S. Korean Early Adopters Eager for Foreign Products

Franchise drug store Olive Young’s decision to attract online shoppers who rely heavily on overseas direct purchasing by stocking its stores with popular foreign items is paying off. (Image: CJ Blog)

SEOUL, Feb. 9 (Korea Bizwire) – Franchise drug store Olive Young’s decision to attract online shoppers who rely heavily on overseas direct purchasing  by stocking its stores with popular foreign items is paying off.

Olive Young, a beauty shop which sells various trinkets and paraphernalia as well as drinks and snacks, revealed that sales of foreign items last year surged by 71 percent compared to the year prior.

Honeycé on Olive Young website (Image: Olive Young website screenshot)

Though the number of overseas direct purchasers has soared in recent years, factors such as expensive shipping rates, overly complicated payment processes and long waiting times have pushed these shoppers to local offline retail options, Olive Young explained.

Last year, market response was especially positive after products such as Glamglow, Honeycé and Kundal that are highly sought after by the overseas direct purchasing crowd began to be sold in Olive Young stores.

Based on last year’s sales patterns, Olive Young has determined this year’s overseas direct purchasing trends to be: “natural” (consumer preference for products using safe ingredients), “easy-quick” products (easy and quick to learn and use) and “wide-use” (one item that can be used for more than one task).

An Olive Young employee said, “With the number of early adopters for beauty products increasing dramatically, the desire to be the first to snap up foreign products highly regarded by consumers is becoming especially trendy.”

S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)