A notice regarding the “Civil Livelihood Recovery Consumption Coupons” is posted at Cheongnyangni Market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. According to data from Korea Credit Data (KCD) on the 4th, the average card sales for 382,207 small businesses nationwide increased by 2.2% compared to the previous week during the first week of the coupon distribution (July 21-27).
Sales at optical shops saw the most significant increase, with a 56.8% rise in just one week. Other sectors such as fashion and clothing (28.4%), noodle specialty restaurants (25.5%), foreign language institutes (24.2%), pizza (23.7%), sushi and roll specialty shops (22.4%), beauty services (21.2%), and sports and leisure goods (19.9%) also recorded around a 20% increase in sales.
The distribution sector’s sales increased by 12%, while the service sector sales declined by 3%. A KCD official noted that the sales in the service sector might not have rebounded due to the heatwave and the vacation period at the end of July. However, compared to the same period last year, service sector sales increased by 5.1%.
Regionally, Gyeongnam (9.4%), Jeonbuk (7.5%), Gangwon (6.6%), Chungnam and Ulsan (each 5.8%), and Daegu (5.7%) showed noticeable increases, whereas sales decreased in Seoul (-4.0%) and Jeju (-0.8%).
Kang Ye-won, head of data at KCD, mentioned that the coupon policy has positively impacted small business sales from the outset and expressed hope that this would lead to the recovery of more neighborhood businesses due to observable sales changes in the distribution, dining, and beauty sectors.
According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, by 11 a.m. on the 31st of last month, which was the 11th day after the application and distribution of consumption coupons began on the 21st, about 45.55 million people, or 90% of the population, had applied for these coupons. The volume of consumption coupons distributed amounted to 8.2371 trillion won.