Sales at 26 major South Korean retailers rose 7.7% in August from a year earlier, according to figures released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. Offline sales increased 5.4%, while online sales rose 9.3%.
The ministry linked part of the increase to the calendar. Chuseok falls in late September this year, earlier than last year's holiday period, which shifted some gift-set and food purchases into August and helped large discount stores and super supermarkets return to growth.
What it means
The result is therefore both a retail gain and a timing effect. September data will show how much of the August increase represented stronger underlying demand and how much was spending pulled forward by the earlier holiday.