Declining demand from China saw Korean duty-free sales (excluding inflight retail) decrease -3.97 percent month-on-month during September to KRW1,194,029,262,691 (US$859.8 million) according to newly released Korea Duty Free Association figures.
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The number of shoppers edged +0.28 percent ahead month-on-month to 2,505,119, indicating a lower average spend.
Sales to foreigners represented 77.2 percent of the total, reaching KRW921,478,892,523 (US$663.6 million), down -5.5 percent over August on a customer base down -0.36 percent to 849,516.
Downtown duty-free sales, historically crucial in terms of the Chinese business, fell +4.3 percent month-on-month to KRW945,015,301,862 (US$680.5 million).
That was despite a +5.1 percent rise in customer numbers.
Airport sales declined -2.15 percent to KRW198,723,648,058 (US$143.1 million). Customer numbers eased -0.75 percent to 1,097,718.
“Korean duty-free sales decreased a lot from August,” a senior Korean travel retail executive told The Moodie Davitt Report. “The sagging demand from China is contracting the market.”
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Sources say several large shipments of Korean cosmetics through the daigou channel into China were cancelled due to the decline in demand.