Luxury Goods Online... Giving Gifts Contactlessly Too

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] As face-to-face communication has decreased due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), the number of people giving and receiving gifts online has increased. Accordingly, the distribution industry is providing various services to capture the demand for 'untact (non-face-to-face) gifts.'

According to the distribution industry on the 11th, GS Shop introduced the 'Gift Sending' service on the 6th. Gifts can be sent by simply entering the recipient's name, contact information, and a message without knowing their address. Some products such as installation and rental are excluded, but all 8 million products can be used through the 'Gift Sending Service.'

CJ Olive Young also introduced a 'Gift Service' on its official online mall in February. This service sends gifts to the recipient's mobile phone number. Additionally, it added an option change feature that allows the recipient to change the color of the gifted product.

Turnbytem also provides a 'Gift Wrapping Service.' This service collects individually purchased products within the shopping mall, wraps them together, and delivers them. Writing a message card is also possible. From March to June, the number of people using the gift wrapping service increased by 53% compared to the same period last year.

As online gifting becomes more active, the types of gifts such as housekeeping services and luxury goods are also diversifying. 'Dangsin-ui Jipsa' (Your Butler), which provides home cleaning services, joined 'KakaoTalk Gift Sending' at the end of last month. The background for joining was the many customer requests to gift housekeeping services to family and acquaintances.

Kakao Commerce established a luxury gift theme on 'KakaoTalk Gift Sending' starting from the 2nd. Following Gucci, Prada, and Montblanc, Chanel recently joined, expanding its influence. The response is also positive. The transaction amount of luxury miscellaneous goods within KakaoTalk Gift Sending has recorded more than double growth compared to the previous year.