Online shopping grows 22.6%! Demand for home appliances and luxury goods rises in South Korea

On February 25, a report released by the South Korean government showed that online shopping was booming during the epidemic , coupled with the arrival of the Spring Festival, online shopping in South Korea increased by 22.6% in January , while sales of physical stores such as large supermarkets decreased by as much as 11%.

Due to the popularity of non-face-to-face consumption and people's need to order Spring Festival gifts online , online sales have continued to increase after last year.

Looking at sales of each product category, home appliances and cultural products accounted for 37.5% and 21.9% respectively, and sales of well-known overseas brands increased significantly. This can be explained by the fact that there is a greater demand for buying famous brands or replacing home appliances than for buying holiday items.

On the other hand , offline shopping declined for the third consecutive month. The reason for the decrease was that South Korea restricted store opening hours during the epidemic. Coupled with the cold wave and the arrival of the Spring Festival, people's external activities decreased and social distance increased.

Offline stores were hit the hardest, with hypermarkets down 11.7%, department stores down 6.3%, and large stores such as Lotte Mart down 3.3%. As a result, the proportion of offline sales fell from 58.0% in the previous year to 51.5%.

In addition, at convenience stores, sales of other goods such as cigarettes also increased by 2.4% , while sales of services and other goods such as performances and travel products decreased by 14.2%.

It is reported that the South Korean government has been strengthening isolation measures to curb the spread of the virus. Due to the increase in public gatherings during the New Year holiday and the increase in community infection cases, the epidemic is expected to rebound, and the epidemic prevention department will announce an adjustment plan for the epidemic prevention response mechanism on the 26th.

On the other hand, the first batch of AstraZeneca vaccines has arrived in South Korea, and vaccination began on the 26th.

Currently, the epidemic in South Korea cannot be well controlled, and sellers need to hurry up to prepare goods for the upcoming peak season. The cross-border logistics situation will only become more and more complicated. Sellers need to prepare comprehensively, do a good job in marketing promotion, arrange logistics reasonably, etc., and strive to turn the tide!

South Korea

E-commerce

Home Appliances

Luxury