COVID-19 Changed Online Shopping Trends... Weekend Dining Decreases, Delivery Orders Increase

Big Data Analysis from January 20 to March 3

[Asia Economy Reporter Minyoung Cha] Min Ji-young (pseudonym), a housewife in her 40s, has relied mostly on online shopping since January, when the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) began to spread. This is because her entire family refrained from going out and stayed at home more often. With no need to go outside, they reduced spending on fashion clothing and outdoor items, focusing instead on daily necessities, masks, and health products. On weekends when they wanted special food, they substituted with delivery food demand.

eBay Korea, the number one online distribution company, announced on the 6th that it analyzed big sales data from Gmarket and Auction from January 20 to March 3, the period after the first domestic COVID-19 case was announced, comparing it with the same period last year, and found changes in product categories and shopping time slots.

First, regarding product categories, sales volume was influenced more by activity location than seasonal factors. So-called 'home-stay' products showed an increasing trend, while 'outdoor outing' products needed for outside activities showed a decline compared to previous years. These include spring season fashion clothing and camping and hiking supplies.

Among items with significant growth, sales of 'health and medical products,' including personal hygiene items such as masks and hand sanitizers, surged nearly sevenfold (598%) compared to the previous year, and sales of 'daily necessities' such as toilet paper and detergents increased by 41%. In the case of 'food,' sales grew by 21%, with 'processed foods' like ramen and convenience meals increasing by 25%, 'fresh foods' by 18%, and 'health functional foods' by 10%. As daycare centers and schools extended their openings and entered closures, sales of 'childcare and baby products' also rose by 15% overall. Sales of 'children's clothing' and 'children's fashion accessories' increased by 38% and 16%, respectively, and toys sold 14% more than last year.

On the other hand, products related to going out showed a decreasing trend. With graduation and entrance ceremonies scaled down, flower sales dropped by 5%, and travel and concert ticket sales decreased by 57% and 77%, respectively. Additionally, swimming and fitness equipment (-5%), shoes (-14%), and cameras (-35%) all showed declines.

Shopping time slots also changed. The proportion of shopping during evening (6 PM to midnight) and late-night (midnight to 6 AM) hours increased by 3% compared to last year. Comparing sales volume by time slot with the previous year, sales during the evening (6 PM to midnight) increased by 32%, showing the largest growth, followed by early morning (midnight to 6 AM) at 27%, afternoon (12 PM to 6 PM) at 26%, and morning (6 AM to 12 PM) at 20%.

Another notable change was the significant increase in weekend shopping demand. Comparing sales by day of the week during the same period with last year, Sunday sales rose by 32% and Saturday sales by 30%. This is interpreted as a reduction in outings alongside an increase in weekend shopping demand. Based on sales volume, the popular weekend items were ranked as 'respiratory and health products,' including masks, followed by 'snacks,' 'delivery food,' 'daily necessities,' and 'frozen foods.'

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.