SEOUL, KOREA - Korean consumers' "direct purchase" of foreign goods is rapidly on the rise. According to the Korea Customs Service on May 20, the total volume of goods bought through online shopping malls for the four-month period between January and April of this year was US$480 million, up 56 percent from the same period a year ago. The number of cases has also increased 52 percent to 4.96 million.
The country with the most purchases was the United States. The number of foreign purchases for the first four months of the year was 3.67 million, accounting for 74 percent in total. It was then followed by China (11%), Germany (5%), Hong Kong (4%), and Japan (2%). By item, clothing and shoes took the largest portion at 27 percent with 1.33 million cases, followed by health products (14%), cosmetics (8%), handbags and bags (8%), and toys (3%).
By age of the buyers, those in their 30s took the lion's share of 52 percent with 1.77 million cases while the consumers in their 20s, 40s, and 50s accounted for 22, 16, and 6 percent, respectively. By gender, women were 62 percent while men took the remaining share of 38 percent.
An official with the Korea Customs Service said, "As long as a few exclusive importers charge exorbitant prices for import goods, direct purchases won't disappear." Even though the government is simplifying the customs clearance process and allowing imports of items circumventing exclusive supply arrangements so that the prices of some import goods could be lowered, most retailers such as department stores still charge much higher prices than in other countries.
LG Economic Research Institute research fellow Kang Jung-gu said, "Korea's retailers must realize an important lesson from the reason consumers are going to such great lengths at paying high shipping and handling charges for import goods on foreign websites. In order to help consumers open up their wallets, they need to improve transparency of the retail market and lower prices."
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