South Korea’s stores lure customers to spend relief funds on electronics

Some have, however, criticized this, saying that the funds were meant for small businesses.

Convenience store chains in South Korea are competing with various marketing strategies to entice customers to spend their emergency relief funds recently rolled out by the government on electronic devices, Korea Bizwire reported.

For instance, GS25 has expanded its collection of electronic goods from 60 to 90 products this 2021, including Apple’s AirPods Pro wireless earbuds and Samsung Electronics’s QLED TV.

CU is offering various home appliances, interior goods, electronic scooters and beam projectors.

E-Mart24 is offering the newest Galaxy Watch 4 smartwatch and other 28 kinds of wearable devices, as well as mobile accessories that can be purchased with disaster relief funds.

However, some have criticized this as inappropriate to let consumers spend their relief funds on electronic goods at convenience stores, claiming that it distorts the original intent of banning the funds’ use at large retailers in order to promote spending at small businesses.