Did Hypermarket Regulations Revive Traditional Markets? Online Delivery Boomed While Traditional Markets Also Declined

Policies mandating closed days and restricted operating hours for hypermarkets, introduced with the intent of reviving traditional markets, have instead resulted in a decline in traditional market share while market share for online retailers has surged.

According to the "Sales Trends of Major Distributors for the First Half and June of 2026" recently released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, sales at hypermarkets in the first half of this year decreased by 7.3% compared to the same period last year.

The proportion of total retail sales accounted for by hypermarkets also dropped by 1.8 percentage points, from 10.3% in the first half of last year to 8.5% in the first half of this year.

The proportion of distribution sales held by hypermarkets, which stood at 22.1% in the first half of 2018, has decreased by 13.6 percentage points over eight years.

While this is attributed to policy impacts such as mandatory closure days and business hour limits, the problem is that the market share of traditional markets has plummeted alongside them.

According to data from the National Data Office, the market share of specialized retailers, which include traditional markets and neighborhood commercial districts, decreased significantly from 53.3% in 2012 to 36.0% in 2024.

Conversely, online retail market share surged from 10.4% to 26.7% over the same period.

This effectively solidifies a pattern where consumers turn to online delivery platforms instead of visiting traditional markets on days when hypermarkets are closed.

With criticisms mounting that hypermarket regulations, which have persisted for over a decade, no longer fit the times, discussions in the National Assembly and political circles to ease mandatory closure days and operating hour restrictions for hypermarkets are gaining momentum again.

As bills containing provisions to permit early-morning delivery for hypermarkets and overhaul regulations on mandatory closures and late-night operations have been submitted to the National Assembly, voices are emerging calling for a reflection of the retail environment that has changed since the introduction of the regulations.

The regulations, which were previously introduced in 2012 to protect traditional markets and neighborhood commercial districts, have been enforced for 14 years, centering on mandatory closures twice a month and business hour limits from midnight to 10:00 AM.

(Reported by Lee Ho-geon | Video by Na Hong-hee | Graphics by Lee Jung-joo | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.