No Individual Discount Limit, "Advance Reservations Surge"... Government Allocates 59 Billion Won for Chuseok, Supermarkets Anticipate Holiday Boom

Government Rolls Out Record 59 Billion Won in Chuseok Agricultural and Livestock Discounts
Lifts Per-Person Discount Limit
Hypermarkets Boost Inventory Compared to Previous Years
Rising Expectations for Chuseok Sales Season

As the Chuseok holiday approaches, expectations are rising in the large supermarket industry as the government launches its largest-ever support for discounts on agricultural and livestock products. Sales at major supermarkets, which had been sluggish in the first half of the year, have turned to double-digit growth in the second half, further boosted by the government allocating a record 59 billion won in discount budget. To capture holiday demand, supermarkets are increasing the stock of Chuseok goods and launching large-scale discount events, raising attention as to whether the recent sales recovery can be sustained during this holiday peak.

According to the retail industry on September 6, large supermarkets are dramatically increasing their supply of agricultural and livestock products and gift sets ahead of Chuseok and are rolling out major discount events. Since September 3, the government has committed 59 billion won, the largest-ever amount, to support Chuseok discounts for agricultural and livestock products, a move expected to significantly boost holiday shopping demand. Emart is preparing to increase its inventory of Chuseok holiday meat sets by 25% and Korean beef by 10% over the previous year. Supplies of holiday fruits for ancestral rites and as gift sets are also set to increase by about 15% compared to last year. Lotte Mart also plans to secure larger quantities than in previous years.

Yonhap News Agency

A Lotte Mart representative said, "Ahead of the Chuseok holiday peak, we are preparing to increase supplies of key holiday products such as apples, pears, and Korean beef over last year. Because supply volumes and market prices of fresh products continue to fluctuate, it is difficult to finalize exact quantities or rates of increase at this moment, but we plan to secure sufficient stock to meet holiday demand."

Large supermarket chains are also expanding the scale of their events by adding their own promotions to the government's discounts to maintain this momentum through the Chuseok period. Nineteen retailers and food companies, including Emart and Lotte Mart, are independently planning promotions with discounts of up to 70% and 64%, respectively.

The rapid increase in consumers using the advance reservation system, which is concentrated with discount benefits, is another reason supermarkets are putting significant effort into the Chuseok season. Emart extended its advance reservation period for Chuseok gift sets this year to 42 days, two days longer than last year. The share of advance reservations in Emart’s total Chuseok gift set sales rose by 11 percentage points in just one year, from 61.6% in 2024 to 72.6% last year. At Lotte Mart, the advance reservation share for Chuseok gift sets increased from 55% in 2023 to 60% in 2024, and even reached 70% last year.

The recent rebound in the performance of large supermarkets is also fueling these expectations. According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the retail sales index for large supermarkets in the second quarter recorded a 9.4% decline from a year earlier, marking the largest decrease since relevant statistics began in 2010. However, starting in July, the sales of major chains began to turn upward. According to the securities industry, the same-store sales growth at large supermarkets operated by Emart and Lotte Shopping in July was estimated to be around 10% year-on-year. In particular, Lotte Mart saw its July same-store sales increase by 17%, and the growth rate surpassed 20% in August.

Pak Jongdae, a researcher at Hana Securities, projected, "The same-store sales growth rate at Emart and Lotte Mart for July and August will likely reach over 15%."

With government support now in full swing ahead of Chuseok, demand for holiday shopping at large supermarkets is expected to grow further. In addition to discount support, the government will expand the supply of 13 key seasonal products, including apples, pears, Korean beef, and eggs, to 163,000 tons—1.6 times the regular volume. Notably, this year, the scope of discounts at both large and small-to-medium supermarkets has been extended to cover all domestic agricultural and livestock items, and the individual discount limit has been temporarily removed.

A large supermarket representative said, "With the government's expanded discount support and holiday demand for agricultural and fresh foods rising far above usual, we plan to stock sufficient quantities of relevant products. Combined with each retailer’s own discount campaigns, we expect these efforts to help ease consumers’ grocery shopping burden."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.