APAC is the fastest growing region in the world, contributing two thirds of the global growth over the past decade. The rising middle class, rapid urbanization, the population mix, altogether drive the strong and stable economic growth. One fundamental enabler of such growth is the rapid digital advancement with real-time and endless information flow that has substantially influenced and transformed how consumers behave.
South Korea has been a strategic location in the center of East Asia offering a geographic advantage in the region with easy access to other markets. The metropolis of Greater Seoul with 25 million people, is within 2-hour reach from megacities like Shanghai, Tokyo and Hong Kong, is one of the most fast-moving and trendy consumer goods markets in the world.
The Korean consumer is well-informed, tech savvy and the choices they make, brands rising and trends originating from Korea does not stop at the national border but has a strong regional soft power influence in all over Asia, and recently globally. Oscar-winning “Parasite”, the global streaming hit “Squid game”, K-pop phenom BTS, Black Pink etc., are all just the tip of the iceberg in what is referred to as Hallyu, or the “K-culture wave”. Illustrating this, 20% of the brand ambassadors for global luxury retailer Chanel is from Korea (2022). With more than 15 million visitors from the region (pre-pandemic) to Korea, the market is a good way to reach and influence Asian consumers. More and more global retailers view Korea as a test market to reach a broader base of consumers in Asia.
South Korea’s retail market is ranked 3rd largest in APAC in terms of size and brand power. The growth has been led by e-commerce, being the 5th largest e-commerce market in the world with the market roughly accounting for 50% of the total retail. With a growing number of cross-border orders from e.g. the US making up a large portion, the market figures not shown in the statistics are even larger.
Scandinavian brands bring a positive perception in Korean market, where they can leverage a favourable Swedish or Scandinavian image of premium, sustainable and functional design with high-quality. In a recent poll made in of the leading dailies, Sweden came out 2nd of most preferred country brands out of 20 pre-defined countries.
Business Sweden is hosting a hybrid session aimed at providing Swedish brands with insights and knowledge about one of the savviest retail markets in the world. Join our session and connect with the Korean retail team!
Agenda
• General introduction about South Korea
• Insight and opportunity sharing on the Korean retail market
• Swedish brands promotional events planned in South Korea during 2023
• Q&A
Companies joining in-person session will have an opportunity to get individual short meeting or consultation afterwards.
Details
Join us in Stockholm, Sweden:
Business Sweden Head office
Klarabergsviadukten 70
111 64 Stockholm
Join us online:
Webinar, MS Teams
For those of you joining online, you will be sent out a link to access the event the day before the event.
Register
The last day to register is March 17, 2023.