The Internet homepage of Korea Black Friday will be upgraded to receive consumer feedback and encourage more participation by companies, which could lead to the expansion of the nationwide sales event aimed at fueling domestic consumption, the government said Monday.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said initial consumer response from the first nationwide sales program that kicked off last Thursday has been positive, but there is room for improvement.

The official homepage, launched at the start of Black Friday, simply highlighted companies taking part and the size of discounts being offered, with the latest update going a step further. The sale will run through Oct. 14 with some 70 businesses and 33,000 stores taking part.

"We are assessing what consumers are saying so as to better meet expectations and plan for the future," said Hwang Kyu-yearn, deputy minister for industrial creativity and innovation.

He declined to elaborate on a rise in sales over the weekend, but said many companies increased profits, and are planning to expand the number of products on sale and offer larger discounts.

The country's largest retailer Lotte has hinted it will provide more goods and discounts in the coming days, while some department stores and discount outlets reported sales jumping upwards of 20 percent over the first few days of the Black Friday sales period vis-a-vis the week before.

The official said that the government and the business community can work out how best to proceed through the feedback, which will include evaluations of companies and discounts offered, as well as what consumers want from such sales events in the future,

"This year's Black Friday event was arranged in relative haste to overcome the fallout from the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome,” Hwang said.

Depending on the feedback and extent of participation by companies, the country will decide on future sales events. He hinted many retailers want to hold another sales event later in the week, he said.

MERS, which has claimed 36 lives, poured cold water on domestic consumption amid slumping exports. Weak domestic demand and exports have caused the government to downgrade this year's growth target to 3.1 percent from 3.8 percent.

Besides the retailers, the official said the role of manufacturers will become more important down the line because they can help reduce prices. (Yonhap)