Starbucks Korea regained the top spot in sales among South Korean coffee chains in September, overtaking A Twosome Place after four months in second place following a public backlash over its controversial "Tank Day" promotion.
According to by estimated credit and debit card spending data released Sunday by Mobile Index, a market intelligence platform operated by IGAWorks, Starbucks recorded an estimated 121 billion won ($90.3 million) in card payments last month, up 4.3 percent from August.
Monthly card spending fell to 100.39 billion won in June before rising for three consecutive months.
Meanwhile, A Twosome Place recorded 110.5 billion won in September, down 6.4 percent from 117.99 billion won a month earlier.
The gap between the two chains narrowed from approximately 7 billion won in July to 1.9 billion won in August. Starbucks then pulled ahead by 10.58 billion won in September.
The figures indicate a weakening of negative sentiment against Starbucks, which came under fire for using phrases such as "Tank Day" to promote its tumbler discount on May 18, the anniversary of the 1980 Gwangju Democratic Uprising.
The campaign drew public criticism for evoking the military crackdown on pro-democracy protestors, prompting Shinsegae Group to dismiss Starbucks Korea's chief executive, issue an apology and introduce history education for employees.
The coffee chain also suspended product launches and promotions before gradually resuming them in July.
Other major coffee chains recorded declines. Mega MGC Coffee's estimated card payments fell 3.2 percent to 94.75 billion won, while Paik's Coffee posted a 6.4 percent decrease to 22.94 billion won.
The figures exclude prepaid cards, mobile gift vouchers and other payment methods, meaning they do not represent total revenue or establish whether consumer confidence has recovered.
yejinlim@heraldcorp.com