The US prefers 'Polo', the UK 'Rush'... Korea Center Moltail Reveals Popular Overseas Direct Purchase Products

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Korea Center's overseas direct purchase platform 'Malltail' revealed the popular overseas direct purchase products by major countries on the 25th.

Analyzing big data of products purchased through its service last year in the US, Germany, China, the UK, and Japan, Malltail found that in the US, clothing products such as Polo, Gap, and Lacoste, as well as IT devices like Amazon tablets, were highly popular. In Germany, orders for Orthomol Immun (vitamins) and Nespresso coffee machines were high, while in China, customers sought clothing and fashion accessories, Xiaomi air purifiers, and stickers for journaling. In the UK, Lush body care products and Portmeirion tableware sets were popular, and in the Japanese market, Nintendo Switch, Merino wool yarn, and quasi-drugs gained popularity.

In the past, there was high demand for direct purchases of large home appliances such as TVs and vacuum cleaners, but last year's direct purchase trend showed increased popularity centered on small home appliances, IT devices, and daily necessities, with more distinct differentiation in preferred products by country. Especially, due to the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) last year, overseas travel was blocked, leading to a significant increase in direct purchases. Malltail reported that overseas direct purchase transactions, including fulfillment, grew by about 71% in 2020 compared to 2019, with Malltail's Dahejum and Direct Purchase Shop services playing a major role.

Dahejum is a one-stop service that allows purchasing and shipping of products from a total of 64 shopping malls including Amazon, eBay, and Taobao without knowing the local language, while Direct Purchase Shop provides a differentiated service where, when ordering products from 24 major shopping malls, the delivery forwarding address input and application form are automatically completed without separate operation.

A Malltail official said, "As the growth trend of direct purchases is expected to continue this year, we will do our best to provide outstanding logistics technology and direct purchase services and make this year the first year of global market expansion." He added, "In particular, we will accelerate the expansion of the Chinese direct purchase market and the sourcing business of luxury brands and cost-effective products centered on Europe."

Meanwhile, Malltail operates nine logistics centers in seven countries including three logistics centers in the US (New Jersey, Delaware, California), Japan, Germany, China, and Spain, and can handle about 201,000 logistics transactions daily on average.