Fear of 'Wuhan Pneumonia'... Bulk Purchase of 'Korean-made' KF-Certified Masks
Sold Out at Pharmacies, Convenience Stores, and H&B Stores
Three Home Shopping Channels Urgently Air Programs... 200 Million Won Sales in One Hour
On the 29th, amid growing concerns over the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia), Chinese tourists are lining up to buy masks at a pharmacy on Myeongdong Street in Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Yoo Ji-min (pseudonym), who works near Myeongdong, Seoul, was suddenly frightened by the news that the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) in Korea had increased to four. She went from nearby pharmacies to convenience stores and health & beauty (H&B) stores, but all KF-certified masks approved by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety were sold out. This was because Chinese tourists had already swept up all the masks. In the end, Yoo gave up on functional masks and purchased and wore regular masks.
As the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in China exceeded 4,500, Chinese tourists visiting Korea began hoarding KF-certified masks, known to be effective against yellow dust and fine dust, causing them to sell out. As a result, starting before the Lunar New Year holiday, a line of Chinese tourists buying masks by the box continued at convenience stores and pharmacies mainly around Myeongdong, Seoul. Online, mask hoarding led to sold-out situations, and home shopping companies urgently scheduled broadcasts to sell KF-certified masks, signaling the start of a full-scale 'mask crisis.'
On the 28th, Chinese tourists are lining up in a long queue on the first floor of Lotte Department Store to buy Vivian masks.
According to the related industry on the 29th, the three home shopping companies urgently scheduled broadcasts to sell KF-certified masks starting from the afternoon of the previous day. Lotte Home Shopping sold a total of 5,000 sets of 'WeCare Yellow Dust Masks' with the 'KF94' grade in two sessions on the previous day, which is four times the originally targeted sales volume. On the 29th, they will sell the same product, 'WeCare Yellow Dust Mask,' and on the 30th, the 'CleanJoy Yellow Dust Mask.' GS Shop also recorded sales performance at 350% of the target amount through the broadcast of 'MediShield-KF94 Yellow Dust and Fine Dust Mask' on the previous afternoon. The product had over 3,000 pre-orders. The planned broadcast for this week of 'NePure Fine Dust and Yellow Dust Mask KF94' was expanded from one to a total of four broadcasts. CJ O Shopping also sold 6,000 sets worth 220 million KRW during the 'Kukje Yakpum Mask' sales broadcast on T-commerce the previous day, exceeding the target by 190%. They plan to expose the product again during late-night rebroadcasts on the 30th and 31st and also feature it in the 'Dokkaebi Broadcast' that airs whenever items sell out during live TV broadcasts.
Among Chinese tourists, KF-grade masks are known as 'Korean-made masks.' The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends wearing masks of KF94 grade or higher used by medical personnel. This means the government guarantees that the product can filter out 94% of particles averaging 0.4 micrometers in size. Along with this, as the most fearful mask shortage occurred in China, more people began hoarding Korean-made masks to profit from price differences.
The mask crisis that started offline is moving to online and home shopping channels. According to convenience store CU, mask sales from the 20th to the 27th surged about 10.4 times compared to the previous month, recording higher-than-average performance. Sales of related products also increased: gargle products by 162.2%, hand sanitizers by 121.8%, soap by 74.6%, and body wash by 30.9%. Vivian, after selling masks at Lotte Department Store Sogong-dong branch in Myeongdong, doubled the planned quantity from 100,000 to 200,000 by selling 10,000 masks in one day. Ssangbangwool also began additional production as inquiries for the KF94 ultra-fine dust protective masks released last year increased significantly.
The anxiety of domestic customers who lost their turn to Chinese tourists led to bulk purchases online. On the online channel Gmarket, sales of yellow dust and flu masks and regular masks increased by 4,437% and 4,236%, respectively, from the previous week during the period from the 21st to the 27th. Liquid hand sanitizers and hand disinfectants also rose by 7,004% and 2,361%, respectively. On GS Shop's mobile mall, protective masks and hand sanitizers are among the top 10 best-selling products. Social commerce company Wemakeprice also reported that sales of KF94 masks increased about 30 times (3,213%) and hand sanitizers about 8 times (837%) from the 24th to the 27th compared to the previous week.
Park Hyung-gyu, head of the living division at Lotte Home Shopping, said, "Anticipating a surge in mask demand due to growing concerns about novel coronavirus infection, we secured inventory in advance. We will continue to conduct broadcasts flexibly based on the large stock of masks secured in advance according to the situation." An industry insider said, "Demand for hoarding masks with KF certification marks among Chinese tourists increased, leading to convenience stores being swept clean. Domestic customers have no choice but to look for other channels such as online or home shopping."
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