlighting practicality. Under the new brand, Amorepacific presented seven new products including cleansing oil, essential lotion products and sun screen. The products are all vegan-friendly, with no animal testing and no animal-derived ingredients, the company said. According to the company, its main moisturizing cream has beta-hyaluronic acid, which is 1.5 times more a

Samyang Foods said Monday it will open limited sales of the export-version of Buldak Spicy Chicken noodles on its online mall for Korean consumers for the first time. The products include the original Spicy Buldak Chicken noodle, Carbonara Spicy Buldak Chicken noodle, 3X Haek Buldak Spicy Chicken noodle -- known as 3X Fire Noodle among non-Korean speakers -- and Corn Spicy Buldak Chicken noodle. All four products do not include meat-derived ingredients, the company said. While the original a

Coupang under fire for inaction, authorities struggle to contain further spread

E-commerce platform giant Coupang said Tuesday it has closed its Bucheon logistics center in Gyeonggi Province and conducted disinfection of the facility after at least 10 COVID-19 cases are confirmed to be linked with its employees there. According to the company, it will take additional fumigation measures at the center and also check on around 3,700 employees, which includes workers at the center and also those who visited the center from May 12 to Monday. “We sterilize the products

Starbucks Korea said Tuesday that it has expanded the number of Reserve stores selling Teavana drinks to 52 from 13 amid the growing popularity of tea. According to the coffee chain, sales of tea drinks have grown about 20 percent annually since it launched Teavana here in 2016. Its flagship Honey Ruby Grapefruit Black Tea, rolled out in 2016, is now its third-most-frequently ordered drink, after Americano and caffe latte, among customers in their 20s, Starbucks Korea said. Sales of green te

   South Korean duty-free stores saw their sales drop sharply below the 1 trillion-won ($804 million) mark in April, feeling the pinch of the fallout from the new coronavirus, industry data showed Tuesday. Combined sales of local duty-free shops shrank 9.2 percent on-month to 986.7 billion won last month, according to the data from the Korea Duty Free Shops Association. The number halved from January, the data showed. The number of visitors to duty-free outlets came to around 354,00

South Korean food company Pulmuone said Friday it has completed the construction of Pulmuone Institute of Technology, the first research and development center that has received certification from the US-based Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. According to the company, its new institute received a “Gold” level in LEED, which is one of the widely used green building rating system. Built in the designated biotechnology zone, in Osong, North Chungcheong Province, the R&a

Tmon, an e-commerce platform in South Korea, promised Friday to turn profit this year as it marks its 10th anniversary. With the goal of going public, the firm’s Chief Executive Officer Lee Jin-won revealed his ambition to lead the e-commerce market. “Tmon is a company that has been labeled the most as ‘the industry’s first,’ in Korea’s e-commerce market. We started as the country’s first social-commerce (provider), and now created the title ‘

CEO Luke Jensen describes Korea’s retail market as “early adopter” to online groceries

Cafe24, a South Korean e-commerce solutions company, said Wednesday it has joined Facebook’s new initiative, “Shops,” as a partner. Facebook announced the launch of Shops on Tuesday to allow small businesses to set up a single online store for customers to access on both its platform and Instagram. Cafe24, which provides solutions to create online stores and related services, such as marketing, and logistics, will be working with Facebook in the social media’s new ini