Instead of Mart, 'Coupang'.... January Online Food and Livestock Purchases Reach Record High

Illustration by Kim Dahee

With the prices of food items such as geumsagwa (golden apples) and geumttalgi (golden strawberries) soaring, combined with the Lunar New Year holiday, the amount spent on purchasing food and livestock products online in January reached an all-time high. As more people bought train tickets or traveled abroad ahead of the holiday, the amount spent on online travel and transportation services also hit a record high.

According to the 'January 2024 Online Shopping Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 5th, the total transaction amount on online shopping malls in January was 20.2801 trillion won, an increase of 12.1% (2.1871 trillion won) compared to the same month last year. The transaction amount on online shopping malls has exceeded 20 trillion won for four consecutive months since October last year.

Korea Price Information, a professional price survey organization, revealed that the cost of a Charye table for a family of four this year reached a record high, with traditional markets costing about 281,000 won and large supermarkets about 380,000 won. Meanwhile, on the 29th, customers were shopping at the Hanaro Mart Yangjae branch in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

In the high inflation environment, the transaction amount for food and beverages reached 2.918 trillion won, nearing 3 trillion won and marking an all-time high. This represents a 13.7% increase compared to the same month last year. The transaction amount for agricultural, livestock, and fishery products also recorded an all-time high of 1.1939 trillion won, up 11.6% compared to the same month last year. As food prices have risen to a burdensome level this year, it is highly likely that demand shifted to online channels where purchases can be made somewhat more affordably.

Statistics Korea explained that since the Lunar New Year holiday falls in early February this year, more people purchased gifts and seasonal products in January. Jeong Eun-jeong, Director of the Service Industry Trends Division, said, "Most Lunar New Year holiday products open for sale in early to mid-January, so online transactions likely took place in advance," adding, "The holiday effect is the biggest factor."

Due to the influence of the 'Seolcanceok' (those traveling abroad during Lunar New Year), travel and transportation services also recorded an all-time high of 2.2827 trillion won, a 25.8% increase compared to the same month last year. Director Jeong said, "Reservations for holiday return trains opened in January, bus ticket bookings increased, and travel demand during the Lunar New Year holiday also rose significantly." Online purchases of cosmetics also increased by 21.2% compared to the same month last year.

On the other hand, purchases of fashion items such as shoes (-7.9%) and bags (-2.4%) decreased compared to the same month last year.

By product range, general malls recorded 12.813 trillion won, up 11.4% from the same month last year, while specialty malls recorded 7.4671 trillion won, up 13.3%. Additionally, online-only malls increased by 13.3% to 15.609 trillion won, and combined online-offline malls increased by 8.1% to 4.671 trillion won.