With unpredictable heavy downpours soaking the country amid the peak of the rainy season, sales of wet-weather products such as umbrellas, raincoats and galoshes are skyrocketing at big discount stores.

Umbrella sales for July at Shinsegae E-Mart as of the 16th are up an estimated 120 percent over the same period last year. As torrential rainfalls lashed the country from the ninth to the 15th, umbrellas sales leaped 200 percent on-year, with 50,000 selling on just the weekend (the 11th and 12th). During the same period raincoat sales also rose a whopping 200 percent on-year, helped by the increasing popularity of the disposable variety. Galoshes sales climbed 50 percent.

Homeplus also reported record sales of wet-weather goods for the sixth to the 16th. Umbrella sales totaled around 100,000, up 130 percent on-year, and raincoat sales leaped 242 percent. At Lotte Mart, sales of umbrellas, raincoats and galoshes spiked 126.1 percent, 238.3 percent, and 316.8 percent, respectively, on-year. "Though heavy downpours prevented consumers from going out, pulling down overall sales, retailers are cashing in on rainy season products," an E-Mart spokesperson said.