Due to the Prolonged COVID-19 Pandemic... "This Year's Chuseok Budget Decreases by 42%"

Chuseok Budget "Similar or Decreased Compared to Before" 93%
Chuseok Gifts Are 'Online', Food Is 'Offline'

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, Chuseok budgets have decreased, and the proportion of people preparing Chuseok gifts online has increased.

Samsung Card announced the results of an analysis of Chuseok consumption trends on the 13th. This survey was conducted using Samsung Card's big data platform, 'Link Partner,' targeting members aged 20 to 65, with about 900 participants.

The survey results showed that Chuseok budget plans are expected to decrease compared to before COVID-19. Most respondents answered that this year's Chuseok budget would be similar to before COVID-19 (51%) or decrease (42%), while 7% who expected an increase cited rising prices as the reason.

Regarding places to purchase holiday gifts, online preference was high. According to responses about Chuseok gift purchase locations (multiple answers allowed), the preference ranking was offline stores of large marts (40%), online shopping malls (34%), large mart online malls (22%), traditional markets (18%), department store online malls (12%), and department store offline stores (11%). This reflects the increased proportion of purchases made online due to COVID-19.

On the other hand, offline remained dominant for preparing Chuseok food. Responses about places to purchase Chuseok food (multiple answers allowed) showed offline locations such as large marts (61%) and traditional markets (46%) were preferred over online shopping malls (17%) and specialized food delivery online malls (7%).

In this research, respondents felt that the way of celebrating Chuseok has changed due to COVID-19, and a high proportion believed that the changes in Chuseok scenes brought by COVID-19 would not be temporary. When asked if they felt changes in Chuseok after COVID-19, 82% answered yes, with higher rates of change reported among those living with family or married. Additionally, 66% of respondents perceived that future Chuseok celebrations would differ from those before COVID-19, while only 34% believed it would return to pre-COVID-19 conditions.

A Samsung Card official stated, "We will conduct various marketing strategies tailored to the changed situations of customers by understanding changes in perceptions related to Chuseok and related consumption trends."