Korean Duty-Free Shops, Billions Of Dollars In Clothing, Luggage Or Goods, Or Burned?

The epidemic caused the Korean duty-free industry, which had been fiercely competitive, collectively plunged into a crisis of survival. What are the difficulties facing Korean duty-free shops? How can they help themselves?

The reporter came to a duty-free shop in Seoul. This duty free shop is not only close to the traditional cultural district of Insadong in Insadong, but also within 1 kilometers from the historical sites such as Gyongbokkung and Ming Dong commercial street. In the past, duty-free shops were stopped by tourist buses, but now they are empty.

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Affected by the epidemic, few foreign tourists have been seen in Seoul recently. The duty free shops visited by reporters also closed their doors. The notices on the door read that they did not open every weekend from February 22nd to April 26th. According to the reporter, due to the rapid deterioration of the operating condition, the store has decided to shut down shop in the second half of the year.

South Korea's duty-free shop has been likened to "golden goose" because of its lucrative profits. Now the goose is dying. Sales of duty-free shops in Korea have decreased by 90% over the past month, and duty free shops have been closed at many airports, and duty free shops in the city have closed or adjusted their business hours.

Compared to the high rent, even the duty-free shop has a huge headache. The sudden outbreak caused the duty-free industry in Korea to backlog about RMB billions of dollars of duty-free products. According to the relevant regulations of Korea, the duty-free products that have not been sold for more than three years must be disposed of by burning and so on, which means that all duty-free items, including clothing, accessories and bags, will be burned.

Recently, the duty-free shop in South Korea has proposed to the South Korean customs office that it hopes to stock through domestic distribution channels such as department stores and discount stores. Due to the complexity of the examination and approval, it is expected that the results will not be achieved until the second half of this year. Once approved, it will be the first time that South Korea has allowed duty-free products to enter other channels of circulation.

At present, some duty-free shops in South Korea attract customers through sweeping shopping and "no touch shopping" to try to save their performance. However, because duty-free goods can only be purchased by air tickets, Chinese tourists are also the largest consumers of duty-free shops in Korea. Affected by the epidemic, the average number of outbound travellers in Korea has dropped from more than ten million to one thousand or two thousand. No one is leaving the country, there are no customers in the duty-free shops, and more sales strategies are futile.

According to the industry forecast, if the epidemic continues, if there is no strong rescue measures, a few months later, the duty-free industry in South Korea will collapse.