South Korean Department Stores Near 1 trillion KRW Annual Foreign Sales

Shinsegae Department Store announced that its foreign‑customer sales for the first half of 2024 rose 120 % year‑on‑year to 5.8 trillion won, already representing about 90 % of its 2023 total. Lotte reported 6.4 trillion won in the same period, and Hyundai posted roughly 5.0 trillion won, putting the three chains on track to surpass the 1 trillion‑won annual foreign‑sales threshold.

The composition of foreign shoppers is shifting: Chinese visitors fell from 77.5 % of foreign buyers in 2019 to 48.5 % in the first half of 2024, while visitors from the United States grew from 1.1 % to 19.1 % and other Asian markets rose from 4.4 % to 14.9 %. Membership programmes now cover over 300 000 members from 120 countries. Store‑by‑store growth was strongest at Shinsegae Centum City (230 % increase) and Lotte’s flagship store (140 % increase). The retailers plan further global marketing and payment‑system collaborations to sustain the trend.