Korean online malls pulling in more customers

Online shopping in Korea has been growing lately in more ways than one.

On the one hand, more customers — including those from outside of Korea — are shopping in Korean online malls.

On the other hand, South Korean residents are turning increasingly to online channels for their grocery needs because of fears over the continued spread of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

SimpleX Internet, which runs Korea eCommerce solutions specialist, cafe24, said in reports that Korea’s cross-border shopping malls are tapping into markets in South-east Asia, Europe, South America and Australia.

Among them is Funny Love, an online shopping mall specialising in ‘family looks’, that became so successful online that it opened an offline shop in Kazakhstan recently.

Mother’s Corn, which provides eco-friendly tableware for children, has been making inroads into markets in over 10 countries in South-east Asia and Europe, including the Philippines, Indonesia, France, Poland and Germany.

Jam Studio, a design props dealer, boosted its business through cross-border shopping malls targeting South-east Asia.

Meanwhile, the MERS crisis in the country — which broke out on May 20 — has pushed online grocery sales and orders up sharply. Orders and sales grew by double digits at E-mart, Home Plus and Lotte Mart, South Korea’s three biggest grocers.

Market leader E-mart saw a 63% increase in online sales between June 1 and 11, compared with the same period a year ago. Tesco’s Home Plus reported a 48% increase in online sales, while Lotte Mart’s online sales rose by nearly 27% compared with a 10% slump at its brick and mortar branches.