People line up in front of a Gordon Ramsay Street Burger at the Lotte Department Store in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, on Thursday. Courtesy of Lotte Department Store
Go Dong Hwan
According to major shopping mall and supermarket chains across the country, the record heat has led to more people taking refuge in air-conditioned shopping malls and fewer people cooking at home.
Large urban shopping malls have become popular spots where visitors can spend hours, often well into the evening. Visitor numbers at the country’s major shopping malls this month are up 10 percent compared to last year, with night-time visitor numbers up by up to 20 percent.
Lotte Department Store and Lotte Outlet saw a 10% increase in visitors from August 1 to 20 compared to the same period last year.
The number of visitors to Lotte shopping centers has increased significantly between 5:30 pm and 8:30 pm compared to earlier times, with Lotte reporting that pedestrian traffic during this evening period has increased by 20 percent compared to last year.
Shinsegae Department Store reported that foot traffic at its stores, including department stores nationwide and Starfield Mall, increased an average of 5.5 percent this month compared to last year. Additionally, sales at these stores increased 4.9 percent compared to last year.
Starfield Hanam in Gyeonggi Province saw visitor numbers reach 1.45 million this month, up 9.6 percent from last year. The mega mall east of Seoul attracts an average of 55,000 visitors on weekdays and 105,000 on weekends.
Shoppers browse products on sale at the Prada store at Shinsegae Department Store in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on Aug. 12. Yonhap News Agency
Shinsegae Department Store also saw notable evening crowds this month. The store saw a 5.6 percent increase in sales between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. compared to last year. At House of Shinsegae, a high-end food court in the flagship department store in southern Seoul, more than half of sales occurred after 5 p.m. Additionally, E-Mart Traders, a warehouse-style shopping chain under the same conglomerate, saw an 8 percent increase in visitor numbers and 6 percent increase in sales between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. compared to last year.
Evening shoppers also flocked to Hyundai department stores across the country, with the chain seeing a 22.5 percent increase in foot traffic between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m. this month compared to a year ago. Total sales during that time period rose 8.7 percent, with food and beverage sales up 18.8 percent from a year ago.
“Due to the continuing heatwave, more customers are visiting facilities, leading to a balanced increase in visitor numbers and sales,” said an industry source. “More visitors are dining in and shopping in stores until late at night.”
As temperatures rise above 30 degrees, more people avoid cooking, leading to increased sales of home meal replacement (HMR) products and other ready-to-eat meals.
E-Mart said sales of microwaveable meals surged 43% this month compared with the same period last year, while sales of frozen meals increased 11%. Similarly, Lotte Mart saw sales of microwaveable meals increase 5% from a year ago.
A Lotte Mart official said, “With prices rising and the heatwaves continuing, it seems that more people are preferring the convenience of eating at home.”
