Sales to Chinese soar 30% at Korean department stores

Korean retailers’ sales grew at a fast rate thanks to Chinese tourists who opened their wallet while visiting the country on China’s National Day holidays, data showed on Sunday.

According to the data, sales to Chinese customers of Korea’s major department stores including Lotte, Shinsegae and Hyundai, increased over 30 percent on average during Oct. 1-7 from a year earlier.

Luxury brands such as Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and Chanel were top-selling stores for Chinese customers at Lotte Department Store in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, which saw a 38.5 percent increase in sales during the period.

“Sales to Chinese customers recovered to last year’s level and after the National Day holidays it got back to the level before the Middle East respiratory syndrome outbreak hit the nation,” a Lotte official said.

Korean fashion and cosmetics brands also showed strong performances, according to the official.

The number of Chinese tourists to Korea soared to 210,000 during the seven-day holiday, up 30 percent from a year ago, the Korea Tourism Organization said.

Last year, some 6.14 million Chinese tourists visited Korea and spent $2,200 per person accounting for 1 percent of Korea’s GDP.

Shinsegae and Hyundai Department stores’ sales to Chinese shoppers also increased 37.7 and 28.3 percent, respectively.

At Shinsegae, Chinese shoppers purchased men’s clothing the most with 56.4 percent, followed by sports clothes and gears, luxury items, jewelry and watches.

By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)