Growing Subscription Economy Market "Subscribe to Health Too"

Subscription Economy Market Expected to Expand to 100 Trillion Won by 2025
Increased Interest in Health Platform Subscriptions Amid Prolonged Pandemic
iHerb "10,000 Users of Regular Delivery for Korean Nutritional Supplements"

As the subscription economy market rapidly grows, subscription services are also expanding in the health sector. Amid the COVID-19 period, interest in personal immunity management and healthy living has increased, leading to market growth. The subscription economy is a service where users pay a fixed amount and suppliers regularly provide the desired products or services. The overall subscription economy market size is expected to grow to 100 trillion KRW by 2025.

According to iHerb, a health functional food overseas direct purchase platform, the number of users of the 'subscription delivery service' launched in the Korean market last September has increased to about 10,000 in just over two months. Korea is the second country after Japan where iHerb operates its subscription delivery service outside the U.S. iHerb expects the number of Korean subscription members for the delivery service to exceed 50,000 by the end of this year.

Through iHerb's subscription delivery service, customers can choose from about 18,000 items including health functional foods, groceries, bath and personal care products on a 1 to 6-month cycle. Discounted or promotional prices are automatically applied to each order. The company explained that "products regularly consumed such as probiotics, multivitamins, and omega-3 are popular in the subscription delivery service."

Additionally, services like the 'diabetes diet' that help manage blood sugar through meal plans are also popular. Recently, major food companies have launched subscription platforms offering diabetes management healthy recipes with reduced sugar and sodium, as well as regular delivery of diabetes management meals. Hyundai Green Food's 'Greeting Diabetes Diet,' launched in March, has seen a steady monthly subscriber growth rate of 15%. The repurchase rate has also reached 54%. Pulmuone, after launching the 'Design Meal Diabetes Care Meal Plan' platform in July, has shown a double-digit monthly increase in new members.

'Mental care' services are also offered on a subscription basis. Humart Company launched 'Trost Care' in August, promoting an unlimited mental care subscription service that provides one-on-one psychological counseling, AI psychological diagnosis, and over 300 sound therapy contents. Mental wellness platforms like Twoigi's 'Lucid Island' and Ybrain's self-care application 'Kla' also offer mental care subscription services.